MARCH 2023
Once again, it's been a very busy quarter. All children
have sat the second set of exams of the academic year. As we
already knew, children are still struggling to catch up from
two years out of school. Some schools now provide one hour
remedial classes in particular subjects but it's hard to
imagine how many children will catch up in the short term at
least and exam results for the majority reflected this. On a
brighter note, children are full of beans and as excited as
ever to join in celebrations of any kind. There are quite a
lot in the quarter but we somehow managed to add a new
celebration - Makra Sankranti - into the mix. Last but not
least, it has been an absolute pleasure to welcome visitors
back to Mango House after almost 3 years. There are still
far fewer international visitors in Goa, but just to
see some return helps to make us feel much more positive
about the future.
AMAZING CHRISTMAS
CHALLENGE SUCCESS
We are delighted to say that our Annual Christmas Challenge
raised a whopping £6,780. This has been matched with the
promised £5,000. In addition to the £11,780 there is some
Gift Aid to be claimed too. It's a wonderful achievement and
something of a relief too.
We take pride in thanking all our donors personally, but
once again, we have been unable to thank most of our Just
Giving donors as their email IDs are not passed on to us
unless the donor specifically agrees for them to do so. If
you donated and did not hear from us personally, this will
be the reason why not, but rest assured we did very much
appreciate your donation nonetheless, and what it will help
us to achieve.
MANGO HOUSE STUDENT GIVEN
SAMRAAT STUFDENT AWARD
In early December the young
lady above arrived at Mango House to tell us that she had
been honoured with the "Samraat Student of the Year Award".
The award is presented to the most cultured, disciplined and
talented student of her entire school. It is an astonishing
achievement, being based not just on academic ability, but
on personal qualities too. She immediately asked that her
thanks be passed on to Mango Tree and to her sponsor for
always supporting her in everything that she does. We are
immensely proud not only of our star student but of the team
on the ground in Goa that have served her well over the
years.
OLDER CHILDREN'S OUTING TO THE WATER PARK
The first semester of the academic year lasts from June
until Diwali and culminates in exams for all. Children are
really ready for a break by the time it comes around.
Unfortunately, many of the older children have to sit Board
exams which took place after the holidays. Worse still, they
had to attend school for revision on all but one day of the
Diwali holidays. The younger children all had outings before
breaking up and the older ones were very keen to know when
they would go. They asked to go to a local Water Park and we
were very happy to arrange this once all exams were out of
the way. On the day, children chatted and sang their way to
the destination. As they attend outside tuition classes.
they rarely see one another as a group so it was especially
nice for them. They had a wonderful time relaxing in the
water, enjoying the slides and pools and hanging around the
grounds. Our cooks had sent along a special Chilly Chicken
lunch which they enjoyed before regrouping in the pool. The
day went very fast, but it was a well deserved treat which
really hit the spot.
OUR SPECTACULAR CHRISTMAS PROGRAMME
When we started to think about celebrating Christmas we
asked the afternoon children how they wanted to celebrate.
The resounding answer was they wanted a return to the
pre-pandemic type of show which they put on for parents.
Planning began in earnest and dance routines and plays were
rehearsed. On the day refreshments were served before the
programme began. First, the importance of Christmas was
explained before the younger children sang carols. An
amazing play about the birth and life of Jesus was put on by
the older children which was followed by various dance
performances which included traditional Goan and Kashmiri
dances. Spot prizes for parents were awarded throughout the
morning and a fashion show took place. It really was a grand
production. After a tasty lunch it was time for Santa to
give out presents and to party away the remainder of the
afternoon. The day was full of joy and happiness and
children left for the holidays on a high.
OUR PRE-PRIMARY CHRISTMAS
PROGRAMME
After a two year absence, it was a joy to be able to plan
our Christmas programmes and to be able to invite parents to
attend the event. On the 23rd we held our Pre-primary event.
First we talked about the meaning of Christmas before each
class took part in a dance, included a traditional Goan
dance to a well known local song, "Ya Ya Maya Ya". A fancy
dress show took place and spot prizes were presented to
parents throughout the programme. After it ended, we sang
Happy Birthday and gave gifts to children with a December
birthday, had a fabulous lunch and met the star of the show
- Father Christmas. It was a wonderful morning for children
and their parents and an absolute credit to the teachers who
put the programme together. You can see one of our classes
ready to perform their traditional Goan dance above.
CELEBRATING MAKAR SANKRANTI
This year, for the first time, we added the Hindu
festival of Makar Sankranti to our calendar of celebrations.
The festival honours the Sun God Lord Surya and this year
took place on 15th January. The seasonal and religious
festival marks the sun changing direction, signifies the end
of winter and the beginning of a new season. Hindus
celebrate the festival as an auspicious occasion, and one of
good fortune and prosperity. There are many festivities
associated with the day with kite flying recognised as the
most popular. As a consequence all standards took part in
kite themed activities during the previous week and produced
lots of lovely kites like those in our header. Here you can
also see the beautiful rangoli made by some of the older
children to celebrate the festival.
