Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 88 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2014-01-032014-06-09

Goducate trains typhoon victims on Panay island to use chainsaws

One of the main types of relief that Goducate is offering to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) is teaching them how to use a chainsaw. The typhoon blew down so many trees, some of which flattened homes, schools, and other buildings, that being able to chop up the trees would allow access for rebuilding and provide material for construction work, not only of buildings but also of boats that were lost or destroyed in fishing villages.

Goducate is concentrating its efforts on Panay island, a place devastated by the typhoon that is nearest to the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo.

One of the first few villages on Panay Island that Goducate has started to work with is Bayas. On a recent re-visit to Bayas, Goducate held a Christmas party for the children of the primary school, while the men were taught how to use a chainsaw and the women learnt about nutrition.

Children having fun in front of one of the temporary shelters put up by Goducate for the school.

Parents and children choosing “Japanese slippers” (flip-flops) given by Goducate

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Reflections on Goducate work in Cambodia

In mid-December, I was part of a team of 5 dentists and 7 other volunteers who went to Cambodia to offer dental treatment to the residents at the Goducate Children’s Home as well as the people in 2 neighboring villages. These impoverished villages are where the staff and the older children from the Home go to teach English and basic health education to the villagers.

The four days we spent at the Home and in these villages were memorable. I was struck by how the work at the Goducate Children’s Home has had a tremendous impact on the lives of the residents. I saw young lives in the process of real transformation in their ability to help themselves and help others. The children there are being equipped with practical skills that will enable them to reach out to their own people in the future. The short interaction we had with some of the older teenagers who acted as our translators gave our team an insight into the substantial value of Goducate’s mission of helping the needy to help themselves

Our work in the neighboring communities showed me the challenges faced by the staff of the Home in reaching out to those communities. The education of kids in such impoverished communities is a significant challenge. At Diamond Farm, one of the rural farming communities that the dental team served, not all children who attend school live close by. Some children walk 2 hours to the school, and during the long rainy season the clay roads leading to the school turn into muddy red tracks that make walking impossible. The ultra-poverty among the adult rural folk and their priority for survival make the task to implement and sustain a very basic set of health habits at community level extremely difficult.

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Goducate starts work in Singapore with We-Chat English

Goducate has been serving needy communities in 8 countries in Southeast Asia, but Singapore has not been one of them because we felt that there aren’t as many poor communities in Singapore and that there are many charitable organizations serving the needs of these people. However, in the past year much attention has been drawn to the vast numbers of migrant workers in Singapore, and the difficulties they face in integrating well with the local community.

Goducate has thus started We-Chat English, a programme of conversational English for adults who want to learn functional English without the stress of examinations. To achieve our aim of social integration, the classes are open to both migrant workers and local people. The classes include fun-filled activities that give the students a chance at practising what is being taught. In addition, each 3 hr session ends with a half-hour session called the English Café, during which the class breaks into groups led by a facilitator. The facilitator will help the group loosen up to chat among themselves and get to know each other better.

There are six levels of classes, and 12 lessons per course. Students are provided with course notes and an audio CD. We have been testing the programme with a few pilot courses, and will be starting more courses next year, in different parts of Singapore.