Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 57 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2015-06-12

Goducate holds first Indonesia National Public Seminar on Moringa

Last month, in partnership with PT Unimax Power and Frontier Consulting Group, Goducate held the First Indonesia National Public Seminar on Moringa at Menara Peninsula Hotel in Jakarta.

Moringa has been the main commodity that Goducate is popularizing in Indonesia to combat malnutrition of village folk, especially the children. To encourage the planting of Moringa, during the past 3 years the Goducate agriculture team has taught many needy Indonesians in the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Timur, Sumba, Tanjung Pinang, Sulawesi, and Nias how to produce, process, and use Moringa as a food supplement.

The topics covered at the seminar were The Perception of Indonesian Consumers Towards Moringa Tree, Moringa Ecology and Production, Harvesting, Processing, and Utilization of Moringa, Benefits from Moringa, Status of the Moringa Industry in Indonesia, Lessons Learned from the Moringaling Philippines Foundation Inc (MPFI), Cutting Edge Technology for Moringa Production, Wine Making from Moringa, Personal Experiences from Using Moringa, and How Kelor (Moringa) is our Best Friend.

This first Indonesian public seminar on Moringa drew very positive reactions from the more than 200 participants. The majority of the participants were academicians, while others were herbal, pharmaceutical, and medical professionals, business persons, and representatives from social organizations and government.

Dr Bernadette Arellano, founding chairperson of MPFI, threw out a challenge to organize a foundation similar to MPFI. This foundation is a network organization serving the moringa supply chain in the Philippines whose members share best practices in their respective areas of expertise. Her challenge was immediately taken up by Mr Handi Irawan, CEO of Frontier Consulting Group, who initiated the formation of the Indonesia Moringa Foundation (IMF), with Prof Gustaff Adolf Wattimena, from Institute Pertanian Bogor, as adviser. To date, 40 individuals and groups have signed in to be part of IMF.

Sharing about Goducate and its Moringa projects

2015-06-052015-06-08

Indonesians enjoy Goducate’s E-Talk program

Teaching English is one of the programs that Goducate runs in Indonesia, where students learn the language in school, but have little practice in oral English and are thus not confident in speaking the language. For children, Goducate uses Sing Your English, teaching the language largely through song. For adults, Goducate started an informal English conversational program in Medan called English Corner, during which students were encouraged to chat freely.

In 2014, we changed the name of the program to E-Talk. As with the English Corner, the aim is to make learning English enjoyable and effective, but activities have been introduced. In E-Talk, English is learnt through singing, playing games, watching movies, acting, cooking, and taking part in activities such as arts, crafts, and sports. It is a flexible program that can be modified to suit type of student. We have used it to teach various groups of learners, such as people in orphanages, schools, businesses and other organizations. The motto is: more mistakes, more learning, more fun!

Another feature of E-Talk is a segment called “Life Talk”. Here time is allotted for facilitators to talk to the students on a personal level, to get to know and understand them better. “E-Talk, especially Life Talk, makes me feel like I am not in a class but there is a sense of being part of a family when we are divided into small groups and talk about life. I am always looking forward every week to attend the sessions because I can freely express what I want to say in Life Talk. The facilitator is not really like a teacher but a brother to all of us. E-Talk is not an English course but a family, a community,” says Miss Desi Naibaho,a marketing manager for a Sushi Restaurant.

Yet another comment came from Dr. Vince Ratnawati, a professor at the University of Riau. He said, “The teaching method is different from all the English courses I have attended. It is a fun-filled method that I even applied with my university students. At the end of each session, I expect our team, Blue Team, to win and have candies from our facilitator, hahaha! I realized, competition is a fun approach in learning.”

E-Talk is being enjoyed in Batam, Pekanbaru, Jakarta, Bandung, and Medan and we hope to expand. “The sessions are unique and fun,” says Mr. Kun Lun, a banker, “I even encourage my subordinates to join.”

Practising oral English during cooking-themed E-Talk session.

*Our guest writer is Cindy Presquito, an E-Talk facilitator

2015-05-292015-06-04

Goducate scholar is trainer at summer music workshop in Laguna

On May 19-23 Goducate Laguna held our 6th summer music workshop, with 53 participants.

One of our volunteer teachers was 23-year-old Jay-Ar. In 2008 he graduated from high school but was not able to pursue his college studies because of financial difficulties. Being the firstborn in a family of 6 siblings, he was obliged to find a job to help support the family.

When he joined our music program in 2012, he soon learnt to play several wind instruments, and was given a chance to pursue his studies through a Goducate scholarship. Students who take part in our community programs (including the music program) are eligible to apply for these scholarships, sponsored by a Goducate supporter. Jay-Ar was also granted free tuition by his college after passing an audition to become part of the college brassband.

He is now in the 4th year of his course for the Bachelor of Science in Education, and hopes to graduate by next year.

Jay-Ar plays the saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and flute. He helps in our music program weekly, training others to play an instrument. It is part of Goducate culture for those who have been helped to go on to help others. This kind of movement makes a program sustainable.

Jay-Ar and students giving recital at the camp