SEPTEMBER 2025
As you will see, it's been a great quarter in many ways. As
always the Summer months see an explosion of festivals along
with Independence Day and, as always, we celebrated them all
with gusto. Ganesh Chaturthi fell at the very end of the
quarter but, as we could fill a newsletter with the
activities which took place, we will include news about
those next time. Meanwhile we were thrilled to learn that
supporters have undertaken fundraising for the Charity,
which is such a boost at a quiet time of the financial year,
and that our first bursary has been established. Best of all
we have such good news about the Chimbel project. We hope
that you have as much pleasure from reading about our news
as we did as each event unfurled.
A NEW SCHOOL AT CHIMBEL
In the last couple of newsletters we spoke about our hopes
for a new base for the Chimbel project and we are really
happy to share an early photo of one of the classrooms at
the new Chimbel School. Things have moved on apace since the
last newsletter not only to create the classrooms but, as
they are on the ground floor of an apartment block with the
only access for tenants being up the stairs in the centre of
the school, there's been lots of work to create a new access
and generally make the school safe and secure too. There is
still much to do, but we have at least been able to fund the
initial basic capital works and as a result have 4 bright
and cheery rooms, a large yard and a lovely open aspect as
the premises overlook fields on one side. A small
inauguration has taken place, and all children are settled
in the new premises. We are seeking funding to do further
works but meanwhile we are delighted by what has been
achieved and know that children have a far better learning
environment with space to engage in play and learning
activities too. At present there are around 60 children in
pre-primary school and around 50 in afternoon tuition
classes. We look forward to bringing you more news about the
project's development next time.
A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO
FRUIT
Every month we have a theme
and lots of our activities revolve around that theme. During
July, pre-primary children focussed on fruit, and over the
days they learnt not only to identify fruit , but also about
the tastes, textures and benefits of each. Children's
learning culminated in a fabulous treat. All children were
asked to bring in their favourite fruit which they presented
to their classmates. Teachers then chopped it up ready to be
added to the custard our cooks had prepared. Children had a
go at adding the fruit resulting in a spectacular fruit
custard which was enjoyed by all.
THE OLDER CHILDREN GO TREKKING
Our oldest students are always busy with school, extra
lessons, tuition classes, exams and some with sport's
practice too, so we rarely get to spend time with them. We
are happy to provide a treat for them when many of them can
fit it in and our team came up with the idea of going on a
trek to the Shivling Waterfalls which are located around
60kms from Mango Tree House. A suitable trekking company was
engaged, a date fixed and off they went. The Falls are
surrounded by thick forests, streams and hilly terrain and
the initial trek took around 45 minutes. Once there,
children spent time just chilling and posing for photos. It
was a fabulous experience and one that will remain with them
for a long time to come.
FOOD WITHOUT FIRE
Whilst the Mango Tree House pre-primary children were
learning more about fruit during July, our afternoon
children were making plans for their own event which was
called "Food Without Fire". A Food Fair was planned with
each Standard having a cart presenting their food. Every
class chose a name and having decided on a theme, everyone
was tasked with bringing something from home to contribute
to their cart. On the day, teachers helped 1st to 4th
Standard with their preparations, but children in 5th and
above did their own thing. Over 50 dishes were presented on
carts named Foodie Fusion, Snack Attack, Flavours United,
The Vitamin Cart, Flame Free Bites, Goa's Juicy Delights and
The Rainbow Cart. Children absolutely loved the afternoon,
and we were amazed that boys really got involved alongside
the girls. After all the carts had been presented it was
time for the best bit - sampling the delights. Here's some
of 3rd Standard showing off their wares.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Traditionally, the summer months see a settling down to a
new academic year after the long holidays. This year, it
took a little longer than normal as many families who hail
from the most northerly states were quite late back to Goa
as they struggled to obtain train tickets to return. By mid
July however, almost all were back and we are proud to
report that Mango Tree is currently supporting 344 children
through the Mango Tree House project and 110 at the Chimbel
project. We are also proud that the two projects between
them employ 26 members of staff and that finally, after 13
years, both projects have a place to call home - Mango Tree
House in its own premises and the Grace project at Chimbel
with a 10 year lease with a potential for longer. It's a
great feeling that both projects are in a steady state and
we never get all our Mango Tree supporters who helped us get
here.
INTRODUCING PRE-PRIMARY
CHILDREN TO THE TRADITIONS OF RAKSHA BANDHAN
One of our favourite festivals is the Hindu festival
of Raksha Bandhan which celebrates the special bond between
brothers and sisters or between someone who is like a
brother or a sister. To celebrate the event we had two
beautiful events - one for the older children and one for
pre-primary, many of whom have never experienced the
celebrations at Mango Tree House. Our teachers explained all
about the festival and its significance before our
"brothers" and "sisters" sat down together to take part in
the ceremony. Our "brothers" and "sisters" were taught about
all the items on the thali and how they would be used. The
girls then took kum kum and placed a tika on their
"brother's" forehead, used the candle to perform a prayer,
fed him a sweet and then tied a rakhi (sacred thread) to his
wrist. It was a beautiful ceremony matched only by the
ceremony held for the afternoon children later in the day.
