Introduction

Why does time fly by when you're having fun? - Most of the volunteers can't believe that they've been here for one or two months already and I certainly can't believe how quickly the last 3 months since Christmas have gone. The new children have settled in and everything at the house is progressing well. It has been very busy in Goa which has resulted in the newsletter being late again... Sorry...

I hope you enjoy reading this month's newsletter. If you have any queries or comments, then please contact us via the website http://www.childrenwalkingtall.com/ContactUs.htm. To provide extra safety to the children we have changed or removed their names in this and all future newsletters. 

What's Been Happening

Health Visit
Junior Chamber International India (JCI) - Mahaprastha were kind enough to set up a hygiene talk for the children. A local doctor and dentist also provided a free checkup for all our children. The talk mentioned the importance of keeping clean and maintaining a healthy diet. Over the next few weeks we will reinforce this message with lessons on how the children can use their tooth brushes better and also encourage them to clean their nails every day which do get very dirty when they are at home. As well as the talks the children were invited to perform dances, songs and short plays. The children relished the chance to practice their dance moves and to dress up in their best clothes. The children enjoyed the day and it was a great way to educate the children. A big thank you to all the members of JCI for arranging this event and giving their time to help our children.

At the end of February Jenny (one of our volunteers) and Rob wanted to explore outside of Goa and they thought it would be nice to drive to Gadag on the off chance that Robert could remember how to get to the girls village. As we mentioned our plans Savita and Louise wanted to join in and the four of us set off for Gadag ona Saturday morning. The 6 hour journey to Hubli was long and very uncomfortable but we got there in high spirits and found somewhere to stay the night. Early the next morning we set off to 'hopefully' find the village.  Thankfully Robs memory was better than expected and we got to her village at just after 9.00 in the morning to find her and her family still at home. It was such a joy to see her face again, her eyes glowing and a smile on her face. We were invited in and chatted to them with the help of Savita who was our translator. We had been told she'd been to hospital once as one of the scars on the back of her leg had dried and cracked open. We gave her a quick check over but were happy to say all her burns and sores seemed well under control, although she still needs to keep wearing the burns suit for some while longer to produce the best possible outcome. We passed on the extra medicine and bandages and they very kindly offered us food and something to drink.

It was great to see her and fantastic that she was doing so well and after spending about an hour there it was time to return to Goa. Thank you to everyone who helped with her care and helped fund her recovery.

Braintree College
We had a visit recently by teachers and students from Braintree College.  Two groups of students came to the house on two separate days to help the volunteers with craft projects. One of their projects was to make an elephant out of chicken wire and paper mache. The students took control and created the frame work and then the children helped by plastering the elephant (and themselves) with paste and paper, the elephant was left to dry and was then finished off by the next group who strengthed it with some more paper and finally painted it with a multicoloured coat. Other students helped the children make two large bed sheet murals, one was a large rainbow with children dancing underneath and the second was an underwater mural with starfish and crabs. We would like to thank the college, their teachers and of course the students who came to help out for the day. One of the students has already been in touch about volunteering so she might be returning to Goa shortly...

Craft Days
Several of our visitors like to have a more hands on approach when they come to visit and organise activities for the children. In the last couple of months visitors have done group painting, paper mache, t-shirt painting, face paint and lots more. If you are interested in putting on a project for the chidlren then do get in touch, we like activities to last around one hour per group (we split the children into two groups). Visitors however must bring ALL the resources required.  For example, for group painting you might need, 1 large bed sheet (as a canvas), enough paint and brushes for 40 to 50 children and of course - LOTS of energy. Please let us know well before hand so we can arrange a day.

The older children
It's often very difficult to keep the older children in school, it's not that the children don't like school but there's always a constant stream of pressure from family members who see other children going out to work and earning money for their families and they think their children should be doing the same. Just before Christmas one of the older boys (14) stopped school and went to work in a beach shack. The pay is basic but many of these children who work in or near the shacks receive large tips or presents from the tourists who think they are helping them. Unfortunately this only creates a bigger reason for them not to go to school. Another family wanter their 13 year old girl to stop school to collect rags, her mother was drinking heavily and was unable to work herself and hit her daughter to make her go out and work to provide money so she could buy more alcohol. Unfortunately this is not uncommon. We managed to convince her mother to keep her in school, at least until she's finished her exams and have started a reclycing scheme at the house where visitors and volunteers bring in their plastic bottles, metal bottle caps so she can still earn money from recycling but still go to school.

Louise and her disappearing hair
Before Louise Holt came out to volunteer she wanted to raise some money for Children Walking Tall. There was the chance of doing a run, a sponsored silence or perhaps baking cakes. But Louise thought it would be a great idea to shave all her hair off for charity. It seemed such a simple thing so her friends watched  in amazement in their local pub as all her hair was shaved off. Thank you to everyone involved in sponsoring Louise, Karen for being responsible for the cutting and of course Louise for being one brave girl! - Since she has been in Goa she has used some of the money to buy paint and materials to give the house a new make over ready for the monsoon.

