JUNE 2022
In many ways it's been a strange quarter. It was all go
as children went back to school and then, around a month
later, it was all over as they were breaking up for the long
Summer holidays. The short time that children were back in
school, however, made all the difference. It won't wipe out
the effects of the last couple of years, in fact we can't
even imagine the lasting impact of the last two years on
children's education and long term outcomes, but it drew a
line under the endless, routineless days at home. Two years
ago schools closed with no notice and children spent the
long holidays stuck in the house in complete lockdown. Last
year they faced another lockdown of sorts as Covid hit Goa
with a vengeance just as online classes ended for the year.
This year they ended the year in school, and broke up
excited and happy. They could look forward to enjoying the
holidays and visits to their native villages knowing that in
a couple of months they would be back in school. We feel
very much the same; happy in the knowledge that the worst is
behind them.
OUR BACK TO SCHOOL APPEAL
Just a quick reminder that our Back To School Appeal will
close on Sunday 19th June. If you haven't already read about
it you can do so here . We would be delighted to receive any
donations to help with the costs of getting children fully
kitted out after two years out of school. Please help if you
can.
PRIMARY SCHOOL REOPENED IN
MARCH
We were thrilled that we could
reopen our preprimary school at the end of March. Although
we conducted online classes throughout, we were very
concerned that children who would move up from Upper
Kindergarten to 1st Standard at a Primary school in June,
would never have actually been in a school environment. Such
a transition is tough without gaining simple social skills
like learning to sit still and listen, to play well together
and share, how to feed yourself and, more basically, how to
use a toilet. Just being able to have children for a month
will have made such a difference. We were prepared for the
usual tears on the first day but there were none, most
probably because children knew their teacher well from
online classes. They settled in like they had always been
there. Most of all they enjoyed playtime and it could be
quite a challenge to get them in from the garden on
occasion. Children absolutely loved school and just that
month's experience will have been a huge help in preparing
them for "big school".
PRE-PRIMARY CHILDREN ENJOY A FLOWER PETAL HOLI
Given that pre-primary children had settled in really
well we decided to go ahead and organise a Holi celebration
for them. We never use coloured powder with small children
as it gets in eyes, mouths and noses, but have enjoyed a
flower petal Holi in the past. As children entered the Hall
they were a bit bemused by the piles of flower petals all
over the place. They were asked if they felt like dancing
and, despite the newness of Mango House, they said they did.
Teachers took the lead and threw petals at one another and
it was literally seconds before everyone joined in. It
really was great fun, and one of the best things about
flower petals is that they don't run out, you just scoop
them up and keep going. As you can see there was no standing
on ceremony involved!.
A GREAT NOTE TO END ON
As we reported last time, we were delighted when children
were back in school at the end of February. Just over a
month or so later children sat exams in person at school,
which was something of a novelty after attempting to
complete end of term exams online on several occasions. Most
schools closed again for the long Summer holidays at the end
of March but Mango Tree stayed open until mid April. We made
sure all children had an end of year outing but given the
number of afternoon and college children we arranged three
different outings. 1st - 4th went to a Children's park, 5th
- 10th went to a park and the beach whilst College students
were to a farm with a swimming pool. All played games and
had a favourite picnic lunch. It was amazing to be able to
do this after such a long time and amazing too that it just
felt normal. Here's one class expressing their satisfaction.
HAPPY MIND HAPPY LIFE
In mid March the teachers at Mango House talked to all
children about happiness and what makes us happy. The older
children were then asked to think about the topic and write
or draw something to express their thoughts on the subject.
We were really pleased to see how many made a little card or
poster and brought them in. The teachers put many of them
together on this beautiful collage. It's the first thing
that you see when you walk into Mango House and it can't
help but lift your spirits to see it.
OUR HOLI CELEBRATIONS
We were very excited to play Holi with the afternoon
children this time, particularly as we hadn't been able to
for the last couple of years. As it turned out, it was just
like those two years never happened. We started with games
which saw everyone get a bit of colour but then it was time
to dish out the packets and for everyone to do their worst.
It's the one day of the year when everyone is really fair
game; noone is spared. Children coloured their friends and
their teachers who retaliated in good spirit. Just when
things were quietening down and the colour was running out,
more miraculously appeared and it was chaos all over again.
We finished with dancing and a group photo - how long has it
been since we could do that?! It was an unforgettable
afternoon, one that made us almost forget the last couple of
years.
THE END OF THE PRE-PRIMARY
SCHOOL YEAR
After finally getting pre-primary children at Mango House
at the beginning of March, it wasn't long before it was the
end of the academic year. There was enough time, however,
for lots of fun, Aside from routine classes, children did
lots of indoor and outdoor play, did exercises in the
garden, enjoyed cartoons and even had an outing to the Mango
House grounds where they learnt about all the things in our
garden. On the last day of term children enjoyed an outing
to a local park. Considering that we only had a month with
the children, they were amazing. It can be a worry taking
children out of their normal school environment as there are
a lot of them and rather fewer teachers if they decide to
run riot or bolt, but they were exemplary and certainly
instinctively knew had to have a good time at every
opportunity.
