Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 54 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2015-08-142015-08-17

Goducate in Laguna trains policemen to be basketball officials

Goducate in Laguna has been helping the community through basketball. This game not only helps to keep kids off the streets but also to help them learn values such as discipline, teamwork, and leadership. For those who train to be basketball referees and table officials, the game provides a source of income. We have been holding basketball training sessions every Saturday for some 60 children aged 5-16. We also started a barangay (village) league which ran for 2 years till we ran out of funds this year.

Last month we extended our sports program to our Philippine National Police (PNP), in particular to the Laguna Provincial Public Safety Company (LPPSC).

On July 29 we held a seminar and training session for referees and coaches. The seminar was led by Goducate Sports Coordinator David ‘Boycie’ Zaman, an assistant coach for the San Miguel branch of the Philippine Basketball Association, which is champion of this year’s National League.

The program started with a word of encouragement by coach Boycie, who described how basketball had helped him to be the person he is today, able to influence the lives of young men who desire to become successful in basketball. He went on to encourage our men in uniform to reach out to youth through sports, through the PNP public community relations (PCR) program. He explained how getting youth to play basketball can draw them away from drug addiction, one of the largest probems in the Philippines now.

I had thought that only our barangay league had difficulty finding qualified officials, but it turns out that even the PNP has the same problem. To find a solution to this problem, further training session were held on Aug 5 and Aug 10.

Our long-term goal now is to create a group or organization of coaches, referees and table officials with integrity. We will draw them from different social levels in the community and give them a chance to earn some income from this work.

This month we plan to let our police trainees officiate in an actual basketball league event. We also hope to bring the same training to other police stations.

2015-08-072015-08-18

Staff at Goducate Training Center, Iloilo, attend Fire seminar

As part of the training in emergency preparedness at the Goducate Training Center, a fire seminar was held on June 23 for our regular as well as our temporary staff. Two officers from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) us about the different substances that cab create fire and what precautions to take.. They also taught the different kinds and parts of a fire extinguisher and and how to use it. The mnemonic for using a fire extinguisher is to simply PASS it:
Pull the pin.
Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire.
Squeeze the trigger.
Sweep the extinguisher from side to side.

We also learnt about different kinds of fire and different kinds of extinguishers. Class A fires are fueled by ordinary solid combustibles such as wood, cloth, and paper products. Class B fires arise from flammable liquids and gases. Class C fires are electrical fires (which must not be extinguished with water because that carries the risk of electrocution). Class D fires are those that arise from flammable metals. Class K (“K” for kitchen) are fires in cooking oils and grease fires (which should never be extinguished with water because that could cause the flames to explode and spread).

Fire extinguishers for specific types of fires are distinguished by different color codes.

There was seminar was not only instructive but also enjoyable. There was a question and answer session, and our instructor entertained us with the Firefighter song.

*Our guest writer in Jezzah May Regalado, a community development worker

2015-07-312015-08-05

Children at Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia get art lessons

The children at the Goducate Children’s Home learn much more than the usual school academic subjects. All help out with looking after the plants (fruit, vegetable and flowering) and animals (chickens, pigs, fish) at the Home, while the boys learn livelihood skills such as carpentry, motor-vehicle repairs and welding, and the girls have lessons in baking and sewing. For some skills, such as playing the violin, the children get lessons from visitors.

There is no art teacher at the Home, but the children were fortunate to have had a few art lessons recently from a visitor. Josephine Mendez spent a couple of days holding art classes at the Home teaching them some basics on shading and color coordination. The children each produced two drawings, one in pencil and one in color, which were judged by a panel consisting of an architect and a graphic designer. The best in each category are now on display in the Home’s learning center.