MARCH 2024
It's been a pleasure in the last quarter to see all the
works at Mango Tree House completed and to see the children
so well settled there. Whilst for us, it's still sinking in
to some degree that the place is ours and we finally
achieved our goal, children have moved on and are completely
at home. They love the House and so do we. Coming to the end
of that particular journey means that we can now spend some
time planning for the future and we hope to talk more about
that in our next newsletter. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy
reading about just some of the things that children have
been up to and the fabulous fundraising and donations we
have received. Just whilst we mention donations, we still
very rarely get a donor's details from Just Giving. The vast
majority of donations are marked anonymous and this
apparently happens if a donor doesn't tick the box to say
they are happy for us to send them information. We like to
thank all our donors personally but unfortunately, although
we really appreciate them, we rarely can.
OUR CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE
Throughout December our Annual Christmas Challenge took
place. As you may recall, our first goal was to raise £3,000
which would then be matched by our kind-hearted supporters.
We are delighted to say that we did hit the target giving us
a total of £6,000. Given the challenges we have faced over
the last three years, with very few tourists in Goa and
consequently, very few visitors to Mango Tree, we hoped to
push the overall total to £10,000. We knew this would be a
stretch given the difficulties many are facing and, although
we weren't able to hit this figure, we are very pleased to
have raised the sum of £7,716 and say a heartfelt thank you
to everyone who supported it.
OUR REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS
It doesn't matter what the
occasion, the team at Mango Tree House pull out all the
stops to make it memorable. The first major event of 2024
was Republic Day and as it was the 75th anniversary of the
event it was extra special. In readiness for our Republic
Day programme all children took part in specially themed
arts and crafts and, as a result, we had an array of
saffron, white and green around the House. On the afternoon
before Republic Day children put on a fabulous show. Hosted
by two of the older children, they presented a number of
patriotic songs, skits, dances and, from some of our tiniest
members, some fabulous patriotic slogans. Children wore
saffron, green and white outfits and many proudly wore the
the rosettes which they had made. Children were bursting
with pride and the whole event came to a close with the
singing of the National Anthem.
ATTENDING GRACE'S ANNUAL DAY CELEBRATION
It was an honour for one of our trustees to attend Grace
Educational Trust's Annual Day celebration in early
December. We have supported supported Grace's Chimbel
project for over eleven years and continue to be amazed by
what is achieved by so little. Located in one of the most
disadvantaged areas in Goa, it's fair to say the project
suffered terribly in the pandemic but with Mango Tree's
support it has recovered well. Having an Annual Day after
four years was very exciting for all concerned. Somehow,
children practised for their extravaganza in their three
small school rooms and put on a show that was an absolute
credit to Sister Francis and her team. You can see just one
class's dancers and their teacher here but every performance
was amazing. The icing on the cake, however, was seeing
some of the first batch of afternoon tuition students that
we remember as the tiniest of tots, taking on the role of
volunteers, narrators and putting on skits about the dangers
of drugs, of parents spending too much time on the phone and
not giving their children attention etc. All working, or in
full time college or university education it was wonderful
to see, as was the clear regard that they all had for Sister
Francis still.
SHARING THE LOVE
In keeping with the fact that our projects follow local
cultural norms, when we celebrate Valentine's Day, we
celebrate the love we have for our family and friends. After
talking to children about love and friendship teachers
arranged craft activities which reflected hearts or love.
All were fabulous but on closer examination the above cards
made by members of 5th standard were really something
special. Each child made a card for their best friend but
before doing so they thought about what they loved about
them and wrote it on the heart shaped notes they attached to
the card. The messages were so thoughtful and would have
made any recipient feel a million dollars. They were simple
but included things like "You are always thoughtful", "You
always try your best", "You are funny", "You are so
creative", "You are a loyal friend" and "You always make me
laugh". Who wouldn't want to receive a card like that?!
