Last Saturday some 50 food connoisseurs spent the afternoon enjoying a BBQ Cookout and supporting Goducate at the same time. The fundraiser was organized by foodblogger Dr Leslie Tay of ieatishootipost.sg, who has supported Goducate by holding such events for us several times in the past. Special thanks go the main sponsor for the event, Swiss Butchery, which sponsored the venue and the meats.
Diners were offered a gustatory array of different meats such as Wagyu Beef Rump, Smoked Iberico Pulled Pork (marinated for 10 hours), Smoked beef brisket, duck hearts, Mahi Mahi, Tuna and more!
The event was complemented by “Barbeducation “ on BBQ and smoking techniques. The ambience was completed with Sean Harrison’s versatile voice as he serenaded diners with old-time classics.
What shall I have?What was Dr Tay saying?Barbeducation time
ConnecTayo, derived from a combination of English and Tagalog words to mean “Let’s Connect”, is a Goducate project to help Filipino immigrants in Singapore. Towards the end of last year, we conducted a livelihood-training program for them. 22 people completed the course and were certified as basketball referees.
On March 23 this year, ConnecTayo in partnership with FilOrg Singapore, kicked off the Goducate Cup Basketball League, which is being held at Jurong West Secondary School. 21 teams have joined the league. There is a height limit for players of 5’10’’, to keep the teams as balanced as possible and thus to make the games more exciting. The games are being held every weekend and will run for the next 6 months. Some of those who completed the basketball referee training program last year are officiating at this league.
We thank MHC Asia for being the main sponsor for the event. MHC Asia also provided free medical check-ups for players and team supporters on the opening day.
ConnecTayo programs are intended to enhance Filipino immigrants’ experience of living in Singapore. We believe that Filipinos who are well connected among themselves will be able to integrate well with the locals and even to contribute to the local community.
Flyer for the Goducate Cup basketball leagueThe teams
Last September Goducate sent 4 of its English teachers to Danang, Vietnam, to strengthen the faculty of our Vietnamese partners, iCan Language Center.
The Vietnamese government is keen to make Vietnam an English-speaking nation by 2020 and has set aside large sums of money to achieve this goal. The biggest bottle-neck in achieving this goal is the lack of teachers of English. The Vietnamese authorities were focusing on recruiting English teachers from western countries. However, many western teachers find the working conditions and salaries in Vietnam to be sub-par. So when I met with the authorities to suggest to them the possibility of sending Goducate-trained Filipino teachers, I was met with much skepticism. Eventually I offered to send a small team of our Filipino English
teachers for a trial period.
Since then our team of 4 Filipinas have been impressing the Vietnamese with their command of the English language, their lively teaching style, and more importantly their love and care for their students. Top-end hotels that were reluctant to accept our teachers to help their staff learn English were “converted” almost immediately after seeing our teachers in action. The personnel manager of one such hotel said, “I didn’t realize that Filipinos can be such good English teachers. Please don’t send us any more Western teachers!”
Recently, one of our teachers, Merianne, was awarded a “Top Employee” award in a 5-star hotel at which room rates start at USD $500/night. I spoke to the personnel manager and she said, “Merianne is excellent. We all love her”. I sat in at one of Merianne’s classes and watched her lively and engaging teaching session and felt so proud of her.
On another occasion I was having coffee with some of our teachers at a road-side cafe near iCan Language Center when a student joined us. I watched this Vietnamese student sharing her “deepest secrets” with our teacher and realized that our teachers had built very close teacher-student relationships. Our teacher was no more just a teacher but a close friend and advisor.
We anticipate more requests for Goducate teachers in Vietnam in the near future. Goducate hopes to help Vietnamese help themselves by teaching them English.
Merianne with Vietnamese colleagueGoducate teachers in Vietnam
