SEPTEMBER 2014
Whilst it is always rewarding to witness all
the work that takes place in Goa it’s especially
so at the beginning of the new school year. So
much effort takes place to ensure that every
available place in our projects is full, that
children are enrolled in school and that they
have the uniform and equipment they need to
confidently attend. You will read about each of
our projects below but suffice to say we are
thrilled to see around 370 children being
supported by our projects daily. We are also
thrilled to report that 47 children joined
Nursery classes this year and have taken the
first steps towards a brighter future. We hope
that all our supporters, who have helped us in
any way, are proud to have had a hand in making
all these things possible and as always we say
thank you.
THE
CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE
We are sorry to mention Christmas so early but we wanted
to let all our supporters know that our annual Christmas
Challenge will take place on 5th, 6th and 7th December.
Basically donors will get the chance to double any donation
made over the Challenge weekend as they are matched against
other people’s advance pledges. It might sound a bit
complicated but it’s actually very simple - you can read all
about it here
.We really need your help to make this crucial
fundraiser a success.
In order to make our event a success up until 24th
October we are seeking people or organisations willing to
make an advance pledge of £100 or more. The sums pledged
will form a pot of funds which can be accessed only
by other people making donations over the Challenge weekend.
Every donation will be doubled by a contribution from the
pot until it is exhausted. We would love to hear from anyone
willing to make a pledge. Please contact us at
info@mangotreegoa.org if you can help.
We are also
hoping that during the next three months supporters might be
inspired to think how they could support us over the
Challenge weekend. We have put together some ideas to
inspire you
here . Please take a look and contact us if we could
help.
THE MANGO HOUSE HOLIDAY CLUB
Many children return to their native villages during the
long Summer holidays but Mango House stays open for all but
two weeks of the break. They continue to feed all the
children who remain and put on non-study activities. The
children spent many enjoyable afternoons at the House
participating in art and craft activities including
traditional crafts such as Rangoli (seen above), drawing
Mahendi designs in henna on their hands and arms and playing
board games such as Carrom. As the weather remained fine
both boys and girls had a lot of fun playing cricket in the
garden too!
2014 UNIFORM ISSUES
We are very happy to report that by the end of June the
giving out of uniforms was almost complete. Over 150 were
given to the pre-primary children at both Mango House and
Chimbel, 93 to the afternoon and older children which Mango
House supports, 20 to the children at the Colva project, 31
to those on our existing list of children we know to be in
need and 112 to children put forward by 6 local schools and
Childline. Thanks to all over 400 children can attend school
this year feeling proud and confident about their
appearance.
MANGO
HOUSE PRE-PRIMARY
We were really pleased to see so many parents attend the
parent teacher meeting at Mango House at the beginning of
term. Details were given about the rules, regulations,
timings etc of pre-primary school and parents were reminded
that they also have an important role to play in supporting
their children and school activities. After the meeting each
child was given their uniform and school bag. Some children
are as young as two and the transition from home to school
can be a difficult adjustment. But with support and
understanding and parents’ help too it won’t be long before
our youngest recruits are taking it all in their stride.
NEW
PREMISES FOR CHIMBEL
It was all change at Chimbel as the project got a new
home for the new school year. Chimbel is a sensitive area,
with great demand for every available room and there are
strong concerns about “outsiders” setting up inside the
slum. However, as the new school settled down last year and
parents could see the good work going on and the need for
more space they began to come forward with news about
available rooms. Towards the end of the year a more suitable
place where all the children can be together was found. Some
renovations were required, most of which were completed in
readiness for the first day of the new term. We look forward
to visiting the new school rooms later in the year.
RAINBOW PARTY
In June the Rainbow party was organised by the Bandekar
charity and the Rotary Club to celebrate the birthday of
Aryan Kamat. Many charities working with disadvantaged
children in Goa were invited to attend and we were lucky to
take 30 children. Activities included games stalls, a bouncy
castle, a magic show, drama sessions and dancing. The
children were given lunch and refreshments and a chance to
enjoy the candy floss and popcorn stalls too before Aryan
cut his birthday cake. Each child left with wonderful gifts.
It was an amazing event and we say thank you for including
Mango Tree.
NEW
SCHOOL YEAR AT CHIMBEL
The new school year at Chimbel kicked off with the giving
out of uniforms and books. The children and their parents
were very happy to receive such items – you can see some
more of our little stars in our newsletter’s header photo.
When the pre-primary school started last June it was decided
not to have an upper kindergarten class as one year isn’t
long to prepare for primary school. This June, however, the
existing children all moved up a year and a new intake
joined at nursery level. The school is now fully operational
and we look forward to seeing the first recruits head off to
primary school next year.
THANK YOU CAROLINE
We were very lucky that Caroline chose to spend part of her
summer holidays volunteering at Mango House. Caroline, an
art and Design teacher from Scotland, bravely joined the
team at the hottest time of the year just as the monsoon
unleashed its rain on Goa. The children were back working
hard at school and so it was a lovely to have Caroline bring
lots of ideas to help brighten up the morning and afternoon
sessions. The children had a wonderful time and we really
hope to see Caroline back at Mango House again.
