SEPTEMBER 2017
It's always a dilemma to
decide what to include in our third quarter newsletter as it
covers the start of the new school year and so many
celebrations. Children have made many beautiful things but
sadly we could only include a couple of them. If you would
like to see more please check out our facebook page which
you can find
here.
Several people have been in
touch to tell us that they are planning on visiting and to
ask what we need. To help with this we have updated the
Things We Need page on our website which you can find
here.
Don't forget if you plan to bring things to Goa for Mango
Tree and are travelling with Thomas Cook or Thomsons we can
usually arrange a free charity luggage allowance so do
please ask us if you would like to arrange one. Our email
address is
mangotreegoa@hotmail.co.uk. We hope to see many of you
soon.
ALISON
MCPHEE JOINS TRUSTEE BOARD
As Mango Tree continues to
grow we are happy to announce that Alison McPhee has been
appointed as an additional trustee bringing our total
complement to 5. Alison has been a Mango Tree supporter from
its earliest days. She is a keen fundraiser, regularly
raising funds through her delicious Indian cuisine, and by
spreading the word about Mango Tree's work has ensured that
the Charity is a beneficiary of the prestigious Apple Ball
in Glasgow. You can see Alison here with husband Glen at an
earlier Apple Ball.
THE NEW
SCHOOL YEAR AT COLVA
Our Colva project in South Goa
supports around 20 disadvantaged children whose families are
mainly beach sellers. Mango Tree took over support for the
project after the existing support had dwindled away to
nothing. The lady there had continued to run it with no
funds but it couldn't carry on. We said we couldn't possibly
take it over as it was so far away from our other projects
but after taking a look we couldn't refuse. Its a relatively
simple project providing afternoon tuition classes and
essential school supplies but hugely important to the
children who attend. Children are always very excited at the
start of the new school year to see what's in their new
school bag and as you can see the children were very pleased
to receive them again this year.
CELEBRATING EID AL-FITR
Everyone who knows Mango Tree knows that we celebrate all
religious festivals. This year the very important Muslim
festival Eid Al-Fitr fell on a weekend so Mango House
celebrated on the previous Friday. Children made beautiful
cards and posters and girls especially enjoyed having
Mehendi designs drawn on their hands.
FIRST SCHOOL BAGS AT LEARNING TREE
The Learning Tree project started its first full academic
year this June. This meant that for the first time children
received a school bag full of lots of lovely treats. We know
these things are a real boost to children's confidence and
their ability to participate fully at school. It was
wonderful to hear about children's reactions and to know
that for these children the new school year will always
bring excitement and joy.
OUR 2018
FUND-RAISING CALENDAR
Whilst we hate to mention 2018 so far in advance as we
don't have another newsletter until December we wanted to
mention our Fundraising Calendar. The desk calendar is of a
high quality printed on glossy card. It has an Indian
artwork theme and each month features a photo. The calendars
are sponsored so all proceeds will go to our Brick By Brick
Appeal. Calendars are £6 each plus £1 for postage up to a
maximum of £3 for 3 or more and postage free for orders of
10 or more. They will be available from early November but
if you would like to order it would help if you tell us soon
to help us plan. Please email us at
mangotreegoa@hotmail.co.uk. We are not planning to have
calendars in subsequent years so please do support this
venture if you can.
CHANGE OF MANAGER AT MANGO HOUSE
At the end of June children and staff said a fond
farewell to Savita who has managed Mango House from the
start of Mango Tree in 2012. She was instrumental in taking
the House from an empty building which did not have a
licence to have children there to a bustling pre-primary
school and tuition centre supporting so many children. We
say a huge thank you to Savita for her hard work and wish
her well in the future. Savita's deputy Ashwini (shown
right) took over as manager with immediate affect and can be
contacted on 0091 9604654588 or by email at
themangotreetrust@hotmail.com as normal..
INDEPENDENCE DAY AT CHIMBEL
Independence Day, 15th August, is the most important day
in the history of India and is celebrated with a huge amount
of pride and joy. All our projects celebrated this important
day with special activities including a talent competition
and special art and craft activities. Here, however, you can
see the pre-primary children at Chimbel who learnt about and
then dressed up as noteworthy freedom fighters and important
figures throughout the years. We think everyone will spot
Mahatma Ghandi but here we also have some of the other
noteworthy figures including Bhagat Singh, Pandit Nehru, the
Rani of Jhansi, Subash Chandra Bose and Indira Ghandi
SUPPORTING 450 CHILDREN DAILY
At the beginning of the school year it always takes a
couple of weeks for the numbers at our projects to settle.