OUR LOVELY NEW PLAY AREAS
The final task to bring work at our new building to
completion was to make some garden areas where children
could play outdoors. Our plot sloped sharply from front to
back and was largely made up of solid rock. Unsurprisingly,
once levelled we were left with bare rock on which nothing
could grow and worse still, no matter how many times we
removed the sharp stones which were left, every time it
rained more would appear. We took the advice of local
landscapers who all said the best solution was a lot of
earth and grass to keep it in place. We now have two lovely
gardens and are delighted with the final result. Children
haven't yet been able to play on them but after the first
cut in the next week or two they will be able to come out
from the Hall to play in the lower garden or from the first
floor onto the upper garden.
ALL ABOUT THE WEATHER AND
SEASONS
As many of you will know, alongside our everyday
activities and celebrations we have a monthly theme and all
children learn about the topic and get involved in themed
activities. During the last quarter, as it's such a big
event, Christmas was our December theme, followed by the
Weather and Seasons in January and Love in February.
Teachers put a lot of effort into activities and every class
will make something. There's no prizes for guessing which
month the Upper Kindergarten class above had been working
on!
THE PRE-PRIMARY
CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS SHOW
As always we were treated to wonderful Christmas Shows
from both pre-primary and afternoon children. It was extra
exciting this Christmas as it was our first show at Mango
Tree House. First came the pre-primary show. On the day we
had a large stage and canopy assembled in the car park with
seating for parents and guests. Children looked fabulous in
their outfits and parents did a great job of somehow
acquiring the right coloured outfits. All five classes
performed including our nursery class. Lower Kindergarten
were amazing with one class dancing to "I have a Dream" and
the other to a Bollywood song. Our Upper Kindergarten
classes danced to "Brazil" and to "Jingle Bells". We
finished up with mixed classes dancing to "I'm the Happiest
Christmas Tree". Father Christmas put in an appearance and
danced with the children before giving every child a gift.
Children were full of confidence and gave it their all. The
energy was fantastic. We then had some free dancing and it's
fair to say that children weren't that keen on getting off
the stage and going in for lunch. By any measure, it was
just fabulous. If you are a facebook user you can see a
little video of the morning's activities
here.
THE
AFTERNOON CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS SHOW AND ANNUAL DAY
The day after our Pre-primary Christmas show it was the
afternoon children's turn to have fun in a day long
celebration. The morning show started with carol singing by
members of 1st to 3rd and then each class performed amazing
dances - some traditional, such as you see above, some
Bollywood and some fusion dances too. In future, our
Christmas celebration will also be something of an Annual
Day where we appreciate children's success in all sorts of
fields but, as a starter this year, awards were given to the
best student in each year and our teachers took into account
things like performance in academic studies, sports, extra
curriculum activity and behaviour. After the awards ceremony
Santa Claus, the star of the show, made a very welcome
visit. He danced with the children before giving each child
a gift. After parents left, children enjoyed a special
festive lunch before partying the afternoon away. It was a
really fun day and a great note to break up on for the week
long Christmas holidays.
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GILL AND ROBBIE'S PHOENIX
FUNDRAISING SUCCESS
We were thrilled when our friends Gill and
Robbie told us that once again they were
planning a fundraiser for Mango Tree at
Prashant's Phoenix Bar in Candolim. The event
took place at the end of January and what a
night it was. It's fair to say there wasn't a
spare seat in the House and at the end of the
night no-one seemed to want to go home! We had
live music provided by Bill and raised funds on
the night through a raffle, fun quiz, bingo,
karaoke and an auction. Incredibly, Gill and
Robbie raised the equivalent of £1,260 including
funds raised on and in advance of the night. We
say a huge thank you to all those who made the
night such a success with of course a special
thank you to Gill and Robbie for taking the time
and trouble to arrange a magnificent night for
all and for making so much possible as a result
of their efforts.
A FUN AFTERNOON WITH TWININGS
All our tuition children had a lovely afternoon recently
when representatives of the Twinings tea came along to
entertain them. It was a great experience for children as
they took part in some lovely art and craft activities and
fun games. Not only that but children enjoyed their
favourite biryani meal too. We really appreciate that the
company chose to support Mango Tree with a financial
donation and that the representatives put such an effort
into making it into a special afternoon.
TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE MORE
We don't see the
children who go for private tuition as they have
a hectic schedule but they do come in for lunch
if they want to, if they need anything and to
attend a monthly update meeting. As part of
those afternoons our social worker always
arranges an activity. Sometimes it might be a
counselling session on themes like how to cope
with exam stress, the perils of the mobile phone
etc or it might be a craft activity. The
afternoons are always very social and children
get chance to forget about the studies for a
little while. Here's the activity which took
place in December - children made a large banner
to form the backdrop of our Christmas Show. It
reads "Together We Achieve More" and then the
children covered it with handprints. We loved
the sentiment behind the banner as it echoes the
way we feel about Mango Tree. No part of Mango
Tree works without the other. We have an
excellent team on the ground in Goa who do an
amazing job on the ground, but if it wasn't for
our supporters we couldn't do anything and we
never forget it.
A WONDERFUL PHOTO BOOK GIFT
More recently, it has
been lovely to have visitors back at Mango Tree
House, and especially to see sponsors meeting up
with their sponsored children after a three of
four year gap. Generally, we discourage
individual gifts to children but, when asked if
a child could be given a photobook of all the
photos a sponsoring family had received over the
years, it was impossible to say no. Here's the
lucky recipient enjoying looking through the
book on the morning of the Christmas party, with
her sisters and cousins looking on and who were
just as thrilled as she was. It brought back
lots of happy memories and will doubtless be
treasured for many years to come.
SOME SAD NEWS FROM CHIMBEL
From last June, we were really happy to
provide the funds to enable afternoon tuition
classes to restart for 50 children at the
Chimbel project. All was going well until one of
the schools which many of the children attend
was closed by the High Court at the end of the
year. Although the Court did not want to see
children's education suffer and directed local
schools to absorb them, that's easier said than
done considering 450 children are involved.
Eventually, it was agreed to provide school in
the afternoon rather than the morning. Parents
are unhappy at the outcome not least because
school takes place in the morning in India and
because their children cannot attend the free
afternoon tuition classes we provided. The case
rumbles on and we hope for a better solution
come the new school year in June. Meanwhile we
are sad to say that the Annual Day performance
was the last activity the children were involved
in.
GILL AND RICHARD'S BEACH SHACK FUNDRAISER
We are pleased to report that once again our
trustee Gill and partner Richard continued their
tradition of an annual fundraiser at Rosario's
beach shack in Calangute last month. It was a
fun night of bingo, entertainment, auctions and
a raffle, not forgetting Carol and Deborah's
games which were hilarious as ever. Amazingly,
including funds raised in advance of the night,
the equivalent of around £530 was raised. We say
a huge thank you to all those who supported the
event and contributed in so many ways. A special
thank you to Gill and Richard, not only for
raising funds, but for ensuring it was a lot of
fun too. Rumour has it plans are already being
made for next year!
THE THEOSOPHICAL ORDER OF SERVICE
SWEDEN'S WONDERFUL CONTINUED SUPPORT
We consider ourselves very fortunate that we
continue to receive substantial support the
Theosophical Order of Service in Sweden. In a
low key way funds turn up from time to time in
our Just Giving Account and it is always a very
nice surprise. We are pleased to report that we
received a donation of £3,000 in January. Over
the years the Order's support has made so much
possible and we thank all the members for
continuing to keep Mango Tree in their hearts.
OUR THANKS TO THE FONDAZIONE ACHILLE E GUILIA
BROLI
Many of you may already know that we have been
fortunate over the years that the Italian
Charity Fondazione Achilli E Giulia Boroli has
supported us with a grant each December. We are
pleased to report that this year was no
exception and we were very fortunate to receive
a sum of £1,241. As always we say a sincere
thank you to the Trustees of the Fondazione and
a special thank you to our friend Lisa who many
years ago introduced Mango Tree to the
Fondazione.
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