ESTEEMED LEADERS
ATTEND OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY PROGRAMME
It was lovely to see that all children took part in
Independence Day celebrations in mid August, first engaging
in saffron, white and green arts and craft activities and
then taking part in both morning and afternoon programmes.
During the pre-primary programme the teachers first
explained about the importance of Independence Day before
two children from each class arrived dressed as some of
India's most loved and respected leaders. Seen here are Rani
Laxmi Bai, Mahatma Ghandi, Lokmanya Tilak, Chandra Shekhar
Azad, Ram Manohar Lohiya, Shubhash Chandra Bose, Savitribai
Phiue, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ahilyabai
Holkar. Can you guess who's who?
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A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL GARDEN PARTY
FUNDRAISER
We were delighted to hear that our friends
Sue and Mick were planning to hold a fundraiser
at their home in Grimsby this Summer and then
astonished to hear that the fundraiser had taken
place and that £1,157.35 had been raised. Lots
of activities were carried out including a
barbecue, cake sale, raffles and games. Friends
and family were incredibly kind and generous and
contributed, not only financially, but with help
and support too. We say thank you to each and
everyone who helped make the day such a success
and a huge thank you to Sue and Mick for their
hard work and generosity for Mango Tree.
OUR THANKS TO CHRIS AND THE 2024/25 FPL REDDIT
COMMUNITY
We were further delighted to learn in August that our
friend, Chris, had organised a 5th Fantasy Football League
Fundraiser during the 2024/25 season and that this time it
has raised a record breaking £1,090 from both fees and
donations. We were blown away by the success of the
fundraiser as it has gone from strength to strength over the
years. We say a huge thank you to the FPL reddit community
that took part in the 2024/25 Charity League and together
raised such a wonderful sum and once again to Chris, who
takes the time and trouble to administer the League and
choosing to do it for the benefit of the children at Mango
Tree.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MILLY AND F X QUADROS
OF LOUTOLIM BURSARY
We are very pleased
to announce that a bursary has been set up to
help a talented student from a disadvantaged
background who is in need of financial support
to undertake further studies at Higher Secondary
School and beyond. The Bursary will be known as
the Milly and F X Quadros of Loutolim Bursary to
honour the memory of the donor's parents who
originally hailed from Loutolim, a small village
in South Goa. The financial assistance will be
awarded for items such as tuition and
examination fees and study materials. The first
recipient of the Bursary is a young lady
currently in the Science stream who dreams of a
career in the medical field. We are thrilled
that the Bursary will help both to make her
dream a reality and that our friends Claire and
her son, James, chose to honour their family by
creating such a lasting legacy.
CELEBRATING GRAND PARENTS AT CHIMBEL
The Chimbel project
is located in the heart of a slum and Sister
Francis, who runs the project, makes a real
effort to engage the Community in school
activities. It has always been quite difficult
to invite parents to attend any event, given the
very limited space, but now that the school has
a new location, with one particularly large
classroom that can act as a Hall, a couple of
events have already taken place. First off the
team spread the word that they would be
celebrating the special relationship between
grand parents and their grand children and
invited them to come along to a session. It was
a huge success which produced many happy
memories and some fab artwork which children
took away with them.
MANGO TREE HOUSE SUCCEED IN THEIR
APPLICATION FOR 100 READING BOOKS
Earlier in the Spring our Mango Tree House
manager made us aware of a CrowdFunding Platform
through which Indian Trusts can seek support to
receive a set of high quality books with stories
set in children's familiar surroundings and in
languages they speak and learn in. The
platform aims to bridge the gap between those
who need books and those who would love to
provide them. Agreeing that the books sounded
perfect we encouraged her to go ahead and 100
books were sought. Later in the Summer we
learned of the success of the application and
that the books had indeed been safely received.
The books have gone down a storm with children
who love to get them out. We hope that this
might be the start of an ongoing relationship
which will help our library grow.
RAISING AWARENESS ON WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
Although World Environment Day fell on the
first day of term so we couldn't celebrate it,
we still wanted to mark the occasion and do our
bit to raise awareness about the need to protect
our environment and the simple actions which can
be taken to do so. Our teachers set aside an
afternoon as soon as they could and prepared
activities for all. At the end of the day
children gathered in the Hall and one from each
class presented their activity. There were some
fabulous activities. It didn't stop there though
as our 6th Standard children made hundreds of
newspaper bags which they distributed to local
supermarkets the next day to spread the message
the we don't need plastic bags.
CELEBRATING FRIENDSHIP
Friendship Day is widely celebrated
throughout India on the first Sunday in August.
With that in mind, the afternoon children were
asked how they wanted to celebrate, and it was
decided to hold a card making competition. All
the cards were made at home with siblings giving
a helping hand to the youngest children. On the
day, children exchanged cards and told each
other why they were their best friend. It was a
heartfelt and thought provoking experience to
hear children explain how, amongst other things,
their friends helped them at school, played with
them, shared their tiffin and were there when
they needed them. The cards were simply
beautiful too, written in Hindi, Marathi or
English and containing quotes, friendship songs,
feelings and memories. The whole activity was
led by children and it's clear they already know
the value of friendship.
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