OUR REPUBLIC DAY FASHION SHOW
On the eve of Republic Day Mango Tree celebrated with an
afternoon programme of events. Hosted by the children, it
was both a rousing and artistic affair. We had motivational
speeches, chanting of slogans, singing of patriotic songs
and some beautiful dances to patriotic songs. Seen here is a
fashion show with children wearing some of the many
traditional costumes from different parts of India. The
programme concluded with the singing of "Vande Mataram" (the
National song of India) and the National Anthem.
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SAROJ'S CONSOADA TRAY
The Goan Catholic community took the
tradition of making sweets for Christmas from
the Portuguese and the sweet tray, or Consuada
as it is better known, remains very much a part
of a traditional Christmas. The sweet treats on
the tray are said to be proof of the cooking
skills of the household and their preparation is
an important event. Once complete, the tray is
offered to visitors, sent to the homes of
non-Catholic neighbours and sent to those who
are in mourning and do not prepare festive
sweets. It is an essential part of the Christmas
celebrations and in a nod to that tradition
here's Saroj, our cook, presenting her Consuada
on the last day before the festive break.
OUR THANKS TO THE FONDAZIONE ACHILLE E GIULIA
BOROLI
We have been very fortunate that, over many years, the
Fondazione Achille E Giulia Boroli has continued to support
us. Introduced to Mango Tree by our dear Italian friend
Lisa, we have been lucky enough to receive support each
December. This year we were delighted to receive a further
£1,246.16. We say thank you to the Board of the Fondazione
and to Lisa for keeping the children at Mango Tree in their
hearts.
PRE-PRIMARY CHILDREN LEARN ABOUT THE NATIVITY
As many of you may
already know, most Goan Catholic homes and
organisations have what is known as a crib at
Christmas, probably better know to most of us as
a nativity scene. They are always outdoor and
include real grass around the stable. Our older
children make our crib on the veranda of Mango
House, and it naturally a thing of wonder to our
youngest children who have never seen it and
pass by it at the start and end of their day. To
help explain the story of Christmas, children
from all pre-primary classes were introduced to
the Crib. As you can see from this group, they
were fascinated.
WONDERFUL CONTINUED SUPPORT FROM THEOSOPHICAL
ORDER OF SERVICE
We are very fortunate that our friends at
Theosophical Order of Service in Sweden continue
their steadfast support for Mango Tree. We were
therefore, thrilled to receive a further £1,700
this month towards our Christmas Challenge
followed by an additional £3,000 in the
following month. The support of the members has
made so much possible over the years, and we
sincerely thank them for their donation and for
continuing to stand by our side.
MANGO TREE HOUSE UPDATE
Work continues on construction at Mango Tree
House. It's fair to say we are a bit
disappointed with the speed of progress over the
last three months, particularly the delays to
the issuing of the Occupancy Certificate and the
resulting knock on delays. Meanwhile, we have
taken the opportunity to build on a hall to
connect the downstairs classrooms and work is
progressing nicely on painting, construction of
rather long compound walls and ground works. We
still very much hope that the extension will be
complete in time for the new academic year in
June.
EVERY CHILD'S BANK ACCOUNT RECEIVES A DEPOSIT
In mid January all of the afternoon children
at Mango Tree had a very happy surprise. A
lovely visitor, Ritu, had fundraised at home in
the UK and decided to put 500 rupees in every
child's Mango Tree bank account. Children's bank
accounts have long been in existence at Mango
House. Children are encouraged to put their few
rupees into their account to save for something
special. In this case, Ritu spoke to the
children and explained that she would like them
to keep their money for something they needed
for school. As you can imagine children were
amazed to receive such a sum of money and it was
especially sweet to see some of our youngest
children earnestly attempting to sign their name
to evidence their deposit.
COULD YOU SPONSOR A CHILD?
Many of you will already know about our Child
Sponsorship scheme. For those who don't, you can
read more about it in detail here but
in essence, our sponsors donate £15 or more each
month to sponsor one of the children at Mango
Tree. In return, they receive the profile of
their sponsored child, and to meet them if they
are in Goa, and follow their sponsored child's
journey through quarterly updates. It's a
wonderful way to support the Charity and to see
what the children get up to. The regular income
received by the Charity is very important to us
as it enables us to plan, knowing that we have
regular support behind us. In the past our
scheme has grown each year, but sadly, as a
result of the pandemic and the complete lack of
visitors for two years, it hasn't, but meanwhile
the number of children we support continues to
grow. If you would like to join our Child
Sponsorship programme we would love to hear from
you. Just contact us at
info@mangotreegoaorg to
let us know.
GILL & RICHARD'S BEACH SHACK
FUNDRAISER
It was very exciting to finally have a
fundraising night in Goa after almost three
years. Our friends Gill and Richard organised a
get together a couple of weeks ago in their
local beach shack. We had great fun guessing the
number of Bottle Tops, playing Stand Up Sit Down
Bingo, bidding in an auction and taking part in
a hilarious variation on a raffle which as you
can see from the above photo was great fun. It
was a wonderful evening which raised over 16,000
rupees (around £160). We say thank you to Gill
and Richard and to everyone who helped them make
the evening such a success.
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