Category: Philippines

In Jan last year we reported on the arrival of six white bundles at the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo, Philippines. These were hair sheep donated by a friend from nearby Negros Island.

The sheep population at GTC has doubled since then. Recently we were stunned to see a newly-born black lamb amidst the all-white herd. We surmised that this has to do with the lamb’s parents both carrying a gene for color. It’s really not uncommon for black lambs to be born in a white herd to white parents. Different genes control the fleece color and pattern, whether it is solid or spotted. A black fleece comes from recessive genes, so when a white ram and a white ewe are each heterozygous for fleece color (having a recessive gene for black and a dominant gene for white), there is a 25% probability that their progeny could be a black lamb.

Since only a few white sheep are heterozygous for black, a black sheep is not common, the idiom “black sheep in the family” denotes a deviant or disreputable member of a group.

GTC is open to paying guests, and conducts educational tours of the premises for various groups. The children find petting, hand feeding, and hugging sheep to be adventurous and thrilling experiences. The black sheep will provide us with an opportunity to teach the older children and adult guests some basic genetics.

For booking inquiries, please contact GTC Iloilo at:
Tel 09225506199 Email gtc_iloilo@yahoo.com

Goducate Training Center (GTC), in Iloilo, Philippines, held its first Recruitment Conference on May 6-8.

Invitations had been sent to new university graduates, to working people, and to those who had expressed interest in being trained as community development workers (CDWs). Over 300 people from all over the Philippines attended the conference.

The topics covered included the history of Goducate, its philosophies, its CDW training program, and the opportunities available for Goducate-trained CDWs. The Goducate Coordinator for Indonesia, Pak Thomos, spoke on the opportunities available in Indonesia. Filipino Goducate workers who had previously served in China spoke on the challenges and opportunities available in China. Since Goducate does not do things in the “traditional” way, the most useful sessions were the Question and Answer sessions, during which many fears and doubts were removed.

Booths were set up for recruitment for GTC’s next training session (June to December). Our target is to train 50 to 70 CDWs for Indonesia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc. At the end of the conference about 50 had shown interest to be trained.

Booths were also set up by the present batch of GTC trainees, who will be graduating shortly and will be sent to various fields (mostly to Indonesia). These booths displayed the trainees’ work in the poor communities surrounding GTC. They had taught the children in these communities livelihood skills (eg. making food items and handicrafts, doing manicure and pedicure), and these children sold their goods and services during the conference to earn some money for their school fees.

These children impressed the conference attenders with their skills in music, drama, and oratory skills. It was very encouraging to hear these poor village children speak so confidently in English before a large crowd of university graduates.

May GTC continue to train CDWs to help needy Asian help themselves.

For Inquiries, call: Tel 09225506199 Email gtc_iloilo@yahoo.com (Goducate Training Center Iloilo Philippines)