The Goducate Learning Center is now under construction in Laguna, which is in the heart of recent flood hit areas in the Philippines. As it is the December vacation time for the young people, so there were a lot of volunteers to shovel and mix the cement, sand and gravel… we only have one hired worker who is the expert.
Goducate often uses volunteers in our projects. This is very cost efficient. The land for the learning center was donated by a single mum” and the local authorities granted permission to cut some coconut trees to provide the lumber for this building.
We hope that before this year ends we can finish the construction and make use of this building by January.
The Philippines continues to have a very high birth-rate because of the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to birth control. As a result of this many families struggle to provide for the needs of their children. Added to this problem, is the fact many adults (especially the ladies) have to go abroad to look for work. Therefore, many children grow up without the care of a mother.
Lack of money and lack of parental guidance has resulted in a many out-of-school youths, many unwanted pregnancies, teenage marriages and juvenile delinquents.
A year ago, Goducate decided to start weekend camps for Filipino youths in the island of Panay. Groups of about 100 youths from poor villages were invited to join these weekend camps – where they attended teaching sessions, played games and made new friends. The result of these camps was remarkable. Parents noticed visible changes in the behaviour of their kids. And the kids clamoured to join subsequent camps. However, due to the lack of camp facilities and funds it was not possible to invite these youths to follow-up camps.
The Committee Of Camp Goducate Philippines
At about the same time when we started experimenting with youth camps, a Singaporean who presently resides in Brisbane, Australia asked me how he could help. I suggested to him that it was a good thing to help the poor youths of Philippines and he readily gave a generous check – which was then used as the down-payment for a 6 hectare piece of land in Alimodian, Iloilo Province, Philippines.
The owner of this land, Mrs Gonzales, was a poor single mum who ran a market-stall selling vegetables. Later she became a successful wholesaler of mangoes. With the profits of her business, she bought this piece of land many years ago. It was a beautiful piece of flat land surrounded by hills. On the flat land are 2 springs of water, which do not ever stop flowing. Each weekend, she and her children would go to this piece of land to plant mahogany trees, fruit trees and bamboo on the slope of the hills. The flat land was cultivated with rice.
Camp Goducate
I had the privilege of meeting Mrs Gonzales through mutual friends. When she heard that we were looking for land to build a camp, she offered her land at a very good price.
A camp committee is presently looking at how we can best develop this land so that poor youths can have the chance to learn many useful lessons and skills.
The cost to develop this large piece of land is beyond our present resources.
The possibilities are mind-boggling.
The number and needs of Filipino youth is scary.
But we must do our best to help them – before it is too late!
More photos (click thumbnail to view photos):
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About 6 months ago, a few sponsors pooled together US$360.00 for our Goducate team in Laguna, Philippines to start a vermiculture (“vermi” is high-class word for “worms”) livelihood project.
Prior to this our Goducate team had been studying different methods of helping the poor to help themselves. They did feasibility studies on raising tilapias (a type of fish) in backyard farms, of producing quail’s eggs in backyards, of raising goats, etc.
At the end of about 4-5 months of feasibility studies, we came to the conclusion that using worms to produce fertilizer was most suitable for the people of Laguna. Laguna is the place where the famous International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is situated – this is the place where the rice hybrids of the world are produced to feed Asia’s growing population. The University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB), with its agricultural research departments, are also situated in Laguna.
Our friends at UPLB suggested that we use worms (a special species called “African night crawler”) to turn waste vegetation (eg. grass, banana trunks) into top-quality organic fertilizer. The advantages of this project are many.
Firstly, the price of fertilizers will rise in the long-term because it’s pegged to the price of petroleum. Secondly, fertilizers will always be needed in farming communities. Thirdly, the financial investment is low and technical know-how simple.
So with the funds provided by the kind sponsors, we started our pilot project with a few kilos of worms. The objective was not only to do a feasibility of this method of livelihood but also to produce more worms to pass to other poor people – who would also agree to pass worms on to others. It was in effect, a rural version of a pyramid-scheme in reverse!
This pilot project went on well and met our expectations…. until the typhoon (codenamed “Ketsana” internationally or codenamed “Ondoy” locally) hit Laguna at the end of October 2009. Almost all the worms in about 10 different worm-beds were drowned by the flood!
As our workers were busy surviving the typhoon and busy helping others who were badly affected by the flood, the poor worms were drowning!
When I arrived in Laguna, I witnessed a “salvage” operation to save the worms that were still alive.
Dr Choo and Goducate team salvaging wormsDr Choo and Goducate team salvaging worms
Thankfully, there are enough survivors to re-start the project. Several lessons have been learned from the pilot project and from the flood and these will be put in place to improve our efficiency.
Worms salvaged
I believe that vermiculture is a good project which can help many poor people help themselves.
I believe that it can be used in most agricultural communities throughout Asia.
I believe that it will be more and more useful because the price of oil (and therefore the price of synthetic fertilizers) will rise.
I believe that organic fertilizers will not only provide a source of income for the poor but that it will also produce healthier food for all of us.
More photos (click thumbnail to view photos):
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The Goducate Learning Center is now under construction in Laguna, which is in the heart of recent flood hit areas in the Philippines. As it is the December vacation time for the young people, so there were a lot of volunteers to shovel and mix the cement, sand and gravel… we only have one hired worker who is the expert.
