The last quarter has been
an eventful time. Children have studied hard for
their exams. There has been lots of fun too as you
can see from the above photo taken at party for the
Chimbel project children. The major festivals of
Ganesh, Eid Al Adha and Diwali all fell into the
period as did Ghandi Jayanti and Children’s Day
which are also important dates in the Indian
calendar. You can read about some of the
celebrations below.
For many people, thoughts
will now be on Christmas and New Year celebrations.
At Mango Tree as 2013 draws to a close we can’t help
but reflect on all that has been achieved during the
year. We are thrilled that our Mango House, Colva
and Chimbel projects are firmly established and are
supporting over 300 children on a daily basis. Most
of all, however, we remember that we are a team and
that nothing would be possible without supporters.
Support, in whatever form, means you've given hope
and a helping hand for a brighter future to hundreds
of disadvantaged children in Goa and on behalf of
children we really do say thank you.
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.
CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE
Just a quick reminder that our
Christmas Challenge will take place on 6th, 7th and 8th of
December. The first £1,500 of donations made over the
weekend will be matched pound for pound by a group of
supporters. It’s a wonderful opportunity to double your
donation so please give if you can.
FAREWELL ALI SIR
Our November birthday party was an extra special event as we
said farewell to our Mango House Father “Ali Sir”. Ali has
served disadvantaged children for over 18 years but now as
his own children are growing up he is heading overseas to
work to make a better future for them too. In recognition of
his work at Mango Tree Ali was presented with a t-shirt
covered with all the Mango House children’s names. We wish
Ali all the very best for the future.
GIFTS IN KIND
If you or your family or friends are visiting Goa and could
take some good quality second hand toys for use as presents
and prizes they really would be appreciated. We can usually
arrange a free luggage allowance with Thomas Cook and
Thomsons. Sometimes we are given things which we just can’t
get to Goa and we would also love to hear from you if you
would take luggage on our behalf. Please contact us if you
can help.
PERMISSION GRANTED FOR CHIMBEL
PROJECT TO RECEIVE FOREIGN FUNDS
Few people will be aware that under the Foreign
Contributions Regulations Act all charities operating in
India must apply for permission from the Government to
receive foreign funds in support of their work. We were
delighted to hear that permission has been granted which
enables us to fund the new Chimbel project. The project is
located at Indra Nagar abut 5kms from the city of Panjim.
The area is a huge slum and is one of the most deprived
areas in the whole of Goa. This very worthwhile project
supports over 100 children through its pre-primary school
and afternoon tuition programme. We commend Sister Francis
for managing to keep it running since June until clearance
from Delhi was received and look forward to seeing the
project progress over the years.
CHIMBEL GALLERY
One of our trustees was in Goa
recently and took the opportunity to visit our Chimbel
project. Click
here to see a set of photos taken on the day of her
visit.
COLVA
GALLERY
We also visited our Colva
project where all but one of the children registered were in
attendance and studying hard for their forthcoming exams.
You can see them in our latest gallery set
here.
CHEF SOUMYEN COOKS A MEAL WITH
A DIFFERENCE
During October the Mango House afternoon children had a
very special treat courtesy of Chef Soumyen who kindly
invited them to his restaurant for lunch. Around 75 were
treated to Chicken Biryani and ice cream - all washed down
with a mocktail. The outing was a perfect post exam treat
for the school-going children and we say a huge thank you to
Soumyen for his kindness and to his staff for looking after
the children so well.
WELLBEING TALK
Mapusa Urban Health Centre
recently gave a talk on wellbeing to parents and children at
Mango House. It covered the importance of vaccinations, the
bad effects of chewing tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, the
significance of good nutritional food for growing children
and the overall importance of a healthy lifestyle. We were
pleased to see so many Mums and Dads attending and that
their response to the talk was very positive.
VISIT TO THE SCIENCE MUSEUM
Whilst Mango Tree focuses on education we also like to
have some fun too. Gandhi Jayanti is an Indian national
holiday that celebrates the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. As
the children were off school an outing was arranged to the
Science Museum where they watched the Planetarium Show and
then watched a 3D Show explaining how dinosaurs became
extinct. Later the children had fun at a local park.
MIND REWIND
2
We were thrilled to hear that DAT Mafia Records have
produced a compilation of Goa Trance Music and that all the
tracks have been generously donated by the artists to raise
money for Mango Tree Goa. Only 1,000 CDs are available and
went on sale on December 1st. You can read more about this
unique compilation here .
http://www.datrecords.it
CELEBRATING GANESH CHATURTHI
In September Mango House celebrated the joyful Hindu
festival of Ganesh Chathurti. During the festival it is
traditional to prepare special sweets to be shared with
relatives and friends. In a labour of love, all the Mango
House ladies sat together and prepared nevrios for around
170 children. The sweets were distributed to all the Mango
House children before they broke up for a week’s holiday.
OUR SAVINGS POTS
We are grateful to special Goan friends who took traditional
clay savings pots and turned them into the beautiful savings
pots above. The large pot will be used at Mango House as a
donation box but the rest are available for supporters. If you could save your change for Mango Tree
please either pick a pot up when you visit Mango House or
let us know at
info@mangotreegoa.org
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
At the beginning of the quarter Mango House came up with an
innovative solution to an unusual problem. One Mum asked for
help with her daughter who was stealing plants. After
counselling the little girl staff realised she just wanted
to grow things and it would be a shame to stamp out this
spirit. They decided to divide the afternoon children into 6
groups and allocate each a plot at Mango House. Each group
has set about clearing and planting their garden and after
some months the best garden group will be given a prize.
It’s fair to say there have been set backs, mainly due to
the invasion of cows and dogs, but gardening is becoming a
favourite activity with the elder girls group showing most
progress.
CELEBRATING DIWALI
The Hindu festival of Diwali celebrates the triumphant
victory of good over evil, the glory of light over darkness
and a beam of hope for all mankind. Children worked hard for
exams before breaking up for the Diwali Holidays. Mango
House celebrated with the children by making lanterns – a
traditional Diwali decoration.
SPONSORSHIP
SCHEME
In our last newsletter we announced our child sponsorship
scheme. The scheme is now up and running and we are
delighted to have been able to provide sponsors with details
of their sponsored child.
Child sponsorship is a wonderful way to make a
contribution and to watch a child develop. If you may be
interested in sponsoring a child please visit our web page
here to read about the scheme in detail.
SUPPORTING MANGO TREE
There are lots of ways to help Mango Tree to transform the
lives of disadvantaged children. You could
Donate
Sponsor a Child
Organise a Fundraiser
Shop Online using the Give As You Live Scheme
Take Much Needed Items to Mango House
Spread the Word
You can make a one-off or regular donation by visiting our
Virgin Money Giving page
here. Please do not be put off by
thinking you can only afford a small contribution. Every
little helps, so be assured that if you can make a gift of
any amount that gift will make a difference.
We hope you have found our newsletter interesting and
informative. However, If you would like to unsubscribe from
our newsletter mailing list please contact us at
newsletter@mangotreegoa.org and enter UNSUBSCRIBE in the
title and we will ensure that you do not receive further
issues.
Copyright 2013 Mango Tree
Goa : Charity Registered in England and Wales : Charity
Number 1148049
