DECEMBER 2014
As we reflect over the last year we have many
reasons to be grateful, not least that our Mango
House, Colva and Chimbel projects are well
settled and supporting around 375 children
daily. We are also very grateful for the
generosity of our supporters - without them very
little would be possible and we never forget it.
As we watch the children progress we have good reason to
hope that they are forging a better future for themselves.
Funnily enough, however, our meeting a student named Jade
early in the year reminded us to have a hope for a different
reason. Jade visited Mango House with a party from from her
College. It was explained to us that she worked in a coffee
shop and saved all her tips to sponsor a child at Mango
House. Savita introduced her to her sponsored child who
unprompted blurted out "Thank You". It was a touching
moment. Here was a girl who had gone without all of the
things a teenager could spend £180 on to help someone less
fortunate than herself and here was a boy with so little
appreciating her help.
So we go forward to 2015 full of hope and in the belief
that with determination all things are possible. We wish
everyone a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year and wish all
those celebrating Christmas a joyful festive season.
OUR
MANGO HOUSE DAYS VIDEO
As many of our supporters will already know we are very
proud of the team at Mango House and everything they do to
help children prepare for school and to remain there. For a
long time we have hoped to make a video of the everyday
activities at Mango House. The approach of our Christmas
Challenge gave us a target for completion. Shot over three
days in November on nothing more than an iPad we've managed
to produce "Our Mango House Days". To those who have visited
us we hope it brings back lots of happy memories, to those
who haven't we hope you enjoy seeing inside Mango House and
to those who sponsor children we hope you will enjoy
catching a glimpse of them. Click
here to see our video.
MEET THE
MANGO HOUSE TEAM
As the tourist season is well under way we are hoping to
see lots of you at Mango House. For those who won't be
visiting we thought you might like to see the friendly staff
team. It's a rare event that we manage to get everyone
together but with the exception of our Head Teacher Bhakti,
who is currently on maternity leave, we've managed it.
Better still we've managed to get Savita, our Trustee
Manager, on the front row - over on the left if you don't
know her.
THE MANGO HOUSE RANGOLI
On the day before the Ganesh holidays the older children
spent the afternoon drawing beautiful Rangoli designs. First
the outline has to be drawn with chalk and then a high
degree of skill and patience is required as each section is
painstakingly filled with coloured power. The drawings
stayed in place until the children returned after a week
off. The first Rangoli in the series above was the winning
design but you can see more about the process and the other
designs here .
GIRL POWER
In order to raise awareness about the inequality that
girls face the United nations declared the 11th October to
be the International Day of the Girl Child. At Mango Tree we
know that girls from disadvantaged backgrounds face enormous
obstacles, not least the lack of education and opportunity.
We also know that an educated girl has the power to break
free from the poverty cycle. She is less likely to marry
whilst still a child herself, more likely to have fewer
children, more likely to raise healthy, educated children
and more likely to invest her income into her family. To do
our bit to raise awareness about these issues and the 167
girls we support daily we posted on Facebook. We are
delighted to say that over 4,000 people saw our post.
OUR
NURSE
Every day children at Mango House form a queue to see the
nurse. There are so many hazards in the home environment
that cuts and burns are common place and left untreated in
the heat and dirt can lead to something much more serious.
Our nurse battles infestations such as scabies on an almost
daily basis. Without attention these rapidly spread to
classmates and family members and at their worst can cause
serious illnesses such as septicemia. During the Monsoon
coughs, colds and fevers need attention. In the case of more
serious ailments our nurse works with parents to ensure that
children see a doctor and that treatment takes place. In the
short term the support of our nurse helps to ensure that
children remain as healthy as possible and don't miss
school. For the long term children are learning to recognise
a problem and when and how to deal with it - knowledge which
will serve them well in the future.
CHILDREN'S DAY
On 14th November India celebrated Children's Day which
was established to increase awareness about the rights, care
and education of children. Not to be left out the
pre-primary children at Chimbel were treated to a sports day
and picnic in a local park. Parents were invited and we were
really impressed to see how many Mums turned up. The
children had so much fun with nothing more than balloons and
a couple of bats and balls. When the sports day was over the
children had a picnic and a short address was given to the
Mums which roughly translated meant "Hug your children, love
your children, make time for your children and be there for
your children on this special day and every day." See our
photos
here.
FUNDRAISING AT NICK'S PLACE, ARPORA
We were really thrilled to hear that the award winning
restaurant Nick's Place at Arpora in Goa are holding
fundraising nights for Mango Tree this season. If you will
be in Goa on 21st January, 18th February or 11th March do
please come along and support us with a fun night of games
including Bob's famous Bottletop Bingo. Our huge thanks go
to Linda, Bob and Nitesh for supporting us. Nick's Place are
also happy to collect any items or donations to pass on to
Mango Tree so if you would like to help but don't have the
time to visit Mango House do pop along to the restaurant.
POST EXAM OUTING
The children at Mango House had worked hard in the build up
to the end of term exams so an outing was called for. On the
first day of the Diwali holidays 53 children and the Mango
House team all headed for the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary.
