Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 104 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2013-07-192013-07-23

Musicians from Goducate Children’s Home show their talents at school’s closing program

On July 4, the Goducate Children’s Home, which includes a school for the residents, held its annual closing and awards program to mark the end of the 2013/14 school year. The theme for this year’s event was Character Building: Academic Excellence. In his message the guest speaker, Goducate director Victor Yeo, stressed three points that the Goducate Children’s Home should uphold: (1) Authenticity—in terms of providing a homelike environment; (2) Character Molding— which should be based on example and mentorship; and (3) Education—as the bridge for the children’s usefulness in the future, not only in Cambodia but also abroad. He ended his speech with a call for the children to remain Cambodians so that they can help other needy Cambodians.

During the program, the children were given an opportunity to showcase their talents and skills in playing different musical instruments. The musical items were presented by the String Ensemble (violin and guitar group), the piano soloists, and the Junior and Primary Recorder Ensemble. Other items were presented by the Beginners, the Khmer class, and the speech choir.

Goducate believes in equipping each child for the future not only through academic training but also by teaching them practical livelihood skills, such as agriculture, farming, electrical work, welding, and music. For those in the music program, there are daily practices, with discipline being emphasized as one of the keys to success.

Graduands from the Beginners class in their caps and gowns

The “strings” and recorder players performing.

2013-07-16

Staff at Goducate Training Center undergo training in Basic Life Support

On July 5-13, 15 of Goducate Training Center’s (GTC’s) employees underwent Basic Life Support training, held in conjunction with the Philippine National Red Cross. Those who took part included the Center’s administrative and training staff, as well as those employed to work in the recreational and construction areas. The latter group are mainly people from the communities surrounding GTC, since Goducate believes that one way of helping the needy communities around us is to employ them.

The training consisted of basic skills in handling emergencies such as fractures, burns, and the results of other accidents. They learned the standard procedures of dealing with unconscious patients and of doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). They also learned different ways of bandaging, as well as of transporting the patient.

The course was tiring but enjoyable, especially the practical part. Trainees had practice time with their partners before undergoing the grading for their practical work. They had to show how to respond to different incidents.

With such training our staff should be able to respond to emergencies that might arise inside GTC. As one means of making GTC self-sufficent, the Center is open to the public, who come for the educational tours of the place or to make use of the recreational facilities. Having staff who can attend to emergencies is thus important.

We also hope that those of the staff who come from the neighboring communities will be able to pass on their skills to their communities. In addition, since they are now certified as having been trained in basic life support, they might want to respond to the government’s calls for help with emergencies.

Practical training in emergency response

2013-07-122013-07-15

Goducate Training Center prepares to meet demand for teachers in Vietnam

Last week our partners from Vietnam visited the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo. The first thing they did was to give us a lesson in resourcefulness. We had been misinformed about the time of the arrival of their flight, and so were not at the airport to meet them. With no fuss, they just checked on Google Map to find out where we are located and were able to direct the taxi driver to GTC.

The goal of their visit was to look for potential English teachers for Vietnam. They were able to observe the kind of training that GTC provides. They also watched how the trainees performed in delivering speeches during the English class, after which they interviewed those who performed well. They were amazed to find out how Filipinos just love other cultures and are willing to adjust to new environments. They were also able to visit the city and some of the campuses where our trainees do their practical work.

From their interviews our Vietnamese partners think that our trainees could make a huge impact on the lives of the Vietnamese, so they have requested for 5 teachers of English by September. Our challenge now is not only to get the trainees ready to teach English, but also to help them understand Vietnamese culture, acquire a survival level of Vietnamese language, and how to get about in Vietnam—on motorbikes, which is the main means of transport there.

We have lost no time in rising to the challenge. The motorbike has been bought!

Partner from Vietnam addressing GTC trainees.