Goducate Training Center prepares for “agri-tours”

Goducate Training Center in Iloilo, Philippines, is where Goducate trains people to be community development workers, who can be sent out to help needy people help themselves. Since Goducate expects people to be eventually helping themselves, it is only right that the Goducate Training Center should aim to help itself—ie, to be self-sustaining. For this reason, the Center houses many recreational facilities, such as a swimming pool, ziplines, a wall for rock climbing, a fishing area, so that we can open the place to paying visitors.

Agriculture is part of the training given at the Goducate Training Center. What Goducate is now planning to do is to offer educational tours, some with a focus on agriculture and farming. Visitors will come to learn that farming can be fun and is do-able in many settings.

In preparation for these educational tours, we brought in the locals from the neighboring communities to help set up the place, and to learn at the same time. They had fun learning how to prepare the soil mixture, which is made up of garden soil, carbonized rice hull, and vermin cast, and helping with the planting of vegetables, ornamental plants, and cuttings, and transferring things to the nursery.

Mixing soil and planting
Mixing soil and planting
Transferring plants by human chain
Transferring plants by human chain
Transferring plants by "jeepney" (a kind of jeep generally used for public transportation in the Philippines)
Transferring plants by “jeepney” (a kind of jeep generally used for public transportation in the Philippines)

Goducate serves basic health needs in Laguna

To respond to the basic health needs of the communities that we serve through literacy and livelihood programs in Laguna province, Philippines, Goducate partnered with Project Luke Foundation in a medical mission at Goducate campsite on Aug 3. Goducate provided the venue, facilitators, and food for the volunteers, whereas Project Luke Foundation supplied the medical and dental staff, masseurs, medicine, and vitamin supplements.

517 people, ranging from infancy to old age, attended for medical attention, and 35 for dental treatment. They were served by 29 volunteers from Project Luke Foundation, 29 nurses from City of Pasay University, and 39 Goducate helpers. The municipality of Bay also helped by providing tarpaulin sheetings.

Medical mission in progress
Medical mission in progress
The oldest patient, aged 99
The oldest patient, aged 99

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Children in Laguna are offered sponsorship for tertiary education

Last year Goducate published a book, “In the Shoes Of a Filipino Child”, in which 30 children in Goducate programs in Laguna, Philippines, wrote about their experiences and their aspirations. These children now have a carrot dangling before them. A Goducate supporter has offered to provide the fees for the tertiary education of any of these children who make it to that level. Three of these children are already benefiting from this offer. They are attending the Laguna State Polytechnic University. Two are studying information technology and one elementary education.

To help the others reach tertiary education, Saturday day tutorial classes for them were started in mid-July. Existing Goducate scholars (university students who are on Goducate scholarships) are the tutors who help the students with whatever subjects they are having difficulty with in school.

On the first Saturday, the students were asked about their dreams, which they wrote down, then read out. Their dreams included becoming a teacher, policeman, flight attendant, and other white-collar jobs.

Goducate hopes that these children will learn to appreciate the importance of an education in realizing their dreams, and that they can use their education to help themselves and others as well.

Writing down their ambitions in life
Writing down their ambitions in life
A Goducate scholar tutoring a kid in maths
A Goducate scholar tutoring a kid in maths