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OUR ANNUAL GATHERING EXHIBITION
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24-Dec
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As part of our Annual Gathering, children were invited to show off their talents and submit their models into an exhibition. There were various categories including Best From Waste, Science, Art and Craft. We were delighted to see how many children submitted something. All the submissions were exhibited in the hall so parents could view them before the show and see the winner of each category receive their prize. Children were buzzing to hear the name of the winners and its definitely a great addition to our Annual Gathering.
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OUR CHRISTMAS CRIB IS READY
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24-Dec
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During the festive season in Goa its traditional to display home made nativity scenes outside Catholic homes, churches and public places. Known locally as cribs, we have maintained the tradition of our older children making one for Mango Tree. They are always outdoor scenes and almost always have seed grown grass. It's nerve wracking to ensure the grass is looking its best for Christmas Day and as you can see our field was timed to perfection.
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OUR CHRISTMAS SHOW AND ANNUAL GATHERING
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24-Dec
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Yesterday we posted about our pre-primary Christmas celebration.. We didn't think the energy and joy could be surpassed but we were wrong. Today our afternoon children's Christmas Show and Annual Gathering took place. What an event it was. We were greeted by carol singing and treated to so many varied dance routines. We also saw a really thought provoking routine on doing your best and an amazing skit on the subject of Social Media. These were followed by a whole series of awards before children had gifts, lunch and a party. Merry Christmas!
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Seen here is our 7th Standard Class together with their tutor after having been presented with the cup for Class of The Year. 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 in each class had secured 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.
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STUDENT OF THE YEAR
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24-Dec
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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 teams. 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.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE & ALL
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23-Dec
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All of us at Mango Tree wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a joyful festive season.
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AN AMAZING PRE-PRIMARY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
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23-Dec
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On Monday 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 to music which varied from modern Mashup to traditional Goan and Christmas music. In amongst we had a fancy dress section and lots of spot prizes for parents. We ended with various awards being given to children before Santa arrived with his sack full of goodies. We will talk more about our awards another day, but meanwhile here are a few photos from an absolutely fabulous and joyful morning.
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OUR PRE-PRIMARY AWARDS
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23-Dec
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All schools traditionally have such an event through which children's achievements are recognised. First came our Pre-primary awards. Awards were given to children in all classes for categories including best attendance, most kind hearted and ready to help, best behaved and most enthusiastic. Here's one young lady being presented with an award for her enthusiasm.
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IT'S BEGINNING TO FEEL A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!
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22-Dec
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There was really an air of excitement at Mango Tree House last week as we headed for our Christmas Shows. Pre-primary will take place tomorrow with the Afternoon children's Show taking place on Tuesday. There was music everywhere as children rehearsed for their dances and songs. We also love to decorate the House, and every class from pre-primary to the oldest made something to help. Its definitely beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas.
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A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL HEALTHCAMP
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14-Dec
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This week our manager arranged with the local Health Department for a Health Camp for pre-primary children and their parents. We were a bit dubious about how many parents would take advantage of the opportunity, but the response proved overwhelming. Everyone received eye and dental checks and ladies a gynae check 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. 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 coming along and conducting the free Camp and to our Manager, Vindha, for arranging it.
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OUR THANKS TO SUZANNE AND SARAH AT HEY LITTLE MAGPIE
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08-Dec
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It's fair to say that, given the much reduced visitors to Goa these days, we are always concerned about our level of income. Having said that we keep calm and carry on, in the belief that we never know what might be just around the corner. On Monday, we had a just around the corner day when our friend Suzanne came along with the funds raised by a crafting organisation she had inspired with her tales of Mango Tree. It transpires that her friend Sarah at Hey Little Magpie set about fundraising for Mango Tree and raised a whopping £1,005. We say a huge thank you to Suzanne for sharing her love of Mango Tree, to Sarah at Hey Little Magpie and all those who supported the fundraising in anyway. We also say a sincere thank you to Suzanne's family and friends who sent some lovely donations along with her too.
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OUR THANKS TO SAKURA WELLNESS & THEIR FRIENDS
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26-Nov
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We were thrilled to have a visit from the organisers and attendees of a Sakura Wellness retreat at the end of November. Not only did they bring along very generous donations, but they ensured the visit was a lot of fun for children too with a much appreciated gift of a tube of bubbles for every child. Children had an absolute blast and we say a huge thank you for a very happy morning and for choosing to support Mango Tree.