Thank you to a little girl called 'India'
India and her family have moved back to England recently. Before she left the family got in contact with us and asked if we would like the items they couldn't carry. We did not know what to expect but when we got to their house we were wecomed by a mountain of toys. The toys included a sit on unicorn (one of the favourites at the Mango House already), a kitchen set including cooker and washing machine, fancy dress box and lots more, it took a whole week to sort through it all. We would like to thank India and her family for choosing Chidlren Walking Tall.

In Peters Memory
Olga and Peter were some of our first supporters and have kept in touch since 2004 when they came to visit us. We were shocked to find out that Peter had motor neurone disease during his second visit. Each visit was more difficult for him and his wife and we were sad to hear that Peter died late last year. Olga came on a surprise visit and it was lovely to see her and for her to see what has become of the small charity that she kindly helped in the beginning. She met lots of the children and saw the work we could only dream about in the early days. As a memorial to her husband she thought his ashes would feel at home in India, one of their favourite destinations, Olga thought it would be nice for the ashes to be spread at the base of the Mango Tree, hopefully helping to give life to a magnificent tree from the ashes of a great man. She also brought flowers that have been planted in the garden in memory of her Peter.

Fundraising and Donations

Months Provisions
We would like to thank the Punjabi couple (Adil & Parneet) for donating a months provisions for The Mango House. They bought rice, buscuits, flour, chana, green peas, noodles and lots more dry goods. Also thank you to a Goan couple who donated Chicken and eggs for a week.

Jay and Friends selling buns at school
Thank you to Jay, his friends and teachers at Norland J&I C of E School who have been selling buns and biscuits at their school. All the children had a great time dressing up as book characters. Jay and family also came out to Goa to see 'The Mango House' and Jay will hopefully go back and be able to tell his friends what he saw. Many Thanks to everyone who was involved.

The man from Zebra, he says 'Yes'
Raj has been to visit us recently in Goa, Raj is one of our fundraisers in the UK and is always busy... He's his news...

Zee Magazine
Spring 2008 issue of the Zee Magazine featured a 2 page write-up on Children Walking Tall. The article written by Raj on his volunteer experiences was published and distributed to subscribers of the Zee TV Network. This publication was also very heavily distributed at the Zee Carnival. A big thank you to Editor-in-Chief Cate Langmuir, project director Steve Sohal and all the Zee Magazine staff for publishing the feature and being the first ever publication to feature Children Walking Tall on a National level.

British Asian Directory
South West London’s newest business directory was launched in January 2008. Children Walking Tall was offered a complementary ¼ page advert for this annual publication. Much to our surprise, once we got to see the finished publication, Children Walking Tall was featured on a full one page colour print which looked fantastic. Our sincere thanks to Tarnpreet and all the members of staff at the British Asian Directory for their support.

Also thanks to Sumen Star for putting us in touch with the Directory. www.britishasiandirectory.com

Flashback Parties
Flashback continues their loyal support for Children Walking Tall and have yet again planned another party in London on 29th March 2008. As usual they have offered a percentage of their profits to Children Walking Tall. Previous Flashback events now total over £2,000. Special thanks to Ritesh Shah, the Flashback Party Team and of course all those that attend the parties for making them an astounding success. www.flashback2001.com

Zee Carnival 2008
KTC (Edibles) Ltd. Manufacturers and distributors of quality edible fats, oil and foodstuff. Were kind enough to finance a stand at this year Zee Carnival which was a 3 day Asian exhibition in London Earls Court Olympia. Such event attracts thousands of visitors every day and is a great platform to raise the profile of the charity. Many people visited our stand showed a keen interest on Children Walking Tall activities. Special thanks to Tej and Mals for assisting Raj.

Young Punjabi Society End of year Charity Party
On 29th December 2007 in London, the Young Punjabi Society had their annual Party and it was a massive success raising an amazing £1000 for Children Walking Tall! It really was the Coolest End of Year Party. Their theme this year is BRIGHT and SPARKLING, so party guests were turning up in the most Glitzy, Glamorous, Blingiest & Brightly coloured outfits and the event was packed. Many thanks to Young Punjabi Society President Sumen Star for suggesting Children Walking Tall as the Nominated Charity. Thank you Rosy & Swan for their support and the rest of the society members and all those that attended on that night.

Easy Search
Use Easy Search and raise funds for Children Walking Tall at the same time... Just Bookmark this link (http://cwt.easysearch.org.uk/), or make it your home page. Easysearch Version 2.0 is a now 'super' search engine, which cleverly combines the strengths of several search providers together - Yahoo!, MSN Live Search, Ask.com and many more. So, when you use easysearch to search the Web, we'll track down only the most relevant and accurate results, which means you'll find what you are looking for quickly and easily every time - all in one 'easy' search!

