On our recent trip to Goducate Training Center in Iloilo, Philippines we had the opportunity to catch the tilapia in our impounding lake.
The primary purpose of the impounding lake is to provide a source ofwater for our rice fields. Though there are 5 fresh-water springs on site, high-yielding rice requires lots of water to produce optimal yields.
Since the impounding lake is large (about half an acre) and deep (about 5 meters). we decided to stock it with fast-breeding fish. A local fish research institute gave us an hundred tilapia fingerlings a few months ago. Today, there are over 10,000 tilapia of various sizes.
Food to feed the tilapia is obtained from a local meat producer and bakery. Their “spoiled” meat and bakery items are fed to the tilapias.
We were handed bamboo fishing rods and we began pulling tilapia out of the lake every minute. The little tilapias were thrown back into the lake and the large breeders were also thrown back.
A visitor to GTC fishing for tilapiaA visitor with his tilapia (this size of this fish is made much larger because it is held near the camera!)
These fish will be the main source of animal protein for the Goducate trainees when they begin their training at the end of April.
The Goducate trainees will also learn to breed tilapias so that they can help poor communities find another source of protein and income.
It’s now the early days of a new year, and I have been reminded of a very memorable New Year that I had a year ago, when I had the opportunity to travel with LifePegs to the famous Chagan Lake in northeast China. That was indeed a wonderful start of a new year for me. I not only had fun and made friends, but more importantly, I learned about making plans and developing New Year resolutions.
On the morning of New Year’s day, I got up very early, boarded the bus with 80 LifePegs members, and arrived at a beautiful wild rural area. The snow was very deep and it was freezing cold out there. We were like in an ice land. After our arrival, we had lunch at a local restaurant, and had 10 all-fish dishes —- big fish, small fish, flat fish, round fish… and they were all very tasty. In the afternoon, we went to experience winter fishing at Chagan Lake. We were very excited to witness one of the biggest “miracles” in China. The lake was huge and all covered with slippery ice thick enough for cars and lorries to drive across. It was fun walking on the ice and holding each other’s hands and coats to avoid falling. When a boy fell, some other playful boys all rushed to lie down on him and made a human pile. Everyone was having fun despite the cold!
Setting off across the lakeWaiting for the haul
After a long walk on the ice, we finally got to the center of the lake where the winter fishing took place. There was a long and narrow “river” that had been cracked open cracked open by the fishermen. The miracle is that the fishermen could catch 25 thousand kilograms of fish by using several thousand meters of fishing nets pulled by a herd of horses. We were all waiting and really excited, and kept asking the fisherman there, “Are you going to pull the nets now? ” “When can we see the fish?” We stood there for hours (well, it seemed so!) for the fish to come out. As it was freezing there, each of the LifePegs team tried their best to keep one another warm, encouraged each other and showed love and concern. The boys gave up their gloves and hats to those who needed extra means to keep them warm, and the girls were hugging each other to stay warm. Of course, we took lots of fun pictures.
On the “kang”
That night we gathered as a big group learning about the importance and lifeskills of making plans. My favorite part was writing down my resolutions, and putting the notes in a LifePegs envelope. The idea was that LifePegs would send it back to us a year later to see whether we attained the goals or not. As we were asked to be specific and detailed in making plans, I wrote things like calling home once a week on Tuesday and replying immediately after reading a text message, etc. On hindsight that exercise was really helpful in changing some of my bad habits and shaping me to be a disciplined and persistent person.
That night I experienced something new and “cool” too. I shared a “kang”(a bed warmed up from underneath by heat obtained burning wood or straw or grass in a stove in the kitchen) with several other girls ,and we stayed up until midnight sharing our lives, giving thanks for all the good things that happened to us in the past year. Of course, we are thankful for LifePegs for all the fun and wonderful activities they organised for College students like us! Well, unlike the boys who were playing 3-legged football in the cold, we girls wanted some quiet personal time inside the warm house.
The next morning we had a game called scavenger hunt and other fun games competing amongst different teams. It was a beautiful and warm day. All of us were having so much fun that it was difficult for us to leave this place and leave our new friends at noon.
It was a fun, meaningful and well-organized trip to kick start the New Year. I liked it very much and it gave me, thus far, my best memories at LifesPegs.
