Category: Training Center

In Jan last year we reported on the arrival of six white bundles at the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo, Philippines. These were hair sheep donated by a friend from nearby Negros Island.

The sheep population at GTC has doubled since then. Recently we were stunned to see a newly-born black lamb amidst the all-white herd. We surmised that this has to do with the lamb’s parents both carrying a gene for color. It’s really not uncommon for black lambs to be born in a white herd to white parents. Different genes control the fleece color and pattern, whether it is solid or spotted. A black fleece comes from recessive genes, so when a white ram and a white ewe are each heterozygous for fleece color (having a recessive gene for black and a dominant gene for white), there is a 25% probability that their progeny could be a black lamb.

Since only a few white sheep are heterozygous for black, a black sheep is not common, the idiom “black sheep in the family” denotes a deviant or disreputable member of a group.

GTC is open to paying guests, and conducts educational tours of the premises for various groups. The children find petting, hand feeding, and hugging sheep to be adventurous and thrilling experiences. The black sheep will provide us with an opportunity to teach the older children and adult guests some basic genetics.

For booking inquiries, please contact GTC Iloilo at:
Tel 09225506199 Email gtc_iloilo@yahoo.com

Goducate Training Center (GTC), in Iloilo, Philippines, held its first Recruitment Conference on May 6-8.

Invitations had been sent to new university graduates, to working people, and to those who had expressed interest in being trained as community development workers (CDWs). Over 300 people from all over the Philippines attended the conference.

The topics covered included the history of Goducate, its philosophies, its CDW training program, and the opportunities available for Goducate-trained CDWs. The Goducate Coordinator for Indonesia, Pak Thomos, spoke on the opportunities available in Indonesia. Filipino Goducate workers who had previously served in China spoke on the challenges and opportunities available in China. Since Goducate does not do things in the “traditional” way, the most useful sessions were the Question and Answer sessions, during which many fears and doubts were removed.

Booths were set up for recruitment for GTC’s next training session (June to December). Our target is to train 50 to 70 CDWs for Indonesia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc. At the end of the conference about 50 had shown interest to be trained.

Booths were also set up by the present batch of GTC trainees, who will be graduating shortly and will be sent to various fields (mostly to Indonesia). These booths displayed the trainees’ work in the poor communities surrounding GTC. They had taught the children in these communities livelihood skills (eg. making food items and handicrafts, doing manicure and pedicure), and these children sold their goods and services during the conference to earn some money for their school fees.

These children impressed the conference attenders with their skills in music, drama, and oratory skills. It was very encouraging to hear these poor village children speak so confidently in English before a large crowd of university graduates.

May GTC continue to train CDWs to help needy Asian help themselves.

For Inquiries, call: Tel 09225506199 Email gtc_iloilo@yahoo.com (Goducate Training Center Iloilo Philippines)

Recently, four members of Goducate’s staff in China were sent to Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Philippines to be trained for 6 weeks. At Goducate, we believe that we should equip our workers with the best training so that they will be prepared for and be effective in their respective fields. We felt that the best way for the Chinese members of staff to do this was to be submerged in GTC culture.

Over the 6 weeks, the Chinese team worked on improving their English. Some of them spoke little English at the start, but by the end of their stay they were confident speaking English. The Chinese team also shared their skills with the other trainees in GTC. They taught Mandarin to the other trainees at night and even held a dumpling- making session, teaching the trainees more about Chinese culture and cuisine. The Chinese team attended a few classes and discussions on how to organise activities and camps for university students. More importantly, they had the opportunity to practise what they had learned by conducting games and activities for the children in the community and during the English camp that was held in GTC.

During their stay in GTC, the Chinese team were able to spend time with the local people, to learn how to be cross-cultural and to interact with people from different cultures. We believe that there is a need to be global, and this was beneficial to them because China is growing so fast and there will be many foreign students going to China to study and many students going out of China into different countries. The team went into university campuses and were able to spend time with the students, sharing about their culture and learning about another culture. They also had the chance to spend time with families in the community, visiting homes surrounding GTC, learning the needs of the people there, and sharing part of their lives with the locals.

The trip has been very beneficial to the Chinese team. They have returned to China and have already started planning activities and camps, excited to apply what they have learned. We are looking forward to sending more of our workers from China to be trained in GTC in the near future.