From the 11th to the 23rd of January, I ate, slept, worked, and chatted with the children at the Goducate Children’s Home in Preyop, Cambodia. A typical day for a child in the home would go along something like this—wake up at crack of dawn to do assigned tasks or chores, have breakfast, attend school (in English) and Khmer classes, then back to doing assigned tasks in various part of the home or pursue own leisure activities.
Many fruits, vegetables, and herbs and spices are grown in the grounds of the Home to feed its residents. Chickens and fish are also reared to provide food for the Home. Through their assigned tasks children are taught agricultural skills and poultry and fish rearing. With their team work, and with the older children helping and guiding the younger ones, the tasks are done effectively, and the children acquire leadership and mentoring skills.
The older ones also learn skills such as welding, repair work, and basic construction and electrical and mechanical skills. During my stay the boys were repairing and reinforcing a brick wall along the perimeter of the Home, to keep out intruders, not only human ones but also animal oness such as snakes. The bigger boys mixed the concrete, laid the bricks, and carried the heavy loads, while the younger ones learnt by occasionally having a go at the work and helping in any little ways they could.
Mixing concrete
Bricklaying under supervision
My short stay gave me the impression that the various skills that the children are learning, and the constant moulding and guiding that they receive will stand them in good stead when they leave the Home, whether they head for village or city life, and that they will be able to make a difference in their community.
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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