MARCH 2018
It has been a truly memorable
three months in the life of Mango Tree. As you will read, on
top of the continuing good work on the ground and ongoing
support, our Christmas Challenge was an amazing success, our
eagerly awaited promotional video arrived and we received a
literally life changing legacy. Back in November we could
not have imagined what the next three months would bring.
What they did bring reminds us always to have hope as we
never know what might be waiting round the corner.
CELEBRATING
ROGER FREDERICK DAVEY WHOSE LEGACY WILL CHANGE LIVES
Back in November we received
an email from Emma who explained that she had a legacy from
her father who, having had many happy times travelling in
India but had observed first hand the poverty, wished it to
be used to build a school or part of a school. The sum of
money involved was around £30,000 and we were simply asked
what we would do with that sum. Not daring to hope we
answered the question asked and after further correspondence
we received the astonishing news that we would receive a
share of the legacy. Amazingly, towards the end of February
we received the truly staggering sum of £36.900 to be used
to build the downstairs classrooms at the planned Mango Tree
House. Roger Frederick Davey was a man who chose to make a
difference. His legacy will change countless lives for the
better. We say a huge thank you for it and thank Emma
(pictured here with her Dad) for finding Mango Tree and
trusting us to make her Dad's dream a reality.
OUR
INCREDIBLE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
Many of you will know that we
have been eagerly awaiting sight of the promotional video
which our supporter Julie Dawson Wills produced and funded
through her media company Mixed Up Media. On seeing the
first version there was nothing we wanted to change - it was
perfect. We could never have afforded a professional video
but even if we could we would never have got such an amazing
result. Julie so obviously made her video with love and care
to get across what Mango Tree is all about. Please take 4
minutes to watch our video by clicking
here. We have the video in lots of formats so if it
would be of use to you for a presentation, fundraiser etc
please let us know.
CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE SUCCESS
As many of you are aware our Christmas Challenge ended on
31st December. Our challenge was to raise £5,000 in the
month which would then be matched pound for pound by a
generous couple in the UK. The Christmas Challenge
fundraiser is a vital part of our income and its fair to say
that we approached the start with some trepidation,
particularly as it was a real struggle to meet the target
last year. We are elated to announce that we flew past the
£5,000 mark and received a staggering £8,476. Your support
was amazing and to each and every one who supported the
Challenge in any way we say a sincere thank you.
THE MANGO HOUSE CHRISTMAS PARTY
The Christmas party is a highlight of the Mango House
calendar and we were delighted to hear that a local school
made their Hall available for the event. This year in
addition to traditional games a cultural programme was
arranged to show case children's talents. Having practised
for several weeks children performed folk, traditional,
Bollywood and Salsa dances and took part in a fashion show
featuring traditional dress of various regions of India.
Later there was a dance session, tasty lunch and games
before the highlight of the day when Father Christmas
arrived to give out presents.
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CHILDREN FROM CHIMBEL TO JOIN 1ST STANDARD THIS JUNE
We were very pleased to see this photo from our Chimbel
project recently. The photo shows all the children who will
leave Pre-primary this March and join primary school from
June. The numbers are particularly high this year as changes
to the age of admission cut off point means that in addition
to all of Upper Kindergarten half of the children in Lower
Kindergarten will be promoted too. We look forward to
hearing more about the children in the new school year.
AN OUTING TO OLD GOA
If children are asked what their favourite thing about
Mango House is there are some standard responses - birthday
parties, playing with their friends and, above all, outings.
With that in mind younger children had a fabulous start on
the first day of the new term in January with an outing to
Old Goa and the older children had an outing to the Movies
later in the week to see "Tiger Zinda Hai". We say thank you
to Afghanistan based Jason for making the trips possible.
THE MANGO HOUSE NATIVITY SCENE
Everyone who has visited Mango House at Christmas time
will know that it is a tradition to build a nativity scene
on the veranda. The scene is made by our older boys with
assistance from John, the Mango House social worker. As is
traditional in Goa the whole landscape is built up in good
time to allow the grass go grow and cover the "fields" and
"mountains". This year's creation was an extra special
Nativity scene covering two tables and with a running
waterfall in the mountains!
A FABULOUS SPORTS DAY WITH OSSUR INDIA
We were very pleased to learn that a team from Ossur
India, a global company providing prosthetic limbs, would
visit in January and conduct a Sports Afternoon at a local
track. The event was a huge amount of fun and included races
like relay and sprint, not just for children but for Ossur
and Mango House staff too. Back at Mango House children
enjoyed snacks and prize giving too. We say a huge thank you
to Ossur for their time and generous donations.
