MARCH 2025
The last quarter has been wonderful in so many ways.
Children have been involved in many different activities and
somehow our team took both our Christmas and Republic Day
celebrations to a new level, with the latter featuring the
fashion show of traditional dress of various states as shown
above. We also had an amazing response to our Christmas
Challenge and had some lovely fundraising surprises. It's
fair to say that the number of foreign visitors to Goa has
remained considerably lower than pre-Covid days, and whilst
this remains a worry, we consider ourselves fortunate to
have received such good support from existing friends of the
Charity. Last, but not least, there is exciting news from
the project we support at Chimbel. You can read more about
it below and we very much hope to have more solid news about
this next time. Meanwhile, we hope you will enjoy to read
just a little about what has been going on this quarter.
AMAZING CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE
SUCCESS
You will remember that, once again, our Annual Christmas
Challenge took place throughout the month of December. A
very generous couple had agreed to match the first £4,000
raised Pound for Pound. We hoped to raise the £4,000 and a
further £2,000 to bring the total to £10,000. In truth, we
were somewhat concerned that we would raise the £4,000 let
alone the remaining £2,000. How wrong could we have been?!
We are delighted to announce that we raised an incredible
£12,860! We are bowled over and can only say a heartfelt
thank you to those who fundraised and donated, many of whom
have done so anonymously through Just Giving, and to the
very kind couple who matched the first £4,000 as promised.
MY VALENTINES
Although in the western world
people are used to Valentine's Day routinely being part of
the calendar and to it celebrating love between partners,
the day isn't routinely celebrated in India and rarely in
that way. With that in mind we always choose to mark the day
by celebrating our love for our family and friends. This
year on Valentine's Day children in our pre-primary
classes thought about all the family members who live in
their home and added a valentine on a chart for each of
them. Here's one Lower Kindergarten Class showing off all
the Valentines they share their home with.
OUR REPUBLIC DAY PROGRAMME
We spent a lovely afternoon celebrating Republic Day with
a programme of events. The programme was compered by some of
our 7th Standard children who explained about the day's
significance before introducing the first dance to a MashUp
of patriotic songs. Next came our fabulously styled esteemed
leaders, freedom fighters and social reformers who each
introduced themselves and told us a little about their
achievements. This was followed by some of our 4th to 7th
Standard children dancing to "Vande Mataram" (Mother I Bow
To Thee). Lastly we were treated to a fashion show where
children showcased the traditional dress of various Indian
states. You can see our models in the top photo in our
newsletter and see our national heroes above. Amongst those
present were Lokmanya Tilak, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr
Ambedkar, Savitri Bai Phule, Sarojini Naidu, Rani Laxmibai
and of course Mahatma Gandhi - but can you spot who's who?
PREPRIMARY CHRISTMAS SHOW & GATHERING
On the Monday before Christmas our pre-primary children took
to the stage, in front of a packed out audience of parents,
and dazzled us all with their Christmas Programme. We began
with nursery children dancing to the "Welcome Song" and
followed with all classes putting on dance performances
which varied from traditional Goan dances, which you can see
above, to modern Mashup and Christmas music. In amongst, we
had a fancy dress section and lots of spot prizes for
parents. We ended by giving out various awards to children
for things like good attendance, kindest child in the class,
most helpful child, just before Santa arrived with his sack
of goodies. By any measure it was fabulous and an absolute
joy to see.
THE AFTERNOON CHILDREN'S
CHRISTMAS SHOW AND ANNUAL GATHERING
We didn't think it was possible to surpass the energy and
joy of the pre-primary's celebration but when we attended
the afternoon children's Christmas Show and Annual Gathering
we realised we were wrong. What an event it was. We
were greeted by carol singing and treated to so many varied
dance routines by all Standards. We also saw a really
thought provoking routine on doing your best and whatever
the outcome that being good enough, and an amazing skit on
the subject of Social Media and the dangers when parents
don't make time for their children and are unaware of the
time children are spending on it and its negative impacts.
These were followed by a whole series of awards being given
for things like the best attender in each class, Hero and
Sparkle Awards for the most helpful and for the neatest and
cleanest children in each class, before children received
Christmas gifts, enjoyed a favourite lunch and then danced
their hearts out in the afternoon. It was the perfect way to
break up for the Christmas holidays and everyone left on
high.
