News Index Jul-Sep 2017

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September Newsletter Published 15-Sep
We have now published our September 2017 newsletter. ..... View the Newsletter here
CELEBRATING OUR TEACHERS 05-Sep
Teachers Day is celebrated on 5th of September in recognition of the contribution that teachers make to society. Thanks to our donors and fundraisers we are able to fund 15 teachers and assistant teachers in Goa. Our teachers are a constant in children's lives and above all things can make a difference. Their teaching, guidance and patience can literally change the path of children's lives. To honour their teachers children at Mango House gave flowers and cards, made some excellent posters and even made a bouquet too. Seen here are the 7 Mango House teachers and teaching assistants receiving just one of the lovely tributes. Our teachers do a great job in not always easy circumstances and we thank them all of them for their efforts.
OUR 2018 FUNDRAISING CALENDAR 01-Sep
Whilst we hate to mention 2018 so far in advance as we don't have another newsletter until December we wanted to mention our Fundraising Calendar. The desk calendar is of a high quality printed on glossy card. It has an Indian artwork theme and each month features a photo. The calendars are sponsored so all proceeds will go to our Brick By Brick Appeal. Calendars are £6 each plus £1 for postage up to a maximum of £3 for 3 or more and postage free for orders of 10 or more. They will be available from early November but if you would like to order it would help if you tell us soon to help us plan. Please email us at mangotreegoa@hotmail.co.uk .We are not planning to have calendars in subsequent years so please do support this venture if you can.
EID MUBARAKI 01-Sep
As the important Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha fell at the end of the week's holiday for Ganesh Chaturthi we weren't able to celebrate at Mango House but we didn't want to miss the opportunity to wish all those celebrating Eid Mubarak.
OUR BRICK BY BRICK TARGET HAS BEEN REVISED 01-Sep
In 2015 trustees considered how much might be needed to build The Mango Tree House. Based on advice given a total sum of £85,000 was considered to be broadly in line with the estimated costs of buildings, fittings and furniture. Unfortunately, since that time the value of the pound against the rupee has fallen by around 17%, mainly as a result of Britain's decision to leave the EU. As a result trustees have adopted a more realistic figure of £100,000 to meet the immediate building costs only. Despite the difficulties we have encountered we are delighted that we now have around £88,000 available towards the building costs - a tremendous achievement by any measure and we are hugely grateful to all those who have had a hand in making this possible.
HAPPY GANESH CHATURTHI 25-Aug
Today Hindus celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi - one of the most colourful festivals of the year. The festival celebrates the birthday of Lord Ganesha - the very popular elephant headed God widely revered as the remover of obstacles. From the youngest to the oldest everyone took part in craft activities and came up with some stunning items. This year these included tributes to Ganesh made in many different materials including grains, paper tea cups and CDs, a traditional door hanging and beautiful rangoli art. Here pre-primary children are showing off their tribute made from grains.
CELEBRATING OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS 07-Aug
Earlier this week the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan took place. The festival honours the special bond between brothers and sisters and traditionally sisters tie a rhaki (decorative thread) to their brother's wrists. At Mango House children made rhakis and cards and "sisters" gave them to their "brothers". The afternoon children also made some spectacular creations including this very splendid giant Rhaki you can see here.
WE WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE OUR FLOWER COMPLETE 06-Aug
Friendship Day is celebrated throughout India today. As it fell on the weekend the children at Mango House celebrated on the previous Friday. Before doing so teachers spend time explaining all about the importance of friendship and that to have a good friend you need to be a good friend. Children love spending time with their friends and they love this special day. All classes made lovely posters with special messages. We loved them all but thought we would share this one - "We are special and unique we work together to make our flower complete"
OUR THANKS AGAIN TO THE WHOLE MIND REWIND TEAM 03-Aug
Over the years we have been extremely lucky to regularly receive donations as a result of the sales of Mind Rewind CDs. The CDs are released by DAT Records and contain past music from the Goa scene. 3 CDs have been produced to date and as a result of all those involved, including the musicians, collaborators, designers etc., giving their contributions free of charge all the profits have benefited disadvantaged children in Goa. The most recent donation of £1,550 brings the total donated to a massive £10,600. As you can imagine the generosity of those involved has made a huge difference to the lives of very many disadvantaged children and we once again say thank you to all involved. You can read more about Mind Rewind here
MEET OUR TRUSTEES 01-Aug
Historically we haven't included information about our trustees on our website thinking Mango Tree Goa isn't about us it's about what we are able to make possible on the ground in Goa and how people can help. Over the years, however, we have been asked from time to time so following the latest addition to our Trustee Board we decided the time had to come to share a little bit about who we are. You can see and read about our trustees here.