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OUR THANKS TO THE LIONS CLUB OF
MILL HILL
We had a fabulous surprise at the end of
March when we learnt that Mr & Mrs Koria would
be visiting Mango House. Funnily enough they had
been our last visitors before the lockdown in
March 2020. On their last visit they brought
along with them a donation of 1,50,000 rupees
(around £1,500) which had been raised by the
Lions Club of Mill Hill. Astonishingly, on this
occasion they bought with them a further
donation of the same amount. It really was a
boost to the end of the financial year, just
when we had really given up on receiving any
donations from visitors. We say a huge thank you
to the members of the Lions Club of Mill Hill
for their wonderful support over a number of
years and to Mr Koria personally, for putting
Mango Tree forward to receive the funds.
THANK YOU FOR OUR RAINCOATS
We were thrilled when a supporter recently donated to
purchase all of the raincoats we will need for the coming
academic year. Although this kindhearted lady did not want
any publicity for herself, this wonderful act of kindness
deserves recognition. It's not much fun walking from home to
the school bus in a monsoon downpour and then sitting in
school in a soaking wet uniform. Something as simple as a
raincoat can make all the difference as to whether a child
will attend school every day in the monsoon and we say a
huge thank you for such generosity.
GETTING READY FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR
We are often asked
how we decide which children to admit to
Pre-primary school. It's a long process. Often,
we are approached by families seeking
admissions, some might have an older child with
us or some have just heard about Mango Tree.
Many are sifted out at this stage but where
appropriate, we take details from families.
These include where a family is from, what
family income is, how long parents went to
school, how many siblings a child has and what
language the family speaks. Next comes a visit
to a family home from which we can see how a
family lives and gather more details. Alongside
the applications, once the academic year
finishes in April our Social worker and teachers
go around the local area and seek out families
with children who are clearly in need. A list of
recommended admissions is drawn up with the
reasons why each child is being put forward. The
process concluded at the very end of May and we
were looking forward to seeing many new recruits
soon.
THE
THEOSOPHICAL ORDER OF SERVICE SWEDEN'S
CONTRIBUTION TO OUR APPEAL
We are truly grateful that once again our
friends at the Theosophical Order of Service in
Sweden made a generous donation to our Back To
School Appeal. Their donation of £1,200 is a
great support, and we sincerely thank the
members for it.
CAN YOU JOIN ANDREA'S FUNDRAISING
YOGATHON?
If we have any yoga stars around Bushey,
Herts, if you are quick there is still time to
join Andrea's fundraiser on International Yoga
Day - Sunday 26th June at Metropolitan Bushey.
Participants will challenge themselves to a
Yogathon of 108 Sun Salutations. A donation of
£25 is requested per participant and you coud
get someone to sponsor you too. Proceeds will be
split between Mango Tree Goa and Welfare for
Animals Goa. Please contact Andrea directly on
andrea@andyoga.co.uk.
PROGRESS AT THE MANGO TREE HOUSE
We have made a lot of progress at the Mango
Tree House in the last quarter. At the time of
our last newsletter we had just completed the
second slab. Now all the walls have been
completed and most of the plastering has been
completed too. There is still lots to do both
inside the building and around the perimeter.
There always snags along the way, the latest
being a ban on the movement of sand by the Goa
Government and the imminent monsoon but we
continue to make good progress.
THANK YOU TO KAREN, TONY & THEIR
AMAZING FAMILY AND FRIENDS
We were amazed when, in response to
publicising our Back To School Appeal, we
received a message within minutes to say that
£1,000 had been transferred into our bank
account. The message came from Karen and Tony,
our wonderful friends who have given Mango Tree
amazing support over the years. Once again they
roped their family and friends into their
fundraising activities throughout the year. They
love to have a flutter on whatever takes their
fancy, be it who will win Strictly Come Dancing
or Dancing on Ice, or a football card of the
lottery numbers. It's a fabulous effort between
a fabulous group of people and we thank Karen
and Tony and everyone who supports them.
CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S
DAY
International Women's Day recognises the
achievements of women and calls for all to stand
together to advance a gender equal world. Mango
Tree continues to strive to ensure that
disadvantaged girls get the opportunity to
access and remain in school and to reach their
full potential. We aim to keep girls away from
child labour and, by staying in school, away
from early illegal child marriage. We encourage
girls to have dreams and ambitions and to learn
from the excellent role models they have in the
ladies at Mango House. We salute them for the
job that they do, the manner in which they do it
and the changes their efforts will bring to
girls' lives.
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