Philippines – Page 68 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2013-04-092013-04-10

Goducate Training Center welcomes first corporate guests from abroad

Goducate’s tagline is “Helping needy Asians help themselves”. Since Goducate expects the people we help to help themselves, it ought to practise what it preaches. Hence the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo was designed such that it could be made as self-sustaining as possible. To feed the staff and trainees rice, vegetables, and fruit are planted, and egg-laying hens are reared. On top of that, the center has several recreational facilities, to encourage visits by paying guests. It is one of the places that people in the province—mostly families, schools, companies, and individuals—enjoying going to, either on day trips or for short stays, for relaxation, recreation, and retreats.

At the end of last month, Goducate Training Center welcomed its first corporate guests from abroad. MHC Asia, Singapore, one of Goducate’s strong supporters, chose the center as the place to bring its employees to for an incentive trip. The group of 20 spent 2 nights at the center, staying either in the holiday villas or in the center’s “Sky City”..

The guests had fun harvesting vegetables and collecting eggs. They savored Filipino dishes as well as the mangoes and coconuts. They enjoyed boating, whizzing down the zipline, rock-wall climbing, fishing, and horseback riding. They delighted in hotdogs and marshmallows over a campfire with new Filipino friends. And they loved watching the stars under the cool night sky.

One of the highlights of the trip was the visit to the communities Goducate is helping. They were able to mingle with the locals and learn some of their culture. They were touched by what they saw and were moved to want to help these people in the future.

One thing lacking at the Goducate Training Center is good access to wifi. But this was actually a plus point for corporate types who spend most of their time glued to computers or smartphone. What a relief it was to be able to really get away from work.

2013-04-052013-04-06

Goducate Training Center holds English camp for students in neighboring villages

Since February the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo has partnered with neighboring primary and secondary schools to hold remedial classes for those children who need help to cope with their schoolwork. Every week, each GTC trainee coaches 5-7 pupils in mathematics and English. At the end of the 5-week program, the teachers found that most of the pupils had improved noticeably in these subjects.

To aid these students further, 2 weeks ago the Goducate Training Center held a 3-day camp to help the children improve their oral English. The camp was also an avenue for GTC trainees to learn to teach English in creative ways. Learning was made fun through songs and activities. With a camp theme of Jungle Fun, the 70 campers, aged 9-13, were divided into four animal groups. Teamwork was encouraged through competitions, and throughout the camp good values such as friendliness, politeness, creativity, and a willingness to participate were reinforced. Tokens were given out for efforts made to speak English, and these tokens could be swopped for goods from the jungle store.

One of the highlights of this camp was the skills class. Students could choose to attend a session on electricity, container gardening, pastry making, craft, crochet, playing the recorder, hairstyling, first-aid, and acting. Everyone enjoyed the last night when they presented what they had learnt during the skills class. This summer will be fun for them, because follow-up activity through games and English and skills classes will start in the first week of April. Since most of the children come from poor families, some of the skills learnt might even turn out to be a means of livelihood for them.

As GTC trainees handled these kids, they learnt to be loving and patient to them. They were not just teachers who gave commands but leaders and friends. One comment of mother from the community was that, “My child really liked the camp because her teacher really loved her”.

2013-03-292013-03-31

University of Philippines students partner Goducate in teaching through alternative learning system

In Laguna Province, Philippines, Goducate helps out-of-school youths, as well as adults who have not completed their schooling, to go through the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS)

In March, 19 engineering students from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos campus, became our partners in teaching through the ALS. The partnership was arranged by the municipal district ALS coordinator. As part of their community work the university students taught our ALS students for the first 4 Saturdays of March. They also provided all the materials needed for the teaching.

They plan to return during to teach during the second semester of the next school year (ie, in November).

UP students conducting a motivational game.