Category: Livelihood Training

Goducate believes that backyard gardening is very helpful for poor communities. It gives them a steady supply of food, and the money saved on the vegetables they grow can then be used for something else. And if they plant a variety of vegetables, they can get a supply not just of fibre and vitamins, but also of proteins as well. Good compost is essential for good crops. When African night crawler worms are left to feed on a suitable mixture of vegetable material, they produce such compost.

The trainees at the Goducate Training Center get their practical training in the neighboring villages. They have started a vermicomposting project, whereby one household in each village is given a quantity of worms to start making the compost. Once vermicompost has been made in that pilot household, the trainees will encourage the neighbors to embark on vermicomposting as well. The worms multiply fast (they can double in quantity in a month), so a household can soon be passing on worms to other households. When most of the households are able to make vermicompost, Goducate will introduce organic farming across the communities.

So far the project has been started in 3 villages, in some of which several households are already doing vermicomposting.

Donned in different traditional costumes of Japan, India, the Philippines, China, and the USA, the pupils of the Goducate Learning Centers in Laguna, along with their parents and teachers, took to the stage at the Goducate Studio on Oct 18 to celebrate United Nations Month (October). Altogether some 90 pupils, teachers, and parents attended the event.

In their colorful kimonos, the group from the Goducate Literacy Center in Maitim sang Kira Kira Hikaru, the Japanese version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This item was followed by Chinese and Hawaiian dances performed by Ulik literacy center and Tranca literacy center, respectively. Also putting up a good show were the kids and mothers from Talahiban literacy center and Sitio 74 literacy center, representing India and the Philippines, respectively. Wearing Indian and Muslim-inspired attire, the former performed a fast-beat Indian dance while the latter group, in their traditional Filipino get-up, belted out a patriotic song called “Ang Bayan kong Pilipinas”.

The take-home message from the day’s event was not about the talents of the pupils at the Goducate Literacy Centers, but about the theme for this year’s United Nations Month, which was “Unity for Every Nation”. The spirit of cooperation between the mothers, teachers, and volunteers from the different centers that went into the preparation and staging of the day’s event exemplified the theme well.

To convey the message of the theme to the little ones and parents, the guest speaker told a story about unity in diversity. At first, the guest speaker showed faces of different nationalities. Then she pointed out that despite differences in skin color, all are united by goals and values in life.