Goducate used to hold
weekly Happy Happy English (HHE) classes for foreign workers in their
dormitories. After these classes stopped, the ex-HHE students and teachers met
up monthly for lunch, chats, and some games based on conversational English.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic led to restrictions on movement and gatherings,
so these meetings had to stop.
However, on June12, when the workers were still confined to their dormitories, we met up on Zoom. Naturally we could not have lunch together then, but the Zoom meeting enabled us to catch up with the ex-students, and to have an enjoyable time with them over the chats and the quizzes.
To cater to youth stuck at home and no school to attend because of restrictions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, Goducate conducted its first online youth camp on May 30-31. The camp was for youth in Malaysia, where the government has imposed a Movement Control Order (MCO), and in the Philippines, where there is Enhanced Community Quarantine (CQ).
Over 50 participants, the majority from Sabah, Malaysia, attended the camp, which was titled “Mission Grounded Life: True Keys to Successful Living”. Goducate Philippines volunteers were the speakers for the main topics, which were Smart Use of Technology and Mental Wellness. In the afternoon there were skill-based interactive sessions on topics ranging from basic gardening, personality development, home making, basic home first aid, and sports such as basketball and volleyball. These sessions were led by specialists from the Philippines and facilitators from Goducate Sabah, Malaysia.
Goducate Sabah is aiming to reach out to the youth both in Malaysia and the Philippines, regardless of culture, religious affiliation, and backgrounds, through creating digital platforms and educating our youth to be responsible and productive during this pandemic. The two-day camp was run using the software Zoom, which has breakout sessions that allow participants to be divided into smaller groups for more detailed discussion and interactions.
During this Online Zoom Camp, participants learnt how to make a video, as individuals or as teams, that show what they learned in the camp. There were games and contests too, for the participants, to enjoy and to get to know each other better. Maurelline, one of the youth facilitators shared, “It was a great experience. I was nervous in the beginning but with the guidance of the organizers I was able to do it”.
*Our guest writer is the Goducate Sabah Training Coordinator.
Goducate Laguna has distributed 878 food
packs during this Covid-19 pandemic. Each
pack contains 3 kg rice and some other groceries.
On March 16, the Philippines
introduced its Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to try to limit the spread
of Covid-19 by drastically restricting the movement of the population. The ECQ
was originally to have ended on April 12, but has since been extended a couple
of times in parts of the country. In Calabarzon, the administrative district
which covers the province of Laguna, the ECQ has been extended to May 15.
The ECQ has caused loss of
income, and also loss of jobs, for many people. Pastors are one group
that is affected because when there are no physical Sunday services, offerings
drop.
In the last week of March and the
first two weeks of April, Camp Goducate Laguna distributed food packs to 383
households in different areas in Laguna, namely, Bay, Calauan and Los Banos.
The food packs were also distributed to 301 senior citizens, 51 frontliners
(village officials, policemen, and health workers), 60 people with disabilities
in Puypuy
Bay Laguna, and 83 pastors and life coaches in
some parts of Calabarzon.
Distributing food packs
Apart from the food packs,
Goducate also distributed pamphlets on the benefits of moringa (malunggay) and
how to make moringa powder. Moringa oleifera is a plant widely grown in the
Philippines, and its leaves are known to contain many nutrients. Teaching about
its health value and how to use it is a program which is part of Goducate’s Health
Information Drive. Moringa could be a good alternative source of nutrients
during this ECQ because panic buying could mean that vitamins and nutritional
supplements are quickly sold out.
Helping out with the
distribution of food packs were barangay (village) health workers and
officials, members of the police force, pastors, and Goducate scholars.
This food-distribution
project was supported by the Meek and Lowly Trust (Singapore), which will also
be supporting the distribution of face shields to the Calabarzon area.
Plan for mask distribution
*Our guest writer is Mae Diaz Luceno, staff member in Goducate Laguna.
