Category: Training Center

It was a pleasure to spend 3 days last week at the Goducate Training Center. The air was fresh, cool and windy. Some of our staff had to wear an extra layer of clothing – which is unusual in tropical Philippines! I walked up and down steep horse-trails panting and heaving but without perspiring.

The sight of the lush forests of tall tropical trees and bamboos was pleasing to my city-weary soul. However, the sight of food-bearing plants was not only pleasant to the eyes but also an encouragement to me that one day soon Goducate will be able to help needy Asians to put food on their tables. As prices of food rise beyond the reach of the poor, this need becomes more and more urgent.

Each day we feasted on the local produce of GTC – freshly harvested rice (it’s quite different from the supermarket varieties), vegetables, local range-chickens, melons. We ate heartily and confidently, knowing that we weren’t consuming steroids and other unnecessary junk.

The harvests have been so good that our neighbors who saw some of our produce (eg. the super large bell-peppers or capsicums) did not believe that they were produced locally. They insisted that these had to be from faraway Baguio (a mountainous area that is famous for premium vegetables).

One of our mango trees has so many fruits on them that it is estimated that it will produce 1500 kilograms of sweet juicy mangos in April.

I hope to bring a group of Goducate supporters at the end of March/early April to enjoy the bounty of the farm and to meet its first intake of Goducate trainees.

The Goducate Training Center in San Miguuel, Iloilo, Philippines is nearing completion.

In line with Goducate’s philosophy of helping Asians help themselves, it aims to be eventually self-sustaining through the production of food for consumption and through revenue-generating activities that are in line with its philosophy of “education”.

GTC also aims to be eco-friendly.

Its slopes have been carefully terraced with sloping agricultural land technique (SALT) and planted to prevent erosion.

Many of its buildings are made of locally grown materials (mahogany and bamboo). The entire “Sky-City” of huts, walkways and toilet facilities is made of locally grown materials.

The restaurant and many other buildings are largely constructed of local materials. The lamp-posts are made from mahogany trees from our own forest. Even the structure for the zip-lines are made of locally grown mahogany lumber.

Water for the entire site is provided by 5 fresh-water springs and run-off water from the roof of the Multi-Purpose Hall. Some electricity is produced by a small hydro-electric generator that is propelled by run-off water from our impounding lake.

Horses will provide transportation on the site – instead of gas-guzzling and carbon-producing vehicles.

We hope that Goducate Training Center will train workers who can help the poor help themselves, without destroying the environment.