Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 177 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2011-06-222011-06-22

Goducate gets leader for its Indonesian expansion

Mr T Sihombing will join Goducate to lead its Indonesia expansion.

Goducate has always wanted to expand its work in Indonesia. Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands that stretches from the Indian Ocean on the west to the northern shores of Australia on its east, is the fourth most populous country in the world. After decades of underachieving development it has in the past few years grown at such an impressive rate that it is now considered one of the world’s “emerging economies.”

Goducate started its Indonesia work in the little island of Batam, an hour’s ferry ride south of Singapore, by offering English and computer classes to poorer children and workers. However, Goducate failed to expand its work due to the lack of indigenous leadership. Even the little island of Batam has a complicated cultural situation of many different tribes from all over Indonesia. The failure to understand this resulted in several poor administrative decisions.

Mr T Sihombing, an Indonesian who has been trained in UK and Malaysia and who has worked in a charity organization for the past 5 years, will join Goducate shortly to lead its expansion in Indonesia. His work in the charity organization involved recruiting workers from all over Indonesia.

Goducate aims to help thousands of needy Indonesians help themselves.

ScreenShot549 — Mr T Sihombing (3rd from left) at Goducate Headquarters

2011-06-20

Scholarship winner donates prize to fellow Goducate music student

Goducate recorder player Angelica Dacillo is a grade 6 student in elementary school. At the start of the school year her parents had a problem wondering whether they could afford to send all their 7 school-age children to school. We encouraged them to do so, and helped out by providing Angelica and her sister Christine with notebooks given by Goducate sponsors.

A week into the school term, the chairman of our barangay (village) called Angelica to tell her that she had been selected as a municipal government scholar. She had been selected by the Municipal Mayor Jose Padrid.

When Angelica went with her mother Melinda to the Municipal Mayor’s office to receive a certificate of scholarship (grade 6) for 1 year and a package of school supplies, the Mayor explained to Melinda how Angelica was selected. The Mayor had recalled that there was a group of children playing the recorder at the town’s Christmas celebration last year, and he identified Angelica from photographs of the event.

When they got home, Melinda asked Angelica what she would do with the school supplies, since she already had a set. Angelica said she would like to give them to fellow recorder player Mary Ann. Mary Ann had dropped out of school after the first week of term because she did not have the necessary books. Mary Ann cried with joy on receiving the books, and is now back at school.

DSCN4447 — Angelica with her Certificate of Scholarship

DSCN4427 — Angelica and Christine with notebooks from Goducate

DSCN4444 — Mary Ann receiving notebooks from Angelica

2011-06-17

Mothers in village contribute to Goducate Orchestra violinist’s studies

13-year-old Matthew Mendoza, a Goducate Orchestra violinist, has received a pleasant surprise at the Mabakan Learning Center, where he teaches the violin to some other children. The mothers of those children there have pooled together to give him 50 peso ($1) an hour for the lessons he gives every Saturday afternoon. The idea is that this money will go towards his studies.

Matthew, who began to learn the violin just over a year ago, is one of the 5 musicians selected during the making of the Channel News Asia program Once Upon a Village to go to Singapore for further training later this year.

His violin students, too, are teachers. They teach other children to play the recorder. All this is in keeping with Goducate philosophy of helping the needy to help themselves—and to help others.