Recently I attended the wedding of our Indonesian Goducate staff worker, Lekson. The wedding was held at our Goducate Learning Center in Batam. The hall that normally is full of noisy kampong kids learning English was transformed into a “grand” wedding hall.
It was a joy for me to see Lekson, in his formal suit, standing next to his beautiful bride Yuli resplendent in her native Batak dress. As I looked at this fine-looking couple standing before me, I couldn’t help reflecting on how much Lekson has been transformed in the past 3 years. I still remember the Lekson who used to attend our Goducate sessions with blood-shot eyes, smelling of alcohol and tobacco, looking bored and distracted in class. I remember the angry, ill-disciplined young man who wasted his hard-earned money on gambling. I remember how he was always late because he couldn’t get up on time.
Today, Lekson speaks to me in fluent English. He even teaches English in our Goducate centers. When we opened a new Goducate Center in Batam, he was appointed to head it. Today, he is a model of diligence and discipline. I felt like a proud father at this wedding!
I dream of the day that this new Lekson will reproduce many more little Leksons, not only through his dear wife but also through his life-example to the hundreds of children who come to our Goducate centers!
Earlier this month, Goducate Children’s Home, Cambodia, welcomed 5 new children into the “family”. These children, Nat, Lynn, Kanya, Mon and Nia, come from Battambang, a 12-hour drive away from the Home. They come from very poor homes and have received little education. They came to the Home in hope of a better education and a better life in the future.
The new children were taken for medical check-ups… Continue reading
Since Goducate aims to help needy Asians help themselves, Bangladesh is a country that has attracted its attention.
Recently, Bangladesh was in the news because of a horrific factory collapse that killed over 1100 garment workers. I was in the country when that accident took place.
Bangladesh is the most densely populated large country. It has about 160 million people (half of US population) squeezed into a land… Continue reading
Goducate Training Center (GTC), in Iloilo, Philippines, held its first Recruitment Conference on May 6-8.
Invitations had been sent to new university graduates, to working people, and to those who had expressed interest in being trained as community development workers (CDWs). Over 300 people from all over the Philippines attended the conference.
The topics covered included the history of Goducate, its philosophies, its CDW training program, and the… Continue reading
english is the mainstay of working languages worldwide, and will continue to be dominant. w/o literacy skills, how can a poor asian lift himself out of poverty?
the poor needs education to stand a fighting chance.