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Goducate’s first Indonesian camp

Last weekend, Goducate held its first International English Camp for the youth of Indonesia on the island of Batam.

On Friday at lunch time, 60 Indonesian teenagers gathered at the brand new HIM Community Center for their first camp experience. After a short opening ceremony, fun-time began. A games team (one guy and four ladies) from Goducate Singapore led the Indonesian teens in a seemingly never-ending series of about a dozen back-to-back games. The Indonesians seemed to have limitless energy.

All instructions were given in English (with translation from our Indonesian Goducate staff). This was probably the first time that the Indonesians had listened to instructions given to them in English.

That evening a group of Filipino teenagers (children of Filipino expatriates on Batam) entertained them to a mime on moral values. The almost “professional” quality of the miming was an encouragement to the Indonesians who were not much exposed to drama. After the mime, our Indonesian Director, Sam Quek, spoke to the campers.

The campers collapsed that night in the rooms of the community center (which was really a series of 6 terraced-houses).

On Saturday, it was Drama Time. The 60 campers were divided into three teams. The drama team from Goducate Singapore (one man and three ladies) trained their respective teams for that night’s drama competition. Each camper had to participate in the drama and had to speak at least one line in English. To help them overcome nervousness, their lines were projected on the back wall of the hall for them to read from. As it was the first time that they were speaking English before a crowd, this was a real challenge for most of them. Nonetheless, they bravely took up the challenge and got a breakthrough in overcoming their fear to speak in English!

The next day, they struggled to wake up for a early Sunday program. After breakfast that morning they returned home to catch up on 2 days sleep!

For most of the campers, it was an unforgettable camp experience. Hopefully, it will not only be their first camp but also their first little step to learning how to speak English.

After the success of this first camp, Goducate has decided to hold monthly International English Camps on the island of Batam – and then in other parts of Indonesia in the near future.

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Goducate Project Leaders’ Training

Preparations for the first Goducate Project Leaders’ Training are going well. A generous donation from a Goducate supporter this week provided us with the means to invite a few more of our project leaders to join us. For some it will be their first time leaving their home country!

A good program has been lined up for the 40 to 50 delegates that will be attending. Dr Low Lee Yong a Singaporean doctor whose health-care corporation is a Goducate corporate sponsor and who is an IT expert will be teaching us the importance of the internet, blogging and YouTubing. We want all our project leaders to be able to effectively share what they are doing with our other staff and with the world.

Dr Leslie Tay another Singaporean doctor who is also Singapore’s most well-known food blogger will be teaching us how to write interesting blogs and take interesting photos. Yet another Singaporean doctor, Dr Chan Tat Hon, who once was the number two person in the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board and who is now running a travel organization called Take-me-to-asia will teach us the importance of volun-tourism.

Other speakers who are more publicity-shy will teach us about the needy of Asia, creativity in non-profit work, cross-cultural communications, understanding and obeying foreign laws, etc. The first session begins on Monday night (Jan 18) and ends on Friday night (Jan 22) with a Goducate Night – where Goducate supporters get a chance to meet and mingle with our project leaders. From Tuesday on, training begins at 9am and lasts till 9pm (with the usual breaks for snacks and meals). Though the program is tailored for project leaders, all Goducate supporters are welcome to join the training sessions.

If you are interested to join the training, please email your interest to me.

As Goducate operates on a shoe-string budget our foreign delegates will be housed in homes of our friends and supporters. If you will like to help us house a delegate/delegates, please also email me. Your hospitality will be a great help to Goducate and a great encouragement to our field workers.