Philippines – Page 47 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2014-10-102014-10-15

Goducate musicians from Philippines perform at sponsor’s anniversary dinner in Singapore

Four Goducate musicians from Laguna, Philippines, had the wonderful experience of being flown to Singapore to perform for an audience of 900 people. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of MHC Ltd, a loyal and generous Goducate sponsor.

MHC, a third-party administrator that connects general practitioners, human-resource departments, and medical insurers, has adopted Goducate as its corporate social responsibility. For its 20th anniversary dinner, it decided to bring the four musicians to provide some of the entertainment. MHC also invited a team of nine Filipino Goducate teachers serving in Indonesia to sing at the dinner.

The Goducate music program in Laguna started as a means of attracting street-kids back to school, but it took off so well that the students were soon leaning other instruments. There are now over 200 people in the program, which includes a senior and junior orchestra. The program caught the eye of Channel News Asia, which in 2011 produced a 2-part feature on the orchestra in its Once Upon A Village series.

The music program now has a Singapore-based director, who will be going over periodically to Laguna to conduct music camps. While the musicians were here, apart from rehearsals for the anniversary dinner, they also received special music lessons.

In Laguna the musicians play at various events, and some give music lessons. We hope that the experience they gained in Singapore will encourage them to seek even more performing engagements back home, thus fulfilling Goducate’s aim of helping needy Asians help themselves.

Laguna musicians (seated) performing at MHC dinner, with Dr Ben Kwan

Laguna musicians with Goducate supervisors for Laguna

7 of the Goducate teachers from Indonesia who sang at the dinner, together with Goducate founder Paul Choo

2014-09-262014-09-29

Goducate Model Farm recovers from Typhoon Ramassun (Glenda)

Eight months after Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Typhoon Yolanda) devastated large parts of the Philippines in Nov 2013, Typhoon Rammasun (known locally as Typhoon Glenda) came along. Although its impact was not as great as that of Typhoon Haiyan, Typhoon Rammasun (Rammasun is a Thai word for thunder god) has so far been the strongest to hit Philippines in 2014. Goducate Laguna was badly hit (see blog of July 18, 2014).

Undeterred, our people swung into action immediately to repair the damage. Among the structures damaged were the vermiculture house and the hydroponics house at the Goducate model farm. Two months on, these structures have been restored.

The worms were not destroyed, and in the new vermiculture house, 50 sacks of vermicompost are now being produced per month.

When the hydroponics house was damaged, we lost the 3600 seedlings it contained, some ready to harvest. However, now there are already some ready to harvest in the restored hydroponic house.

As though to signal a new life and a new beginning for every challenge, one of our cows delivered her second kid a few weeks after the typhoon.

Hydroponics house damaged (L) and restored (R)

2014-09-122014-09-26

Goducate trainees in China finish their training at Goducate Training Center in Iloilo

One of Goducate’s projects in China is to train people to be community development workers. Last month, 9 of these trainees spent the last 2 weeks of their training at the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo, Philippines. The idea was to expose them to a foreign country and a foreign culture, and to give them an idea of what it is like to have to adapt to a different environment.

Since if Chinese community workers are sent abroad to serve, it is likely that one of their main tasks will be to teach Chinese as a second language, at GTC, the China team taught the other trainees some Chinese words and songs. They also attended a class teaching how to run an English corner, the principles of which can be applied to the teaching of any language.

Much of the practical training at GTC is done in the neighboring communities. There the China team saw how GTC trainees visit local families to help them help themselves. For example, they showed the families how to raise farm animals, or to increase outputs from their farms.

The China team also visited an area hard hit by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) late last year, and where the Goducate Tent School project has been restoring classrooms in schools badly hit by the typhoon. This restoration work is complemented by various educational activities in the community. The China team visited the schools to teach the children Chinese songs and various kinds of paper crafts. It was good to see how the children were a little reserved at first, but by the time the China team was leaving the kids were joyful and smiling and laughing away.

Although the China team’s introduction to the outside world was very gentle, in that the GTC is set in beautiful surroundings and the team was surrounded by kind-hearted people and pampered by good food and wonderful service, the servant’s hearts they saw in the others became a lesson in themselves.

Teaching Chinese in classroom undamaged by Typhoon Haiyan

*Our guest writer is Brenda, a China team trainer and program coordinator