SUPPORTING 450 CHILDREN DAILY 31-Jul
At the beginning of the school year it always takes a couple of weeks for the numbers at our projects to settle. Some children are a little bit late returning from their native villages and a few children who move from pre-primary to 1st Standard find the shift in hours from 9 to 12.30 to 7.30 to 5 a bit too much to cope with. We are delighted to announce, however, that Mango Tree is now supporting around 450 children at its Pre-primary schools and afternoon classes daily. We are amazed by the progress Mango Tree has made over the last 5 years and really appreciate that it is made possible by our supporters and great teams in Goa
THANK YOU TO THE BANK OF BARODA AT ANJUNA 20-Jul
We were delighted to learn that Mr Manish Kumar and his team from the Bank of Baroda at Anjuna recently visited Mango House. On behalf of the bank the team provided slates and dusters for all the pre-primary children and treated everyone to drinks and snacks. We say a big thank you to the team for choosing to support Mango House.
FREEDOM FIGHTERS CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY 15-Jul
We loved this fabulous photo taken on Independence Day at Chimbel. Teachers introduced the pre-primary children to some of the most important freedom fighters and important personalities in Indian history and as you can see children dressed up accordingly. We think everyone will spot Ghandi but other figures also included Bhagat Singh, Pandit Nehru, the Rani of Jhansi, Subash Chandra Bose and Indira Ghandi.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIRLEY 13-Jul
We were very happy that our long-time supporter Shirley Norris chose to share her birthday celebration with the children at Mango House today. All the children were very pleased to escape tuition class to party and enjoy a scrumptious cake and fruit. See here are Shirley and husband Mike together with some very happy children. Happy Birthday and Thank You Shirley!
3RD STANDARD CHILDREN TAKE A TRIP TO THE TALKIES! 12-Jul
The 3rd Standard children at Mango House were super excited to take a trip to the Heera Talkies to see Spiderman earlier this week. The trip was made possible by two friends Jan and Victoria who sponsored outings for both 3rd and 4th Standard children. The older children visited the Science Museum earlier in the year whilst an outing to the cinema was chosen for the younger children. A trip to the cinema is a really big deal and treats in the interval a thrill too. It was a wonderful afternoon and we say thank you to Jan and Victoria for their kindness.
IN MEMORY OF DES BLACKBURN-STOUT 06-Jul
Earlier this year we were saddened to hear about the sudden death of Des Blackburn-Stout who, together with his wife Louise, had visited Mango House in December. Following Des's death Louise asked that any friends or family who wished to do so to make a donation to Mango Tree in his memory. We would like to thank all those who honoured Des by so generously giving and raising over £700 as a result. With Louise's agreement the funds raised will be earmarked towards the Brick By Brick Appeal and in this way will help to provide a lasting tribute. We also say a sincere thank you to Louise who at a difficult time still thought of others and how she could help them.
TWO TEACHING ASSISTANT POSTS ADDED AT MANGO HOUSE 01-Jul
Each year as part of our budget setting process we consider how things are going in Goa and any changes that should and could be made. At Mango House in particular it was clear that there was an increasing pressure on teachers as a result of the ever growing number of children and the range of duties they undertake over and above teaching. It was proposed that two teaching assistants be added to the team bringing the teaching staff up to 7. Two new ladies have been appointed and their support in class has been a very welcome addition.
THANK YOU LAKEISHA FOR CELEBRATING OUR BIRTHDAYS 01-Jul
We say a huge thank you to Lakeisha for continuing to support Mango House and choosing to celebrate all the children's birthdays with a fabulous cake, drinks and a birthday gift for the children. Here you can see Lakeisha enjoying celebrating with the pre-primary children at the end of June party.
THE STYRRUP HALL GOLF CLUB FUNDRAISER 01-Jul
This year the Seniors section of Styrrup Hall Golf Club again held a fundraising day. This year the proceeds from the day were split between Mango Tree and a local children's Hospice with both receiving £451. The amount raised is astonishing given the relatively small numbers of seniors involved and we say a huge thank you to the organisers and all those who chose to take part.
IN MEMORY OF PETE GRIMSHAW 01-Jul
We were sad to hear in May about the death of Pete Grimshaw, the husband of our trustee Jane who many of you will know. Whilst Pete didn't play a direct role in Mango Tree he was a keen promoter and fundraising for the Charity and his unbending support to Jane allowed her to devote so much time to the Charity and in that way made so much possible. Following Pete's death Jane asked that those who wished to do so to make a donation to Mango Tree in his memory. We thank all those who honoured Pete in this way and raised over £920 which is earmarked to the Brick By Brick Appeal. We also say thank you to those who have offered Jane their practical help with the running of Mango Tree during this difficult time.