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CHIMBEL AFTERNOON CHILDREN VISIT A FARM & WATER PARK
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23-Nov
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Part of the support that we give our partner Grace Educational Trust involves a grant of £1,000 to be spent on extracurricular fun activities. It covers things like Children's Day, Sports Day, Christmas etc. It's not a lot of money for a project supporting around 120 children but it brings a great deal of joy. The afternoon children had asked for a long time if they would be able to have a picnic outing this year. An ideal location was found at a water park set on a farm in Ponda. At around £5 including food per child the Chimbel team felt it was pricey and sought our advice on whether they should go ahead or not. Exams were just around the corner and our advice was to seize the opportunity and enjoy the day. Some hard bargaining followed which led to a discount and the bus was hurriedly booked. Children sang their way to and from the venue on a jam-packed bus and had an absolute blast playing in the various pools and waterfalls being coaxed out only to enjoy lunch. We were delighted to see several little videos of today's and moved to receive a little thank you video from the children at the end of it.
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OUR CHILDRENS DAY - PRE-PRIMARY CELEBRATIONS
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19-Nov
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This year the monsoon in Goa was particularly bad and it was impossible for children to play outside for some months. It's fair to say that when pre-primary children got their first chance to play out they unleashed lots of pent up excitement. Better still, as part of our Children's Day celebrations, children finally got the chance to visit a local play ground. It's an absolute favourite activity and costs absolutely nothing. Although they couldn't have enjoyed anything more, we followed up with a traditional party with games, prizes and treats to take home today. Here are some of our little party game winners.
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HAPPY AND SAD CHILDREN'S DAY OUTINGS
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15-Nov
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This year Children's Day fell at the end of the Diwali holidays, so it was a perfect opportunity to arrange to go out for the whole day and enjoy a picnic. As children cover such a large age range we arranged two outings - a trip to the Art Park for Primary children and a beach outing for Secondary and above children. Yesterday we knew something was amiss when some children didn't turn up and we tried in vain to contact parents. The same thing happened today and we got the news that a number of the children's homes had been demolished by the Government and a further 100 of the children's homes would be demolished imminently. On what should have been children's special day, several lost their homes and several were about to. The children we took out had a fabulous time, but the demolition was a sad reminder of the fragile lives that many children lead.
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We wish everyone celebrating the Festival of Lights peace, good health, success and prosperity. Happy Diwali.
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MEDICAL CAMP FOR THE CHIMBEL PRE-PRIMARY CHILDREN
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26-Oct
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We were pleased to learn that a basic medical camp was to take place for the Chimbel pre-primary children today. A local doctor came along and screened for hearing and optical problems. Fortunately, most of the children were fine with three or four being referred to a local hospital for further tests and to prescribe glasses.
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OUR DIWALI RANGOLI
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25-Oct
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Yesterday, we broke up for the Diwali holidays. We have had all sort of activities this week and last, but the last is always the creation of our Diwali rangoli which honours and seeks the blessings of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. It is a painstaking process to make a rangoli from flower petals, but as always, patience and concentration paid off and the result is stunning. The finishing touch was the addition of diyas - oil filled clay lamps, which ward off evil spirits and symbolise the triumph of darkness over light. Lastly, before leaving, some traditional sweet treats made by the Mango Tree House cook were offered. It was the perfect end to the term.
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THE DEFEAT OF NARKASUR
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25-Oct
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Whilst Diwali is regarded as the Festival of Lights and Hindus illuminate their homes, public buildings and work places it is also celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. Throughout Goa effigies of a demon king Narkasur are burnt to represent Lord Krishna's victory over him and the freeing of his captives. In keeping with tradition, whilst our older girls were busy making their flower petalled rangoli, everyone else gathered outside with the older boys to see their larger than life effigy of Narkasur explode into flames and crumple in a fiery pile. As always, it was a lot of fun to see his demise, as various parts of his anatomy submitted to explosions.
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A YEAR SINCE WE MOVED INTO MANGO TREE HOUSE
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24-Oct
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Unbelievably, it's a year today since we officially moved lock, stock and barrel into Mango Tree House. The time has flown by, but it's already hard to imagine we had any other home, most of all we can't imagine how we ever managed to squeeze into the old Mango House. We know how lucky we are to have our own House and the terrible rains of the last few weeks remind us that we were also incredibly lucky to have fine weather last year during the move!
