Category: Livelihood Training

Goducate’s music program in The Philippines was started as a means of getting out-of-school youth off the streets and out of trouble. We started with recorder lessons, which were so popular that many children still in school or college also joined in. The youth were so musical they soon went on to other instruments and formed an orchestra that was engaged to play at local functions.

The trainers in the music program have had some music lessons but not at any high level. Thus when Channel News Asia brought some music trainers from Singapore to visit the orchestra in Laguna for a TV program called Once Upon a Village, the Singaporeans were surprised to find that the violinists knew nothing about tuning a violin.

Still, the Singaporean trainers were sufficiently impressed to invite 5 violinists to Singapore for about 10 days of training at the Wolfgang Music Studio in Oct/Nov 2011. The studio later invited one of these 5, Liezl, back on two more occasions, each time for a couple of months, to prepare for the Trinity College London grade 5 examination. She took the examination in June, and has passed with a merit.

She is now back in The Philippines passing on the skills she has learnt to the others in the music program. She has been invited to return to Wolfgang Music Studio later this year to prepare for the grade 6 examination.

Jayson, another of the 5 who came to Singapore through the Channel News Asia program, was also invited back for a couple of months training recently. He too has been invited to return later this year to sit for exams. Meanwhile he, too, is passing on whatever skills he has learnt to other Goducate musicians.

Both Liezl and Jayson exemplify the Goducate philosophy that those who have been helped by Goducate should in turn help others.

So far this year Goducate has started 3 new literacy centers in Laguna, The Philippines, giving us a total of 5, which together have 72 students. Most of the students are pre-school children, though there are some older ones, who for various reasons are unable to attend school.

At two of the new centers the students were so keen to start that lessons have been held in very temporary structures. At Ulik lessons have been conducted under a tent, which also serves as a shelter for our music students in the area. At Burol, lessons have been held in the open, at first with students sitting on banana leaves, then as more joined the class, they sat on tarpaulin sheets.

Last month we were privileged to be visited by Goducate’s literacy trainer who is based in Iloilo, who came to motivate and upgrade our teachers. Her training sessions were attended by Goducate staff and volunteers as well as by some of the mothers of the students.

We were also very pleased last month to received from the Department of Education in Bay, Laguna, a certificate of appreciation for the Goducate literacy program. It signifies recognition that our program is a valuable support for the Department’s program.

Unemployment and underemployment continues to increase in The Philippines. Out of 100 children who finish elementary school, only 14 proceed to college. Thus 86 do not have the requirements for a stable job.

High-school graduates in our area tell me that they do not proceed to college because their parents cannot afford to send them there. Hence, although my main responsibility in Goducate is the music project, I thought that I could try to pass on to them whatever basic knowledge I have on electronics, to help them find jobs.

I started the class with 3 students, but by the second session 4 other boys and some fathers joined us. The classes are held in the porch of the home of one of the students. I hope that this little start will help needy students to eventually help themselves.