July 2005

Introduction
The rains that took hold in June calmed down a little for the first two weeks of July which gave everyone a chance to dry out and drive to work without the need of waterproofs from head to toe. It is amazing how people have managed to keep clothes fresh and clean without the help of tumble dryers as even clothes that are kept inside become damp and wet due to the high humidity (it has hit a high of 95% humidity recently). Thankfully due to the break in the rains we had chance to hang washing out and let it dry naturally in the sun. As well as clothes; walls, furniture and pretty much everything suffers from the damp and heat collecting mould and fungus which spreads quickly. As not to have too much of a good thing, the rains have returned with a vengeance in the last week while we have been writing this newsletter.

This time of year also seems to bring out an increased chance of getting skin problems as it gives the bacteria ideal conditions to grow. It is so important to wash and dry your skin well, something that many of the slum dwellers don't have the chance to do.

We hope you enjoy this installment of the newsletter and if you have any queries or comments then please contact us at .

Website
Our website is continually being updated and although we have been hugely busy with the house this month we have still managed to do a few updates.

New Pictures - Yes we've been out with the camera again, two new sets have been updated, the first set 'Various Pictures' were taken over the past few months, they were just photos that we thought you might like to see, no theme, just nice pictures. The second set (Picture to the left is my favourite) is from when Shermina and Robert went on their weekly fruit visit to the slums and took along Robs trusty and now quite battered camera. It was a great day as there was a nice break in the rain and the children were making the most of it. The pictures are simply called 'Monsoon' and can be viewed here (or click on the picture) . Apples and Oranges aren't in season in Goa so are either expensive or not available, so we decided to buy mangoes. We took two large bags to give out at two of the slums. The mangoes were a little ripe and it was quite funny seeing some of the small children with rather more on their faces than in their mouths.

Projects Needs List - We have added a new page to the website, it is called the 'projects needslist'. This is how we hope to fund and extend our outreach work in the slums. We currently visit a few slums in our area and take fruit out on a weekly basis, we have also had our first (organised by CWT) health visit to the slums (see item below for more details). Unfortunately even though the people give their time for free we still need money to buy fruit, medicines, books, rice and transport. We are hoping that people will help fund this out reach programme so it can grow and in the future extend to more areas. If you can help fund this projects then please contact our UK office and say you would like to support the project needslist.

Hidden pictures - We have had many requests for pictures of Goa during the monsoon coming from friends, family and also supporters of CWT. As these don't have a direct link to the charity we have hidden them away on our website. If anyone is interested in seeing the other side of Goa, then slip on your waterproofs and have a look at our collection of photos. Click the picture to the left to find the hidden pictures.

The website is still growing in popularity. Many hits were from people starting to look for their winter holidays and people on the hunt for advice on Goa. The number of visitors we have had in the last month has grown by 30% and the number of pages viewed has grown by a staggering 72%, although a lot of these were to see our hidden pictures section. This month we are highlighting the six sections that people visit the most. Below are the six favourite sections, (home page, pictures, newsletters, needslist, volunteer views and who we are). Click on the images below to see what you've been missing.

This months website totals

Our popular pages

Home Page	Pictures	Newsletters
Needslist	Volunteer Views	Who We Are

Fundraising

Woodingdean Carnival
The turnout at the carnival wasn't as good as was expected due to the poor weather conditions, but that didn't stop John, helped by Rene, Bob and Jack raising over £250 towards Children Walking Tall. We would like to thank John, Rene, Bob and Jack for all their help organising the event and of course on the day itself.

Donations
The new house is coming along although a lot of work still needs doing. We would like to thank Dave for donating the money towards the new electrics for the house. The original electric cables were very old and quite dangerous so had to be completely stripped and replaced. So we would like to thank Dave for his generous contribution. We would also like to thank Laara for sending us a cheque to help the children in India.

Online Donations
We have had two new donations on the Givenow website this month. We would like to thank both Lesley and Laura for their help. Laura is becoming one of our long term supporters as it is now her 4th online donation on the website - Thank you so much for your continued support! If anyone else would like to donate then the givenow website allows you to do it from your own home. It's safe and secure and can be done by simply clicking here.

Bike Ride
We would like to thank Tony and Peter for completing a 53 mile sponsored bike ride round Dartmoor for Children Walking Tall and another local charity. We are so grateful as when I spoke to Tony on the phone he said that it was a horrible wet rainy day. It does not seem to have put him off though as he has applied to volunteer for us in India, or perhaps he's just wanting some sun! Thank you both and look forward to meeting you in Goa.

Maureen Says Thank You to Devon
Maureen is a volunteer fundraiser for us and she wanted us to say thank you Devon for your kind generosity over the past few months. We are so very grateful to Devon and in fact everybody who helps us, whether that is by donation, support or fundraising, as Maureen does. Everything helps us and allows us to bring something more into the lives of the children here in India. Special thank you goes out to the North Devon Journal for its help. Maureen is also looking out for people to help fund raise and to help at functions in the Devon area. If you have some time you would like to donate to Children Walking Tall then please contact Maureen on 01271 342068 (Home) or 07779 764135 (Mobile) and see what can be arranged.