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OUR SKY LANTERN COMPETITION
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24-Oct
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This year we added a sky lantern competition to our Diwali programme. Children in 5th Standard and above were challenged to submit their designs by today. We were amazed how many children turned up with a lantern and how beautiful they were. Once judging was complete they were put up on our veranda ready to greet Goddess Laxmi. Here are the winners in the 5th to 7th Standard category.
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SUNSHINE WORLDWIDE SCHOOL CHILDREN SPEND THE MORNING AT MANGO TREE HOUSE
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14-Oct
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Today we were visited by around 20 nursery and Lower Kindergarten children from Sunshine Worldwide School. The visit had been organised as part of the school's CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) project which encourages children to actively engage in activities outside the classroom which foster personal growth. We wondered how both groups of children would interact with each other. But we needn't have been concerned. The morning kicked off with small games to break the advice and then children sat down to engage in a craft activity together. It went really well and we very much appreciated the donation of groceries which the school gave too.
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RAISING AWARENESS ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD
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11-Oct
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The UN declared the 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child with the aim of raising awareness of the inequality girls face. In India the birth of a girl is still often seen as a burden and many girls do not have the same opportunities and rights as boys. Today, Mango Tree House took action to raise awareness about these issues, not only amongst the children, but also among the wider community by conducting a street play in the garden and chanting various slogans demanding equality between boys and girls. Some of the older girls also made this amazing rangoli. For those of you who don't know, rangoli is made by applying coloured powders on a template drawn on the ground and is a lot harder than it might seem. We think you will agree the rangoli is not only beautiful but also contains an important message "Girl Child is Nation's Pride"
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HUGELY SUCCESSFUL PARENT TEACHER MEETING
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10-Oct
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We were thrilled to learn how many parents took the time to come in for the pre-primary Parent Teacher meeting today. They are usually held three times a year. The first just before the start of the new academic year when uniforms etc are handed down. Today was the second meeting which follows the issuing of small report cards after the completion of small tests completed by all children. Firstly, our manager spoke to all parents about any admin matters and general advice and concerns before parents sat down with their child's respective teacher. Many parents are anxious to learn how their child is progressing and it's important to impress upon them that, particularly at such a young age, children develop at different rates and not to be overly concerned if children are less engaged in one area than another. It's also a chance for parents to raise any concerns that they have too. All in all, it was a successful morning.
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PRETTY IN PINK AT MANGO TREE HOUSE
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10-Oct
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As we mentioned above, the Navaratri festival takes place over nine days and, traditionally, certain coloured clothing is worn on each day. The nine colours remain the same, but the order can change. Our team often follows this tradition but this year many of the younger children joined in too. Here you can see them on the eighth day of the festival which this year was designated as pink day, the colour signifying peace, love and care for all. In addition, some of our girls asked if they could learn and perform a Dandiya dance and we chose "pink" day for them to show off their routine. Unlike a Garba dance which concentrates on hand movements, Dandiya includes the use of decorated sticks which signify the Goddess Durga's combat over evil forces and is quite tricky. The girls did a great job and we are amazed that after 12 year we still see new activities added to our calendar.
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CHIMBEL STUDENTS PERFORM AT NAVARATRI UTSAV
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08-Oct
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The festival of Navaratri takes place over nine days and has several ancient traditions including the wearing of a pre-determined colour clothing in each of the days of the festival and traditional dances of which Garba and Dandiya Raas are the most well-known. This year during the festival an exhibition was held in the main hall in the capital city of Panjim. Children from the Chimbel project were invited to put on a dance performance. Having decided to perform a Garba dance, costumes were urgently sought and rented and dance practice took place for an hour every day after tuition class for just two weeks. Some of the younger children danced yesterday and some of the older girls today. As you can see, once again, the children were an absolute credit to the team at the Chimbel project.
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THE GANDHI JAYANTI CLEANLINESS DRIVE
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02-Oct
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The above photo of children cleaning Mango Tree House may seem a little strange, particularly as one of our ambitions it to keep children away from child labour. Rest assured, it was taken today which is the date of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. It is a National holiday in India and on this day in 2019, the Prime Minister announced a cleanliness campaign, it being considered that a clean India would be a fitting tribute to this national hero. The campaign continues and every year on Gandhi Jayanti, children all over India pay their respects and have a cleanliness drive around their school premises. Far from engaging in child labour, our children our doing their bit towards the cause to honour this esteemed leader.
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