MANJITA (*)
When Manjita (*) completed 10th Standard she wanted to
continue on to College to undertake a fashion designing
course but she knew that as there would be college fees and
she would have to provide all of the sewing material etc
needed on the course it wouldn’t be possible without
support. She asked Mango House if it would be possible to
help. We are happy to report that Manjita did indeed get the
chance to follow her dreams and are pleased to see her here
at the end of her first year showing some of the items that
she had recently made. (*) name changed
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY
People throughout the world value the importance of
friendship and in 2011 the United Nations declared an
International Friendship Day. Today, India and many other
countries celebrate Friendship Day on the first Sunday of
August. It is an important day and it is often marked by the
exchanging of friendship bands. As Mango House was closed
for the day the children enjoyed making and exchanging
friendship bands the following afternoon. On this important
day we also reflected on how fortunate Mango Tree is to have
friends all over the world who support us and without whom
nothing would be possible.
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THANK YOU GROUND DEVELOPMENTS
Our thanks go to
Ground Developments Ltd for their recent donation of £1,000
towards our Mango House project. The team decided to get
involved when they heard about all the fundraising one of
their Site Managers Eddie and his wife Yvonne were doing to
help Mango Tree. Not only did they make such a generous
donation but they also secured lots of educational supplies
which Eddie and Yvonne (seen above with Leonie from GDL)
will take to Mango House. We look forward to seeing them and
their "cargo" in January!
COULD YOUR OLD FRIEND FIND A
NEW ONE?
Every year Mango House needs hundreds of toys to give to
children at Christmas and birthdays. If you have any good
quality second-hand (or new) toys and could put a few in
your case for us they would be really appreciated. We can
usually arrange an extra luggage allowance if you are flying
with Thomas Cook, Thomson or Qatar so do ask. You can read
more about what we really need and extra luggage allowances
here.
CELEBRATING EID AL-FITR
On 28th July Mango
House celebrated the very important Muslim
festival of Eid Al-Fitr. The festival marks the
end of the holy month long fast of Ramadan and
is a joyful day. The children at Mango House
celebrated by partaking in special art
activities and by applying special Eid Mahendi
designs on hands and arms. Every child left with
a packet of sticky rice - a typical Eid treat.
You can see some photos
here
CONGRATULATIONS REBECCA & NEIL
We sent our hearty
congratulations to Rebecca Fernandes and Neil Kevan on
the occasion of their wedding on 22nd August. Rebecca’s
parents are originally from Goa and
recalled a tradition to provide the poorer people of the
village with a meal on the day before a wedding. To uphold
the sentiment in this tradition they kindly chose to sponsor a special meal,
fruit, cake and biscuits for all of the Mango House
children. The children were thrilled to be included in the
event and thoroughly enjoyed their treat.
CELEBRATING SUCCESS AT CHIMBEL
At the end of the school year
Sister Francis told us about several children at Chimbel who
had been given certificates and trophies at school. The
awards covered all manner of things from colouring,
handwriting and painting through to balloon balancing and
shot-put! When we looked through the photos, however, one
thing was common – the look of pride on every face.
STYRRUP HALL GOLF
A huge thank you goes to all those involved in the
Styrrup Hall Golf Club Fundraiser for Mango Tree. Lots of
kind people supported with donations of prizes for the
competitions and the provision of snacks and tea and coffee.
It was a great day and the members raised a whopping £650!
WE BELIEVE
On 9th June we celebrated Mango Tree’s second
anniversary and we thought it was a good time to
remind ourselves of the fundamental beliefs we
wrote on founding the Charity. With the help of
our supporters we have come a long way in two
years but our beliefs remain the same. See them
here.
BAG INSPECTION AT COLVA
Early in June Savita made a trip to Colva to
give out uniforms and school bags. The children
at Colva are always very grateful for all they
receive and it’s a joy to see their reactions.
As soon as they received their school supplies
they did a quick change into their new uniform
and then set about examining the contents of
their bags. You can see them earnestly
investigating above!
WILL YOU VISIT US?
As our newsletter goes out we are looking
forward to the start of the tourist season and
hoping to see lots of visitors at Mango House.
If you are staying in Candolim, Calangute, Baga
or Arpora we can usually arrange a pick up if
you would like to visit. Our van will pick up
around 10am and drop visitors back around 12pm.
Email us at least a week before at
info@mangotreegoa.org if you would like a
lift.
RAKSHA BANDHAN
A rakhi is an emblem of love and protection
which signifies the sacred bond between brothers
and sisters. On Raksha Bandhan, a sister ties
the thread of rakhi to her brother's wrist so
that her brother can enjoy prosperity in life.
On the other hand, the brother promises to
protect his sister from all possible
difficulties in life. This year the festival
took place on 10th August. You can see here just
a few of the rhakis the girls at Mango House
made in readiness for the big day.
PROTECTED FROM THE MONSOON
Although we pick up and drop all pre-primary
children they still have to wait at the roadside
for our van. During the monsoon children would
get soaked by the time they reached Mango House.
It’s miserable to sit in wet clothes all morning
but worse still wet clothes makes chills more
likely which often lead to absence from school.
To combat this we therefore ensure all our
youngest children receive a raincoat. We were
really fortunate that this year our Mango Tree
friends provided so many of the pre-primary
raincoats. Thank you Ann, Helen and Joe.
WOW AND SUPERB!
Mango House had an amazing visit from a group of
Harley Davidson enthusiasts on Independence Day.
Around 25 bikers went along and gave the
children the chance to get up close with their
fabulous bikes. It was also an honour to proudly
sing the National Anthem together. Not only was
it such an exciting morning but we were also
thrilled to hear that generous donations both
from Tuskers Motorcycles and frmo the bikers
were made too. Apparently two words were heard a
lot that morning - "Wow" and "Superb"! |