Do you have any spare room in your garage?
Maureen also holds car boot sales in Barnstable on the Infracombe dual carriage way site, so if you have any items you would like to donate for sale in the UK then please drop them by her stall. She is also looking out for someone with a little bit of space in their garage or possibly a spare room when she can store items for the car boot. If you have space and you're in Barnstable then please contact her on 01271 342067 (Home) or 07779 764156 (Mobile). And we must mention that the car boot gives us the stall for free which is a great help. Thanks

Thank you to everyone!
If we haven't thanked you then please let us know! Our supporters are the ones who really do the magic, without the support of everyone then none of what CWT does would be possible. If we haven't mentioned your name this month and you think we've forgotten you then please accept our apologies, we are so grateful to everyone for all they do, the best thing to do is to send us an email and say ‘Hey! Can you put my name in the newsletter for …….'. Either that or just have a look at the smiles on the faces of the children in our photos, you'll see they think the world of you! Thanks

*How to Help* with fundraising
1. Please spread the word about Children Walking Tall. A simple way is to forward this newsletter to your friends and family asking them if they could find the time to read it and to visit our website.
2. If you work at a company that might sponsor any of our projects, please get in touch with us.
3. Be a member of our UK fundraising team by distributing leaflets or raising money. A good way is by finding something that you enjoy doing and have a fundraising event.
4. Have a look at the fundraising pack for ideas about how you can help.

What's Been Happening?

Goodbye!
Novidade has left us and we are sad to see her go as she was a great help during her stay. She was the perfect translator helping with the builders, at the market getting us the best prices and also a very hard worker. She unfortunately had family commitments that could not be ignored. She was popular with all the volunteers and took a special shine to Emma. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours and hope she continues to keep in touch.

Doctor Uma
We are very grateful to Doctor Uma who has agreed to see the children from the slum free of charge. On wednesday she accompanied Shermina to one of the slums where she saw a few of the children. She diagnosed a couple of the children with skin complaints and one with a suspected malaria. One of the newest additions to the slum may also have a hernia. We will continue to follow up these children and help them by supplying free health care where ever possible.

Annual General Meeting
We will be having our Annual General Meeting on the 3rd of August for anyone who would like to attend. Our trustees will be holding the meeting at 3.30pm in the UK at our office. Any items relating to this will be posted in next months newsletter.

Future Projects

Abseil
Robert has returned to England this month and is joining at least five others who will be throwing themselves off the Millersdale bridge in Derbyshire at the end of this month to raise money for Children Walking Tall. To make things worse for Robert, he really doesn't like heights so it's going to be a big thing, stepping over the edge. We will keep you informed how things go and hopefully have a few photos of what happens (and the expression on his and the others faces when they're leaning over the edge. We would be grateful to anyone who would like to sponsor him, or the other participants. The easiest way would be to donate a few pounds on the givenow website. If you would prefer to sponsor someone else then how about his 71 year old mother who is also doing the abseil for Children Walking Tall. To show your support please click here to donate or do a small collection from friends and family on their behalf and send a cheque to our UK Office (payable to Children Walking Tall).

Charity Indian Night in Manchester
Lorraine will be hosting an Indian night on August 5th at Droylsden in Manchester. It should be a great night with Indian head massage, reflexology, Indian food and Indian Music to chill to. Entrance on the night will be £10 and all donations will be towards Children Walking Tall. If you're would like more information then please contact Lorraine on (01612) 858827 after 5pm or on (0772) 5149879 (mobile).

Toy Sale
Val is starting to collect items for a Toy Sale which will be held in Dartmouth sometime in October, if you have any old toys that you wish to donate and are in the Dartmoor area then please contact Val on (01803) 835511 or drop them off at the Restored Shop, 19 Newcomen Road, Dartmouth.

Charity Indian Night in October
Maureen is having another one of her famous Indian nights in October - date to be finalised. If anyone in the Devon area would like to attend or possibly supply items to be sold for charity or perhaps provide refreshments (with an Indian theme) for the night then please contact her on 01271 342068 (Home) or 07779 764135 (Mobile).

What you can do to HELP!!!
Perhaps you could make a difference in the lives of the children by making a donation to Children Walking Tall. If you have a preference on how the money should be spent then please tell us, and we will try and make the money work the way you want it to.

Other ways to help are to donate clothes, books, pens and toys. This can be especially helpful if you're planning a trip to Goa and can bring them with you. The easiest thing that you can do is tell others about what we do. The more people who know, the greater the chance we have of helping more children.

Do you have any comments about the newsletter? Would you prefer a shorter version? Would you like to see more pictures in the newsletter (Email will be larger if more pictures are added)? Please let us know what you would like, as we always want to improve what we do.

And Finally
If you would like to receive these monthly newsletters by email please contact us at Please put the subject “Join Newsletter” so that we can add your address to the mailing list. Send us the email address you wish the newsletter to go to. If you have received this email by mistake, or wish to cancel your monthly newsletter then please let us know by email at with the subject “Cancel Newsletter” Many Thanks from everyone at Children Walking Tall.

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