Some children are a little bit late returning from their
native villages and a few children who move from pre-primary
to 1st Standard find the shift in hours from 9 to 12.30 to
7.30 to 5 a bit too much to cope with. We are delighted to
announce, however, that Mango Tree is now supporting around
450 children at its Pre-primary schools and afternoon
classes daily. We are also proud that girls continue to
outnumber boys slightly making up 55.4% of the total. We are
amazed by the progress Mango Tree has made over the last 5
years and really appreciate that it is made possible by our
supporters and great teams in Goa..
TWO TEACHING ASSISTANT POSTS ADDED
Each year as part of our budget setting process we
consider how things are going in Goa and any changes that
should and could be made. At Mango House in particular it
was clear that there was an increasing pressure on teachers
as a result of the ever growing number of children and the
range of duties they undertake over and above teaching. It
was proposed that two teaching assistants be added to the
team bringing the teaching staff up to 7. Two new ladies
have been appointed and their support in class has been a
very welcome addition.
|
TANIA'S FAMILY AND THE COLOUR RUN
Back in July Tania,
Jim and sons Zak and Alex undertook the Colour
Run to raise funds for Mango Tree. The run
looked a lot of fun but its fair to say that
things looked somewhat different pre and post
run. Everyone set off looking nice and clean and
by the end were covered in colour. The Challenge
raised a wonderful £175 and we say a big thank
you to all the family for choosing to support
Mango Tree and everyone who supported them.
MAISY AND KITTY'S CAR BOOT SALE
Our thanks to go Maisy and Kitty who very kindly attended a
car boot sale to help raise funds for Mango Tree. These two
lovely sisters are regularly visitors to Mango House and
have fundraised from time to time. The girls did a great
job and managed to raise a much appreciated £70 which will
be used towards the Brick By Brick Appeal.
IN MEMORY OF DES BLACKBURN-STOUT
We were saddened to
hear about the sudden death of Des who, together
with his wife Louise, had visited Mango House in
December. Louise asked that those who wished to
do so to make a donation to Mango Tree in Des's
honour. We would like to thank all those who
honoured Des and raised over £700 as a result.
We also thank Louise, for thinking of Mango Tree
at a very difficult time.
POOJA AND ANUJ COMPLETE THE 3 PEAKS CHALLENGE
On the first week of
June our ex volunteer Pooja and her husband Anuj
bravely undertook the 3 Peaks Challenge to raise
funds for Mango Tree. The event entailed
climbing the 3 highest Peaks in England,
Scotland and Wales in 48 hours including driving
between all 3. This generous couple covered all
the costs of the event and raised an amazing
£730 for Mango Tree. We say a huge thank you to
Pooja and Anuj and everyone who supported them
and look forward to seeing Pooja later in the
year
THANK YOU STYRRUP HALL SENIORS
This year the
Seniors section of Styrrup Hall Golf Club again
held a fundraising day. This year the proceeds
from the day were split between Mango Tree and a
local children's Hospice with both receiving
£451. The amount raised is astonishing given the
relatively small numbers of seniors involved and
we say a huge thank you to the organisers and
all those who chose to take part.
CELEBRATING SHIRLEY'S BIRTHDAY AT MANGO HOUSE
We were delighted that long term supporter
Shirley decided to celebrate her birthday at
Mango House in July. Children were very pleased
to escape tuition class to party and enjoy
scrumptious cake and fruit.
THE MIND REWIND TEAM CONTINUES TO SUPPORT MANGO
TREE
Over the years we have been very lucky to
regularly receive donations arising from the
sales of the Mind Rewind CDs. The CDs are
produced by DAT records and feature music from
the past Goa Scene. All those involved in the
project have given their contribution without
any charge which has resulted in a huge amount
being donated over time. The latest donation of
£1,550 brings the total to a whacking £10,600
and we once again say thank you to all those
involved. If you would like to learn more about
Mind Rewind click
here.
OUR THANKS TO THE BANK OF BARODA
We were delighted to learn that Mr Manish
Kumar and his team from the Bank of Baroda at
Anjuna recently visited Mango House. On behalf
of the bank the team provided slates and dusters
for all the pre-primary children and treated
everyone to drinks and snacks. Children were
very happy to receive them and we say a big
thank you to the team for choosing to support
Mango House.
3RD STANDARD ENJOY AN OUTING TO THE TALKIES
The 3rd Standard children at Mango House were
super excited to have a visit to Heera Talkies
to see Spiderman. The trip was made possible by
friends Jan and Victoria who sponsored trips for
both the 3rd and 4th Standard children. The
latter visited the Goa Science Centre earlier in
the year. Outings and the new experiences
children enjoy are a huge deal and we say thank
you to Jan and Victoria for making these two
special days possible.
|