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The Great Enthusiasm at Goducate Training Center

This is the first time that I set foot on the Goducate Training Center since I read about it on the Goducate website. I must admit that I have never seen anything like this before, in terms of the high level of enthusiasm and buzz in a rural community project. All the people (volunteers and workers alike) that I met on-site gave me a sense that they wanted to do their best to finish the project well. With a dose of gusto and camaraderie, this area was transformed from a patch of forest into the shape it is today – all in a space of 2 months – albeit there is more to go to complete the project. While the pace of development is truly impressive, I would say that the team spirit, enthusiasm and positive outlook are even more commendable.

Many volunteers at the site are trained professionals in areas such as civil and electrical engineering, agriculture and forestry. In anticipation of the visit by the Goducate directors from Singapore, each volunteer was encouraged to put up their own proposal for new activities or projects at the existing site. The proposals were presented at a meeting room in the city on an evening. Interesting ideas were aplenty. For example, the proposals included the establishment of a training restaurant which could be sustained by regular patrons from the Iloilo locality, the setting up of a freshwater fish farm for demonstration of livelihood and recreational fishing, and a setup to train proper agricultural techniques for better harvest. While these ideas still need more time to cook, it is clear that they will have to be self-supporting – to align to Goducate’s overall objective to help needy Asians to help themselves.

Speaking of self-supporting, there are over a hundred daily rated laborers on-site. For this phase of the construction project, some of the laborers were deployed to work on the multi-purpose hall, some to work on the impounding pond and some to plant hybrid rice. I was told that these skilled laborers were hired from the locale surrounding the Training Center, thereupon providing jobs to the locals. Having gainful employment allows one to help oneself.

To the team in Philippines, keep what truly is good, that is your team spirit, enthusiasm and positive outlook!

Superstructure of Multi Purpose Hall
Superstructure of Multi Purpose Hall
Hybrid Rice Field and Irrigation Drains
Hybrid Rice Field and Irrigation Drains
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Helping poor Asians – one backyard at a time (Part 2)

I was told by a Filipino friend that many Filipinos don’t plant vegetables in their backyard because their neighbors will simply help themselves to the vegetables. And most Filipinos would rather lose their vegetables than lose the friendship of their neighbors!

I believe that this is a real problem because many Asian countries share this same communal characteristic. However, I believe that for every problem there is a possible solution. And my solution to this problem is that we should help the whole community to grow vegetables so that all will have vegetables of their own!

Of course, the next question is how do we get a whole community to produce their own vegetables? In every community, there are hard-working people and lazy people – and usually the lazy ones outnumber the hard-working ones. However, I believe that the power of envy is a very powerful motivator – even to the lazy ones!

I believe that if our community worker himself starts with his own little backyard plot in the community then after 3 months, the sight of his juicy tomatoes, red chillies, over-size bitter gourds, extra long long-beans, crunchy pakchoy will evoke enough envy among the neighbors to ask not only for freebies but also for a few earthworms (to produce good fertilizer) and a few tomato seeds and long-bean cuttings!

A little envy, greed and competition among mothers may just be what’s needed to turn Asia’s idle backyards to productive food machines for Asia’s poor!


Goducate believes that the key to the success of this plan is to train community workers who can first turn their own backyards into “model-farms” and then let envy drive one neighbor after another to turn their backyards into model-farms.

The first batch of community workers in Laguna are already being trained in the Goducate model farm there. The large farm in Iloilo will hopefully take in their first batch in December.

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Helping poor Asians – one backyard at a time! (Part 1)

In my travels through Asia, I am saddened by the poor nourishment of many Asian children. My training as a doctor helps me to pick up signs of malnourishment (eg. under-sized children, late maturity, general lethargy) in almost every Asian country – whether rural or urban.

The average traveler is more likely to be impressed by the nicer clothes that they wear, the newer electronic gadgets in their hands and the slickly packed snacks that they eat and assume that these children are doing well.

An average meal for many Asian children is a plate of rice, topped with a little instant noodles (from a pack that is shared among the whole family). This convenient, tasty meal may satisfy the child’s taste buds and fill his belly but will surely not adequately nourish him. Sad to say, such meals are becoming more common as we “progress”! After all, to many mothers the slickly packaged instant noodles suggests a “scientific” meal for the modern mum!

I do not believe that Asian mothers deliberately want to under-nourish their children. I believe that ignorance contributes significantly to this state of affairs. And I believe that this trend can be reversed – one backyard at a time!

For the past year, Goducate has been experimenting with different aspects of bio-intensive backyard farming and we are convinced that with the right type of organic fertilizers (easily produced by earthworms), the right type of seeds (easily obtained from agricultural organizations) and a little encouragement, Asian mums can produce enough “organic” vegetables to feed their children in their own backyards. With today’s agri-technology, there is no reason why the poor cannot enjoy the freshest, most nutritious meals from their own backyards.

Goducate presently is developing two farms in the Philippines – one in Iloilo (in the central part of the Philippines) and the other in Laguna (in the northern island of Luzon) – to train community workers for Asia.

Goducate hopes to help Asians help themselves – beginning with one backyard at a time!