THE COLVA PROJECT
Located well away from our other projects our Colva
project is a relatively simple in terms of the services it
provides. It provides 20 children, who are all the the
children of beach sellers, with afternoon tuition classes
and school bags. Despite its simplicity it makes all the
difference to the children it helps. Support through
afternoon tuition classes means children have a place to do
their studies and help with subjects they are finding
difficult. As a result children will do better in school and
are more likely to stay in school longer. We were very
pleased to see this recent photo which alongside some
relatively new admissions shows lots of children who have
been there throughout the five years the Charity has funded
the project.
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OUR THANKS TO SUMMER AND THE ORANGE DAY NURSERY
It was lovely to
welcome Summer, Davidson and Violet to Mango
House again recently. Summer brought along
drawings from Violet's nursery which were
exchanged with drawings from Mango House. Once
again Summer had been fundraising through her
Just Giving page and raised a wonderful £590
whilst Violet's nursery, The Orange Day Nursery,
raised £44 from a cake bake too. We say a huge
thank you to everyone for their support.
THUMBS UP FOR CHRIS
We say a huge thank you to Chris Murphy who chose to
fundraise for Mango Tree whilst completing the Athens
Marathon in November. Despite the course being mainly uphill
Chris completed it in a good time of 3 hours and 23 minutes.
As you can see he looked amazingly relaxed afterwards! We
say thank you to Chris and everyone who supported his
fundraising which raised £150.
NICK'S PLACE FUNDRAISING
The customers at
Nick's Place Arpora continue their wonderful
support for the fundraising evenings. Since our
last newsletter three additional events have
taken place raising an amazing £2,968. We've had
fun guessing the number of bottletops, playing
bingo, taking part in raffles and lots of
special fun quizzes including the special Elvis
We Love you Quiz in honour of the anniversary of
the King's death. We thank all of those who
supported the evenings in any way and as always
special thanks to Linda, Bob and Nick for
choosing to support Mango Tree.
THAMESIDE ORION CUBS & SCOUT PACK CAROL SING FOR
MANGO TREE
We were delighted to
receive a donation of £200 from the Thameside
Orion cubs and scout pack in December. The funds
were raised through carol singing which
benefited not only Mango Tree but other
charities too. We say a huge well done and thank
you to the pack and all those who supported
them.
SPORTSMAN BAR RISES TO THE CHALLENGE
When Max and Jane at
the Sportsman Bar in Calangute were asked if
they could help with a fundraiser for the
Christmas Challenge they sprung into action with
not one but four fundraisers in the Challenge
period. Funds were raised through horse racing,
auctions, guessing Neil's sweets in the jar,
raffles, Kiran's shop and special home made
mince pies. The nights were a staggering success
raising £3,284 with a further £1,000 being
pledged and later received. We thank everyone
who supported the fundraising in any way and
especially thank Max and Jane for choosing to
help.
MERCI ENCORE GILL AND RICHARD
It was lovely to welcome Gill and Richard to
Mango House early in the New Year. Always good
friends to Mango Tree Gill and Richard arranged
a number of fundraising events at home in France
throughout the summer. As well as arranging car
boot sales they held a plant fair which was well
attended despite terrible weather. We were
delighted to learn that the events raised an
amazing 700 Euros and we say "merci" to Gill,
Richard and all the lovely friends who supported
them.
CONGRATULATIONS MIKE & SHIRLEY
It was wonderful to welcome our friends Shirley
and Mike back to Mango House and to help
celebrate both Mike's birthday and the couple's
35th Wedding Anniversary. It was almost 6 months
to the day since we had celebrated Shirley's
birthday at the start of their 6 month travels
and we were delighted to celebrate with them
again shortly before they headed back home.
EMMA PATRICK HAS A CLOSE SHAVE
We were saddened to hear that our friend Emma
had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and
requires an operation. The op meant that she had
to shave the hair on the front of her head. A
fierce charity promoter and always one to change
a negative into a positive Emma decided to shave
her whole head to raise funds for both her own
charity Communities and Cultures Together and
Mango Tree. We send our gratitude and respect to
Emma for turning a tough personal challenge into
support for others and send our best wishes for
a speedy recovery.
OUR WEDDING CONGRATULATIONS FOR KARISHMA AND ALEX
We sent our warm wedding day wishes to
Karishma and Alex on their wedding day in
February. In place of providing wedding favours
for each of their guests this kindhearted couple
bought bricks in support of our Brick By Brick
Appeal. We said a huge thank you for including
Mango Tree in their wedding celebration. |