Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 94 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2013-11-012013-11-05

Goducate trainees learn how to use jokes and magic tricks to engage the community

When the trainees at the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo, Philippines, graduate and are sent out as community development workers, they need to be able to quickly establish rapport with the members of the community, and they need to be able to think out of the box when they encounter an unfamiliar situation. To help the trainees acquire such skills, they were put through a week of extremely unusual training that involved learning to tell jokes and to do magic tricks.

The trainer for this course was Dr Low Lee Yong, founder and chief executive officer of MHC Asia, which is Goducate’s largest corporate sponsor. Dr Low came from a very humble background and struggled against all odds to achieve his dreams of doing medicine. After a short spell as a general practitioner, he started MHC Asia, a third-party administrator which now links over 1000 clinics in Singapore and which has won many entrepreneurship awards. Early this year Dr Low published his autobiography, I Dare to Dream. He has become a much-sought-after motivational speaker, who keeps his audience engaged with his informal, jocular style of delivering his message.

At the Goducate Training Center, Dr Low inspired the future community development workers to dream big through the sharing of his life experiences growing up in a poor village. His humble beginnings also drove home to the trainees that there is hope for the children in the poor communities they serve. His training sessions were practical and productive. He shared practical tips on public speaking and gave the trainees opportunities to speak.

Joke time was rather challenging for most of the trainees because they were unused to jokes about other cultures, and also because they did not grasp some of the jokes. However, they learnt how jokes can be used to emphasize major points. What the trainees also found very interesting were those bridge-building activities to engage people over a meal. For example, they learnt how to make paper roses with tissue paper, how to balance a coke can on its rim, and how to do magic tricks using easily available items such as coins,notes, name cards etc.

When Dr Low went along to the villages where the trainees do their community work, they saw how his fun-loving approach helped to build up rapport with the community.

On the last day of Dr Low’s stay at the Goducate Training Center the trainees were broken up into teams to compete in all that they had learnt from him. We hope that this little course will result in community development workers who can attract, talk, and inspire anyone in any crowd.

Trainees with their bouquets made from tissue paper

Trying to balance a tilted can on its rim

2013-10-29

India’s Global Lifeskills Center prepares students for interviews

Goducate’s Global Lifeskills Centre (GLC) in Hyderabad helps to prepare university students for the global world , to enhance their prospects of employment. It’s a place where students can learn about different cultures and meet people from different countries, and have fun while doing so.

Last week some of the students were in the midst of applying for graduate jobs and were about to face a series of interviews. Hence they asked for practical tips on attending an interview. We discussed with them the interview process. For some jobs competition can be great, and interviewees may have to go through 7- 8 rounds, with group discussions, public speaking, and debates to identify the brighter , more confident ones who speak well. Some are then are short -listed to be interviewed on the technical aspects of the job. At the end of the session students felt more confident about going for an interview.

Students also learned a new board game called Pictionary. They worked in groups, practising their drawing and communication skills, improving their English and learning new words, enjoying some competition, and having lots of fun. The night ended off with their trying blueberry and raspberry muffins and chocolate-chip cookies, a first for most of them.

2013-10-252013-10-29

Goducate Alternative Learning System teachers and students start feeding project to help others

Goducate’s tagline is “Helping the needy help themselves”. We also encourage our beneficiaries to help others. Two teachers in the Goducate literacy program in Laguna, Philippines, together with five of their students from the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program, have their own catchphrase: “If you want to help others, you can do it from a small beginning”. In the last week of August, this group started a small feeding project in a rice-farming village in Bay, in Laguna. This project is funded solely by contributions from the teachers and the ALS students. The ALS is a ladderized, modular, non-formal education program in the Philippines for people who, for whatever reason, did not complete their schooling.

Children in this rice-farming village sometimes go without breakfast. Their mothers usually give them only “brunch” because their budgets cannot stretch to two meals. Between 15 and 25 kids with ages ranging from 2-12 attend the feeding sessions that have been held every Saturday. Some of them are children of the ALS students. The feeding sessions are preceded by lessons in writing, drawing, and spelling.

Because of tight budget, the food is simple. It could be aroz caldo (porridge with chicken), or bread and champorado (a sweet chocolate rice pudding). Given their very limited resources, the teachers and ALS students have to commended for starting this project.