On my visit to Sabah last week, I visited many of our Literacy Centers. Some old ones had disappeared because the government had cleared out the “squatters”. However, as soon as the people settle into their new squatter kampong (usually fairly near-by) they immediately request for us to start a new Literacy Center in their new kampong. Because of this I can hardly remember the names of our centers (which are named after the kampong they are in). Furthermore, most schoolhouses are fairly similar because they are made from leftover wood and zinc roofing.
However, it is exciting to hear request after request for extension of the existing schoolhouses that are already overflowing. Each year, the student cohort moves from Beginners’ Class,to Basic Literacy Program, to Primary to Intermediate—so more space is needed.
"Please extend this little school-house!"
Improvements desperately needed!
It is also exciting to hear requests from people living in nearby kampongs to start a center in their kampong. On this trip, I had 2 requests from new kampongs and numerous requests for extensions and improvements to existing facilities.
The number of illiterate children continues to grow because of a high birth-rate and new squatters arriving in Sabah. So our work of helping Asians help themselves continues….
Goducate, with its mission of helping young adults in China to help themselves, has opened a second Lifepegs student activity center in southern China. The new center is located in one of the city’s major campus districts with a student population of 60,000 to 70,000 from 8 universities.
The core team of 3 native workers trained by Goducate worked hard to renovate and get the center started within 28… Continue reading
Five of the first batch of trainees who completed the Goducate training program for basketball officials did not have to wait long to get their first jobs. And the jobs were not for matches at village level (where they had done their training), but at inter-university level. This job opportunity for out-of-school youth arose with the 10-day visit of the Indonesian Youth Team from West Java to play against eight… Continue reading
Goducate believes in encouraging the students at the literacy centers to read. However, it has not been easy to set up a library, or somewhere to store books securely. For one thing the centers are scattered over a wide area. For another, many centers are the living rooms of the locals into which the students squeeze for their lessons, while others are very basic structures consisting just of a roof… Continue reading
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