Last December some 400 children in the Goducate program in Laguna each received a recorder from a group of Goducate supporters (see blog, Feb 12, 2016). They were then able to get lessons on Saturdays, when our volunteers, mainly Goducate scholars, go to the various villages to offer tuition in a range of subjects.
At the March quarterly Children’s Day, when the children from all the villages gather together at the Goducate Training Center, 120 of the children took part in a recorder competition. The winner was the team from Bayan area.
Guests at the competition included village officials, school officials, and staff from the Police Department. The children’s performance led the village chieftain to invite them to play at the village event on March 26 at which he was addressing his constituents on what he had accomplished for them. School officials also invited the children to play at a graduation ceremony on March 26.
These invitations raised the children’s morale considerably and encouraged them to practise hard for the Annual Music Workshop held on May 17-21. At this workshop, 12 were selected to go on to learn how to play other instruments. Another round of evaluation will take place later this month.
