Category: Training Center

The Goducate Training Center began training its 6th batch of students on Jan 19. Of the 14 students, 10 come from different parts of the Philippines, 3 from Indonesia, and 1 from East Malaysia. They will undergo the 5-month training on Community Development Work, except for the 3 Indonesians who came for only 2 months. Unlike previous batches, those in this batch range quite widely in age, yet they have formed a special bond among themselves, upholding the GTC family spirit.

Their training will cover the various kinds of work the trainees can be expected to do in the community, and they have been fortunate in that Goducate has embarked on a project called CDWs (community development workers) For Barangays (villages), which aims to cover some 400 barangays in 6 months. So the trainees have already had many opportunities learning to meet new communities—and learning the importance of such simple gestures as smiling, greeting, and shaking hands, as well as of asking the right questions, when entering a new community. They have also gained much confidence in talking with barangay leaders, an important skill in getting projects off the ground and running well.

The focus of the CDWs For Barangays is health education, so the trainees have had lectures on health, but their curriculum will also include principles of education, facilitating English talks, agriculture, and moral education, as well as on how to run various camps. They have to be taught how to meet the various needs of communities they are likely to be serving in the future.

As Goducate founder Dr Paul Choo has reminded us, “Poverty continues in a world of plenty! Ignorance persists in spite of the explosion of knowledge! Goducate was started to address these disturbing trends. Goducate Training Center was established to train world-class Community Development Workers who will ‘Go and Educate’ Asians to help themselves.” It’s an aim that has guided the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in the training it has developed over its 3 years of existence.

The focus of the training for the different batches of students has varied according to how they were most likely to be deployed. For example, for some batches the focus was more on agricultural work, and for some it was more on teaching English as a second language. Another change that has taken place is the much greater emphasis now put on practical training in the community.

At first the community work was done in the handful of barangays (villages) around the training center, but it has now been extended to villages in four towns of Panay, and also to the island of Leyte. Leaders from the communities are raised and serve as our key contacts in the barangays. Our newly launched project for this year, called “CDWs for the Barangays” aims to help 400 new barangays, mainly with health education.

A third anniversary breakfast celebration was held on Feb 11, with trainees and trainers sharing experiences.

*Our guest writer is Joanna de Leon, a Goducate volunteer CDW.