Category: Livelihood Training

A few weeks ago 24 children from the Goducate music program in Laguna had a special outing to Manila. They went to listen to their violin teacher Liezl perform at a concert at Arellano University. As an additional treat, the children were brought to a large shopping mall in Manila. For some of the children, many of whom come from small villages in Laguna, it was their very first time in a large mall.

Liezl had just finished a three-month perfoming arts (singer/musician) course at Arellano University. It was a Phillipines TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) accredited course.

In 2011 Liezl was one of 5 violinists from the Goducate Orchestra who were selected by a Channel News Asia program, Once Upon A Village, to go to Singapore for a couple of weeks of intensive training at the Wolfgang Music Studio. Liezl was invited back by the studio for a couple more visits to prepare for the Grade 5 Trinity College music examinations in the violin, which she passed with a merit in mid-2012.

Since her return to Laguna she has been teaching the beginners and the juniors in the Goducate orchestra how to play the violin. Her students were very encouraged and inspired watching her perform at the concert to mark the end of her course. She said that she wants to teach them the right techniques, intonation, flexibility and style in playing the instrument.

We hope that the children in the music program will have the opportunities that Liezl has had to further their musical training, or to get scholarships to university on the strength of their musical ability, as several other Goducate musicians have done.

The Goducate Music Department in Laguna, Philippines, conducted a 1-week summer workshop at the end of May for the young people in Laguna and in Cavite( the province next to Laguna) in our music program. 31 youths from Laguna and 12 from Cavite took part in the workshop.

During the week the participants received intensive training in whichever orchestral instrument they are specializing in. Some were there for voice training. The trainers were the members of the senior orchestra. The workshop ended with a little concert.

Music has been an important part of the Goducate program in the Philippines. It has helped keep children off the streets, given them training in qualities such as discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and offered some of them a chance to obtain scholarships to university or the earn some pocket money by playing at various events. The more accomplished musicians offer their free time to go to the various villages to train the younger ones every week—a case of not just helping themselves, but also helping others.

On April 26 the Goducate music department in Laguna Province, the Philippines, held a recorder concert at the Goducate Music Learning Center. The performers were some 50 children aged about 6-12 from 10 villages around the town of Bay who are learning to play the recorder. 14 Goducate volunteers go out to the various villages to teach a total of 73 children. The concert was a means of identifying those children who might be skilled enough to learn some other musical instrument.

The three days preceding the concert were spent on intensive rehearsals, which the children really enjoyed.

The Goducate music program in Laguna has been a means of keeping children off the streets, helping them to earn school and university scholarships through their musical ability, giving those in the orchestra a chance to earn pocket money through public performances at various events, and along the way teaching all the children qualities such as discipline, diligence, patience, and teamwork. The volunteer teachers are those who have benefited from the program, and who are not helping others to help themselves.