Livelihood Training – Page 29 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2013-02-192013-02-23

Goducate Laguna musicians entertain shoppers on Valentine’s Day

Eight members of the Goducate Laguna Orchestra filled SM San Pablo City, Philippines, a shopping mall, with romantic music on Valentine’s Day. Six of them are college students who are also Goducate scholars—ie, they receive scholarships on the strength of their musical ability from their college, which covers their college fees, while Goducate covers their other expenses needed for their courses. The other two are Goducate volunteers. The group played two sessions that day, one from 3-4 pm and the other from 5-6 pm.

It was the second time that Goducate musicians have performed at SM San Pablo City, the other being Christmas Day 2011.

Playing at events like this helps to fulfill Goducate’s aim of helping needy Asians help themselves. Apart from the fee received from the management of the shopping mall, the event was an opportunity for the musicians to receive inquiries from the public about the possibility of their being hired for events such as weddings and anniversaries.

2013-02-122013-02-13

Progress with Goducate community farming in Tranca, Laguna

Two community farming projects were started in the village of Tranca about 4 months ago. One was to teach agricultural methods in an elementary school, and the other was the setting up of a communal farm in the Blu-Paong area.

The students at the Tranca Elementary School were taught vermicomposting (how to use earthworms to make compost) as well as how to plant vegetables. The Schools Division Superintendent was glad to see the profusion of vegetables at the school, which was named Best Implementer of Vegetable Gardening in the whole municipality of Bay, Laguna. The second round of planting has already been completed. The focus was on hydroponics because that that was the most successful project.

To learn more about agriculture the principal and the agriculture teacher of Tranca Elementary School visited the Goducate Model Farm last week. They hope to bring the students there some time.

At Blu-paong, a communal farm was set up in October, 2012, in the backyard of a lady whose child was attending a Goducate literacy center. The farm is worked by some of the women in the area. They are still trying to work out what grows best in the kind of soil they have there. Their trial with tomatoes and papayas were not a great success. The yield was sufficient only for personal consumption. The “pechay” grew well, as did the lettuce. There was sufficient lettuce for use in the feeding program at the Goducate literacy center in Lalao as well as for sale in the neighborhood. This season the women will be assessing whether bittergourds grow well in their soil.

Vegetables grown at Tranca elementary school

Teachers from Tranca school (in red) learning about planting vegetables from Goducate staff worker

Women at Blu-paong communal farm tending to lettuce

2013-02-01

Harvest time at Goducate Model Farm in Laguna

The Goducate Model Farm in Laguna is where people are trained to produce crops that have the highest nutritional values, and with least impact on nature. Thus organic farming is promoted there.

Towards the end of last year, people who were victims of the severe flooding brought on by “Typhoon” Hagabat were trained at the model farm and employed as part-time workers. The crops they helped to plant in November last year were harvested in the second week of January. The crops harvested included cucumbers, red chilis, fresh string beans, pechay (pak choi), and native peanuts and corn. Some were kept for consumption by the staff and workers and their families, and the rest sold on the market.

The Goducate Model Farm also cultures African night crawlers (a type of earthworm that makes compost). The sale of the earthworms and the compost produced adds to the income of the model farm.