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Goducate at ActivAid 2010 Conference

Goducate was a part of ActivAid’s inaugural conference held last Saturday at the National University of Singapore. Goducate founder Paul Choo led one of the 15 workshops, while the co-founders and other volunteers manned the Goducate booth in the exhibition area.

ActivAid is a conference targeted at health-care students in Singapore and elsewhere to educate them about humanitarian efforts and to spur them into volunteering for such efforts. The conference is organized jointly by the National University of Singapore Medical Society and by Healthcare Expeditions International (HealthEx), a Singapore-based non-governmental organization that identifies, develops, and executes expeditions that health-care students can join to help the needy in various countries. The plan is for ActivAid conferences to be held annually.

Paul Choo asking a keynote speaker a question
Paul Choo asking a keynote speaker a question


For many people, going on a humanitarian expedition is a one-off affair, an experience of a lifetime with wonderful photo-opportunities, but then what? This kind of involvement means much effort and organization for the people on the ground in the host country and much disruption to their work, but in the long run makes little difference to the needy people out there. To drive home this point, the theme for this year’s conference was Sustainability Issues Facing Student Volunteers. Participants thus not only learnt what goes into humanitarian missions, but they were also challenged to think about how, after their return home, they can keep up the good work.

The topic for Paul Choo’s workshop was that merely doling out help to the needy is not charity. Doing so and doing things for them robs them of their dignity and self-worth and makes them overdependent on others, while giving the helpers a false sense of superiority. True, sustainable, charity is helping the needy to help themselves.

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Sabah Literacy Center – We want to learn to read at any price!

Water World is a 5 months old goducate center Sabah. It was named waterworld because once it was high tide the water reaches until the floor of our elevated school house. High tide will never be a hindrance to the students to go to school as well as volunteered teachers. I’ll show you some several ways to go to school even though high tide.

1.Bridge making is one way of going to our center. Students and teachers were together getting some logs.. making artificial bridge to step on and not getting too wet.

2. Up.. up.. pull is another way.. How? simple.. pull your shorts up and walk in water be sure to step on the right angle.. or else you will fall on the hole or you’ll step on the “floating object”.

3.Floating icebox is the easiest way to go to our center when its high tide.Just ride on it and ask someone to push you.

We think it’s ridiculous but that’s how they value their school and education. High tide will never be a hindrance for them to study and learn. I had shown you only 3 ways but there will be a lots of ways.

The visit.
Two weeks ago dentists from Philippines volunteered to visit and see the work in Sabah. They came in with their own tools and ready to extract the painful teeth of people in Khampung..

Some of them told us that never in their entire life ever seen a real dentist in person. Imagine some of the patients reaches the age of 60.. some ages 17-19 yrs old and the front teeth was “unidentified” already.The dentists did their job very well at 5 stations in 4 days. Despite of tiresome body and sleepless nights, the joy was still seen as they pull the tooth until the patients are now ready to give their BIG SMILE again..

The Father/ The patient

Uncle Asta is a husband of our volunteer teacher in one of our center ” WATER WORLD”. When the dentist came, he was one of the patients who patiently resist the pain of injection until his front teeth was pulled out.. He was so thankful. In return for his being grateful, he ask that if its possible he can help the waterworld by making a boat we just provide the materials and the labour was free..

Just this afternoon as I pass by in his house I saw him working for it.. It was a huge boat for our center in water world. This will be the 4th way of going to our center in the coming days.. Looking forward to that.. Row, row, row your boat.

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Laguna Model Farm Takes Steps to Start Demo

The model farm in Laguna, Philippines was a month-old operation when I visited it with the directors of Goducate in August. Its purpose is to demonstrate to the poor to produce vegetables for their own consumption. The first thought that came to mind, as I listened to the Goducate farm worker who showed me around, was that this place is a living lab. I noticed that each vegetable plot and tray of earthworms in the vermi-composting project has been tagged and labeled with information. The purpose for doing this is to improve the production yields at the farm.

The farm is now looking at ways to improve the yields of organic fertilizers by experimenting with cow manure, decaying vegetables and banana stalks, or as a blended mixture, in the vermi-composting project. Vegetables such as pek chye, long beans, okra (also known as lady’s fingers) have been planted. It will take a few weeks more for the harvest. I was told that a friend of Goducate, who is a plant pathologist, had also recommended that lemon grass – a natural pest repellant – be planted along the perimeter of the vegetable plots. Mini controlled experiments will also be carried out to determine the optimal amount of organic fertilizer to be used on each kind of vegetable. Also, the vegetables will be living proof of the organic fertilizer’s benefits to buyers.

The launch of these livelihood projects at the model farm is encouraging. To me, the demonstration of what works is important as it will benefit the poor when they produce vegetables in their own backyard. In my limited understanding, I believe the poor would often like to see results quicker than the rich because survival can often be a daily challenge. So, there is simply no room for them to take on what-does-not work. And this is why the demonstration of what works at the farm becomes important.

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