They enjoyed seeing lots of animals and snakes and had a lot
of fun playing in the park. As always a lot of work took
place in advance to make sure a fabulous picnic was on hand
too. A fabulous day was had by all. You can see our photos
here.
MEDICAL CAMP AT CHIMBEL
Recently three doctors and their assistants from Goa Medical
College conducted a medical camp for the pre-primary
children at Chimbel. The doctors talked lovingly to the
children who quickly forgot their fears. They gave
treatments to those suffering from colds and fevers and in
the case of the weakest children gave advice, particularly
about the importance of nourishing food. Sadly a number of
cases of TB were discovered among the children and their
parents and guidance was given about their special care. We
look forward to the team returning in around six months.
ART AND CRAFT WITH FRAN
Schools in Goa close for 3 weeks for the Diwali holidays and
many of the children and their families go to their villages
for their holiday. Mango House closes for just 1 week and
encourages all the remaining children to come along for a
meal and to play and have fun until school restarts. It's a
credit to all at Mango House that so many children turn up
every day. We say a particular thank you to Fran who ensured
that there was an art or craft activity morning and
afternoon almost every day. Click
here to check out some of
the wonderful things she did with the children and find her
hiding among the peacocks
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OUR CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE IS ON
Just a quick reminder that our
Christmas Challenge takes place on 5th, 6th and 7th
December. Thanks to a group of supporters up to £2,500 will
be matched £ for £ over the weekend. Its a wonderful chance
to in effect double the value of your donation so please
help us and give if you can.
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Text
GOOD45 Followed By £2, £5,
£10 etc To Donate By Text |
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To Bank - Cooperative Bank, Acc
Mango Tree Goa
Acc:
65564316
Sort Code
08-92-99 |
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THANK YOU PEARSON EDUCATION
Our thanks go to Pearson Education for donating two Rigby
read books. As you can see the books are very large enabling
all of the class to get involved with each story. Our
special thanks go to Diana Trant for organising the donation
and to Fran who requested it.
A LITTLE TRIBUTE TO THE INDIAN FLAG
Recently we came
across this photo taken at Chimbel in
Independence Day. All the children were asked to
come in either orange, white or green. As you
can see they made their own tribute to the
Indian Flag.
REWARDING EXCELLENCE
Every year Mango House
celebrates the children who have either the best school
attendance or the best results in their exams. This year 13
children were given prizes. All were given outfits except
three girls who did very well in both categories and
received a watch. It was interesting to note that of the 13,
9 are girls and 4 are boys.
DIWALI FESTIVITIES
Before breaking up for Diwali
the children took part in craft activities to celebrate the
coming festival. The youngest enjoyed colouring Diya (clay)
lamps whilst the afternoon children modelled Diya lamps and
made Diwali lanterns. See them
here.
THANK YOU THE GOAN FOODIE
We say thank you to Marlon and team at the Goan Foodie
who celebrated the Joy of Giving Week (2-8 October) by
providing, lunch, cake and ice cream for all the Mango House
children. It was a special treat and we had a lovely time.
WHAT HAPPENS TO CLOTHES AND SHOES?
We are very fortunate that many supporters bring
clothes to Mango House. It's a bit of a task to
sort clothing into girls and boys, tops and
bottoms and age groups but once that's done it's
easy to match clothes to children. The clothes
are distributed to the children at Mango House,
local slums and homes for disadvantaged and
orphaned children. The clothes really are
valuable to the children receiving them so do
please think of bringing some. We are always
especially in need of clothes for older boys
9/10 up to 16 so if you are visiting and have
room in your case do bring some along.
THANK YOU PAT
We say a huge thank you to ex volunteer "Pat
Auntie" who has done car boot after car boot to
raise £400 for Mango Tree. She sometimes managed
three a week until the chilly autumn weather
finally brought an end to her efforts!
A BEAUTIFUL THANK YOU
Recently, one of our trustees has been in Goa.
As the end of her holiday approached she was
asked to pop back to Chimbel where she was
presented with a beautiful handmade thank you
card from the staff to pass to our trustees.
There were many lovely messages but we thought
this one in particular should go to our
supporters:- "Thank you for your cordiality,
understanding trust and wholehearted support -
sometimes beyond your strength and thank you for
your care and incomparable love for children".
WILL YOU SPONSOR A CHILD?
Our Child Sponsorship Scheme is steadily
growing. It's a wonderful way to make a regular
contribution to Mango House and at the same time
watch a child develop. Our scheme costs £15 per
month - around 50p per day. If you could be
interested in sponsoring click
here for further
information or contact us at
info@mangotreegoa.org.
FUNDRAISING AT ARAMBOL CHARITY BOOKSTORE
Our thanks go to Richard for setting up the
Charity Bookstore at Arambol again this year. We
have already received 12,000 rupees from the
sale of secondhand books this season. If you are
in Calangute, Candolim, Arpora or Baga and can
donate your old books please let us know and we
will pick them up.
THANK YOU SHARON
We are thrilled and grateful to see a good
response to our appeal for soft toys for our
Christmas presents. A special thank you has to
go to Lesley's friend Sharon who made the most
beautiful knitted toys - a real labour of love
if we ever saw one. |