OUR STUDENT OF THE YEAR
Seen here is the worthy winner of the Award for Student
of the Year. The award was given not only for excellence in
academics, but took into account things like kindness,
enthusiasm, respect and sporting activities. The young lady
is currently in 8th Standard and not only excels in school
work but she is equally good in sports and is a regular
participant in inter school competitions in kabaddi and kho
kho. She is also a member of the National Cadet Corps - the
youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces. We think you will
agree she is a worthy winner.
HEALTH CAMP
CONDUCTED FOR CHILDREN & PARENTS
In December our manager arranged with the local Health
Department for them to conduct a Health Camp for pre-primary
children and their parents. We were a bit dubious that many
parents would take advantage of the opportunity but the
response proved overwhelming. Everyone received eye and
dental checks and ladies a gynae check up too. Diabetes
testing was carried out, together with haemoglobin levels
for parents and children over 5 years old. Sadly the results
of the latter were quite shocking. Many children had levels
below average and some around half the level of a healthy
child, despite them having nutritious meals Monday to Friday
at Mango Tree. Several cases were referred to hospital for
further testing. Poor health can directly impact educational
attainment, and we say a huge thank you to the team from the
Urban Health Centre at Mapusa for conducting the free Camp
for all.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO
MAKE SUCH A DIFFERENCE
Since the Charity was founded in 2012, in addition to our
own project we have always supported a second project
located in a huge slum in a place called Chimbel. The
project currently provides a pre-primary school for 60
disadvantaged children and afternoon tuition classes for
roughly the same number. Over the years the project has
moved around the slum as landlords increased rents but for
the last few years it has been settled in the same building.
It has three rooms, one of which you can see here. The tiny
window provides no light and little ventilation as it opens
on to a wall. The two upstairs rooms are similarly sized
with steel sheets for roofing which makes the rooms very hot
in the afternoons. In the monsoon water seeps through the
walls. There is no space for furniture in any room and each
has a ledge like the one above which caters for the projects
very limited resources. The school has one toilet and no
outdoor space for play. A good thing about the property is
that it is located on the edge of the slum, the not so good
is that is opposite a garbage tip. Despite all of this, it
is such a happy place and it has been a joy to see the
children progress over the years. Earlier this year we
learnt that the chance to rent the ground floor of a newly
built apartment block had come up with open ground around
it, but it would require an increase in rent of around
£1,200 p.a and a one off deposit of £1,000 to secure it. We
also learnt that the lease would be for 10 years which is
something almost unheard of, with landlords preferring to be
in a position to take their property back each year or three
years as a maximum. We agreed in a heartbeat as we know this
is a once in a lifetime opportunity and the premises are so
much better. There is a lot of work to be done to knock
rooms together to create classrooms and make the school
secure from the tenants in the floors above. To do this
there is quite an expense involved so we are focussed at the
moment in trying to secure the necessary funds. It's an
exciting and somewhat nerve wracking time but we very much
hope to have good news to report by our next newsletter.
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FRENCH FUNDRAISING SUCCESS
For many years we have been fortunate to
benefit from a great deal of local fundraising
in Jouac in France, close to where a trustee
Gill lives. This year was no exception with a
main event again being the Summer Fete which is
hosted at a local restaurant called Le Weekend.
Amongst other things, at last year's fete hosts
Neil and Rhonda provided breakfast sandwiches,
teas and coffees and meals in the evening, there
were stalls, a Rock Choir, and a huge raffle. We
were lucky to receive a share of the fundraising
and, as a result of the day and other
activities, we received around £1,350. We say a
huge thank you to everyone involved in the
fundraising in anyway, with special special
thank yous to Gill and Richard for starting and
continuing the fundraising, to Neil and Rhonda
for working so hard and hosting this and so many
events, and to Dot who we understand worked
tirelessly for months selling raffle tickets and
gathering prizes.
OUR THANKS FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE
THEOSOPHICAL ORDER OF SERVICE - SWEDEN
We had a lovely surprise when we received donations
totalling just short of £4,200 from our friends at The
Theosophical Order or Service - Sweden. The organisation
has supported Mango Tree for many years and its fair to say
they have made many things possible during that time. As
always, we say a sincere thank you to the members for their
continued support and generosity. We also learnt that
Birgitta, the lady who usually administers the donations to
the Charity, has passed the baton on to another member and
we were amazed to learn she was 90 years young. It was our
pleasure to be in contact with Birgitta over a long period
and we thank her for all her efforts on our behalf.