Also are you buying insurance, apply for a bank card or just playing the national lottery? - Perhaps you can help by using one of these offers to raise even more money for Children Walking Tall (http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/raise_funds_for_free/)

Drop off points
If you're coming  to Goa and have brought items for the charity there are a few drop off points where bags may be left and are for the benefit for people unable to visit The Mango House.  There is one main one in the North and one in the South

North Goa - Karma Shooters (Goa's Original SHOTS Bar)
Barry and Bev have kindly offered to keep donations which will collected  from them each week (if required).

South Goa - Palm Grove Residency (Hotel & Restaurant)
Palm Grove is based on the outskirts of Cavelossim and is an ideal drop of point for anyone staying south of the Airport.

Please note that Ma Thai is no longer a drop off point. Please let us know by email or phone when you leave anything so that donations may be collected at the earliest convenient time

EBay For Charity
We have registered with MissionFish to allow us to receive donations from eBay sales. You can now sell an item on eBay and donate from 10% to 100% of the final sale price to support our work with street children in India. All you have to do is set up an account; find all those items that are tucked away under your bed and sell them on ebay.

Visit Ebay for charity (Children Walking Tall) for more information

If you have something to sell, and want to support Children Walking Tall at the same time, then please add us to receive a portion of the selling price.

Visitors
The New Year has seen an increase in the number of visitors to Goa and The Mango House. We would like to thank them all for taking time out of their holidays to come and see us and hope that they enjoyed seeing the work we do.

Extra Luggage : Some visitors have been kind enough to bring extra luggage along with them on their holidays. This is a great help especially when it comes to craft materials (scissors, paper and paint), and vitamins that are given to the children every day. Thank you to everyone who has helped. For more information about what items to bring please see out Charity Luggage page and our airlines page to see if you can get extra luggage for free.

Future Plans

School
This month has seen six new children being accepted to 'The Mango House', The Mango House is just part of what we do to help local children. One of our main projects is to bring education to a wider audience and allow more children to attend school. This year we hope to continue supporting all the children from last year (about 79 were admitted) and although some have dropped out, we also hope to give help to even more children this year by providing school uniforms, bags, books, equipment and all their school needs. Hopefully over the next few months all the equipment will be organised so the children will be ready for the new academic year that starts in June.

HMS Illustrious
We hope to welcome 50+ royal navy personnel in April. The intend to dock just off Goa and have been in touch wanting to do a project for the day. It's early yet as their plans change quite often but we hope they will visit us and help rebuild the compound wall around the garden. As well as some hard graft, they want to put on some games for the children and have also offered the children a dentist for the day. I will hopefully be able to tell you all about it in the next newsletter.

The Monsoon
March has seen a few rains which has given us the motovation to look at the broken tiles in the roof of The Mango House. The monsoon shouldn't start for another couple of months so the recent down pour is unusal but also quite handy to see where work needs to be done. Unfortunately the roof is an ongoing project that needs looking at each year. This is mainly due to the large monkeys that bound accross it this time of year when they come and steal the fruits from the garden.

Several items have been added to the needslist which will help us make the house 'ship shape' for when the monsoon arrives.

What Can You Do?

Monthly Sponsorship
The charity has grown so much since it started, making it more important than ever to keep a solid base to work from. With this in mind, we are looking for people to give monthly donations so that a core fund can be relied on each month. Currently,  people are donating from £2 to £30 per month. The money would help towards feeding the children each day by providing a morning snack, a main meal for lunch, and a second snack in the afternoon. It would also help provide vitamins, health care and allow money to be set aside to pay rent, electricity and the water bills every month.

For more Information : http://www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com/Donations.htm

Wisdom Trust
Would you like to raise money for Children Walking Tall for FREE, just by voting for us on 'The Wisdom Trust?' If you would then Click here, or find out more in the details below....

Spread The Word
An easy way to help Children Walking Tall is to spread the word - just let more people know about what we do! If you've received this newsletter by email, then simply forward it to your friends; otherwise send a link to our website, as this and our older newsletters are always available on our website www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com

UK Fundraising Team
Become a member of our UK fundraising team by distributing leaflets, raising money or organising events. A good way to help is by finding something that you enjoy doing and getting people to give you money for doing it! For example, you could organise a night out, an Indian evening or just have a party. There are lots more ideas in our Online Fundraising Pack

And Finally...

Newsletter By Email
If you have received this email by mistake, or wish to change your newsletter subscription then please fill in the online form on our website ( www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com/Newsletters.htm ).

Many Thanks from everyone at Children Walking Tall.

Contact Us
Children Walking Tall
'The Mango House'
H.No 148/3
Near Vrundavan Hospital
Karaswada, Mapusa
Bardez, Goa

Web : www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com
Tel : (0091) 9822 124 802