A FABULOUS PHOENIX FUNDRAISER
Our friends in Goa
had a fabulous night out at the Phoenix Bar on
17th January, courtesy of Gill and Robbie's 4th
Annual Fundraiser. It was a wonderful event with
live music courtesy of Bob Hill and karaoke
courtesy of Neil and Vikas. Amongst other things
we had a raffle, bingo and an auction and these
together with donations raised the equivalent of
an incredible £1,146!. There were so many thank
yous - To Bob and Neil for entertaining us so
well, to Owen who did a fabulous job at selling
bingo tickets and calling the numbers, to Vikas
and Pauline for their support, the guys at the
Phoenix for looking after us so well, everyone
who came along and gave so generously and helped
in any way and last, but never least, to Gill
and Robbie for taking on the fundraiser for the
4th time.
OUR THANKS YVONNE & EDDIE
We had a fabulous
surprise Christmas present when our friends,
Yvonne and Eddie, told us they had been
fundraising in the Summer. We were amazed to
learn that a whopping £3,101 had been raised.
Soon after, we were very happy to welcome Yvonne
and Eddie to Mango Tree House and to learn just
what they had been up to. Amongst other things
we learnt that a fundraising day had taken
place, a bowling competition and a tabletop sale
with donations from family friends and the
Company that Eddie's works for too. It was a
huge amount of work and we thank Yvonne and
Eddied for their hard work and generosity and to
their friends and family, Rita and Ronnie,
Ground Developments, West Barns Bowling Club and
all those who contributed in any way to such
successful fundraising.
OUR 2024 CLASS OF THE YEAR
Seen here is our 7th Standard Class together
with their tutor shortly after being presented
with the cup for Class of the Year at our Annual
Gathering. In deciding which class to honour,
the Mango Tree team took into account things
like academic performance, enthusiasm, extra
curriculum activities, conduct and the number of
prizes classmates had won at different events
throughout the year. The classmates were really
proud and it was lovely to see them head for the
stage to be presented with the Cup.
GILL, RICHARD, DEBBIE & CAROL'S BEACH SHACK
FUNDRAISER
We were delighted to learn that our friends
Gill and Richard were continuing their tradition
of an annual fundraiser at Rosario's beach shack
in Calangute, Goa this year and that their
partners in crime, Deborah and Carol, had been
making plans and preparing for the event for
months. The event took place one Monday evening
in early February. We had another hilarious
opportunity to play Bitch and Cash Bingo, Played
Our Cards Right and got the chance to show off
our artistic skills by drawing beach scenes on
plates on our head. With football cards sold in
advance, the foursome raised the equivalent of a
whopping £688. We say a huge thank you to
everyone who supported the event in anyway with
a special thank you to Richard, Gill, Deborah
and Carole, not just for fundraising but for
making such an effort to make it fun for
everyone. If you want to see what happens when
you try to draw a beach scene on a plate on your
head zoom in above!
ALDONA LIONS CLUB CONDUCTS AN EYE
CAMP
In the past we have been fortunate enough to
receive support from local Lions Clubs in Goa
and this year we were fortunate that the Aldona
branch offered to conduct an eye camp for the
afternoon children. The screening subsequently
took place in January. All children were
screened and around 10 were referred to hospital
for more detailed examinations. We say a huge
thank you to the Lions Club members for their
kindness which will result in children who need
it getting the care with their eyesight at an
early stage.
SUZANNE, MARK, JOANNE AND MARTIN'S NICK'S PLACE
FUNDRAISERS
Over many years we have been fortunate that
Nick's Place restaurant at Arpora has supported
us with fundraising. This year has been no
exception with the mantle of conducting the
fundraisers generously being taken on by our
friends Suzanne, Mark, Joanne and Martin. During
the period two charity quiz and fun nights were
arranged. Each had a great turn out with a lot
of fun being had by all taking part in the quiz,
card bingo and people chancing their arm Opening
the Box. The evenings were hugely successful and
a lot of fun raising a whopping £397. We thank
everyone who took part in the evenings, to all
those brought prizes along, to Nick's Place for
always being there for Mango Tree and not least
to Suzanne, Mark, Joanne and Martin. Above are
the worthy quiz champions of the first event.
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