« May / June 2008 » |
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IntroductionSometimes we have to think back to why we do the things we do in life. The last 4 years have been a huge struggle but I never forget why we started Children Walking Tall. I see and hear the reason every day as the children arrive at 'The Mango House'. Their voices capture your imagination as they come through the gate, the house is bursting with their energy and enthusiasm. I wouldn't say it's simple, far from it, but I do think it's something we can all do. From the magical words of the Dalai lama,
"Be the change you want to see in the world"
Thank you to everyone for their continued support and I hope that 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/Contact-Us.htm. To provide extra safety to the children we have changed or removed their names in this and all future newsletters.
| Introduction | |
| What's Been Happening | |
| Website | |
| Fundraising | |
| Future Plans | |
| What Can You Do? | |
| And Finally | |
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What's Been Happening
Sad NewsEarlier this year a baby was born in Karaswada with a cleft lip and we had hoped to have this operated on, but before the operation could be arranged she had to be admitted into hospital. The baby was taken to Goa Medical College and was diagnosed with an infection on her brain. Her parents stayed with her and Ali popped down to see her and to help the family with the medical bills. Unfortunately, the baby succumbed to the infection and died after being hospitalized for 3 weeks. All our thoughts are with the family.
School The new school year is here and everyone at the Mango House has been working hard to get the children ready for school. Ali as always has taken charge. He has been talking with the children and parents with the aim of getting as many as possible into school. This is not always an easy task as many parents do not see education as being as important. Some need their older children to look after the younger siblings, whilst others rely on their children to bring money into the house through rag picking or begging. Unfortunately, the situation is not helped by tourists who give money to the children on the beaches, and tips when they work in the beach shacks. All of this increases the chance that they will not attend school.
This year we have helped over 100 children with their educational needs. The last couple of months have been spent measuring the children for uniforms and shoes and finding and buying the resources they need for school. Thank you to Ali, Savita and Supriya for buying and organising everything.
Each child this year will receive, one or two uniforms, rain coat, school shoes, bag, writing books, pencil case with pens, pencils, felts, wax crayons, pencil crayons, pencil sharpener, rubber and ruler. Additionally to this, some will be receiving drink containers, tiffin tins, alphabet books and geometry sets.
MedicalThe tourist season has come to an end and It is at this time of year (May/June) that the temperature rises and the atmosphere becomes very humid. Many children as a result suffer from prickly heat which brings small pimples across the skin which becomes uncomfortable and itchy. As well as prickly heat we need to keep the children clean and dry to help prevent sores, fungal growths and other skin conditions. We are lucky to have Dr Uma (a dermatologist) who generously provides free treatment to our children.
Sensitive FeetSeveral of the children have suffered from cuts on their feet in the last few months. Many are small cuts, but just recently there have been three separate children who have needed stitches as they have cut their feet on glass or metal. The older children often get these while working in the evenings or on Sundays when they're not at "The Mango House". The children also go without footwear at home and there is often broken glass and shards of metal littered around their homes.
Boys will be Boys!Earlier this year you might remember one of our boys had metal pins inserted into his arm after he fell and broke it whilst playing. He made a great recovery, other than two impressive scars there were no other signs that anything had happened. Unfortunately he recently fell again and suffered a hair line fracture to the same arm. He was taken to Vrundavan hospital and seen by a specialist who recommended that the arm should be re plastered. His mother joined him at the hospital while the bone was reset. Hopefully this will be the last time he needs to visit hospital for a while.
Giving Out ClothesIt has been an extremely busy 2008 so far, we had hoped to do more out reach work but just haven't had the chance. We have however managed to give a few items out on a couple of occasions. Most of the children from the two local slums who don't attend the Mango House have received a couple of sets of clothes each. The volunteers took control and sorted all the clothes according to type and gender. As well as helping children coming to the house we were able to give out clothes, rain coats, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hats and shoes to several other temporary slums in the Mapusa area. The inhabitants of these slums are often labourers who find work laying cables or tarmac-ing roads. The children were delighted with the modest gifts we were able to provide for them.
Childline IndiaChild Line India is a service operating throughout the whole of India. Currently the Goa area is managed by the Don Bosco organisation in Panjim who provide a free phone service (1098) which children can call. These calls are taken by social workers who provide a vital service for the children. If required the staff respond by visiting the children and can even take them into protective custody.
It was a great surprise to receive a call from their Bombay office asking to arrange a meeting with us. Childline India is looking for a partner to head their Goa division as Don Bosco was finishing their service. They asked if we would be interested in taking over the project.
Although taking over the Childline service in Goa would be a huge honour for us and a great opportunity to help the children of Goa It was decided it was too large a project at present for Children Walking Tall. Perhaps in the future when we are more established we could take them up on their kind offer.
AlcoholismOne of the parents we work with is a single mother of 5 children. The mother has always struggled with the responsibility of providing for the family and has often turned to drink to distract her from the harsh realities of her life. In the past she has suffered a psychotic episode; she developed severe hallucinations and screamed all through the night as she though people were trying to kill her and her family. As a result she was brought to stay at 'The Mango House' enrolled at a local alcohol addiction centre.
Unfortunately, addictions are hard to shake and she has gradually become more and more dependent on alcohol. After one night of particularly heavy drinking she fell to the ground banging her head and laid there unconscious until morning. Her children noticed she was having convulsions and symptoms suggesting brain damage. We found the women completely unresponsive and had to carry her into the van before admitting her at a local hospital. Her sister joined Robert and Savita and after a couple of hours in the hospital she became more responsive. She remained in hospital for 5 days. Four of her children attend the Mango house and we are thankful she is OK. She has promised not to touch Alcohol again, but it remains to be seen if this will be the case.
MonsoonMost of Children Walking Tall’s visitors and volunteers come during season time: the 9 long months of blue sky from September to May, when Goa accommodates thousands of tourists and bakes under a hot sun. This period is brought to an abrupt end by the arrival of the southwest monsoon: a massive weather system that brings much needed rain to the west of India every summer.
However, whilst the tourist season may end, Children Walking Tall’s work does not: we operate whatever the weather. This brings a variety of challenges.
The first is medical; the arrival of the rains inevitably leads to an assortment of medical problems for the children we help. Most are minor: a cough or cold; a rash or a fungal infection. These can usually be treated in house, or at worst with a visit to a local doctor.
Some however, are more troublesome. Fever and diarrhoea are the twin demons of the monsoon season, striking in one family and quickly spreading to others in the area. Poor, unhygienic living conditions in the slum, exacerbated by a limited understanding of sanitation are often to blame; something which Children Walking Tall tries to remedy. We stress basic cleanliness with the children (hand washing etc), and provide for them to have 2 clean showers a week at ‘The Mango House’.
Occasionally we have more serious problems to attend to. Malaria is at its worst during the monsoon; we recently sent one of our girls and her mother to be tested (thankfully, both were negative). Unsurprisingly, accidents are also more common at this time. The same little girl was also involved in a bike accident. Again she was lucky, suffering only minor bruising.
Of course these issues must all be dealt with, but Children Walking Tall is more than able to cope. A little more awareness of the children’s health, a little more time spent in the doctors surgery and a few basic first aid clinics in the slum are usually enough to beat the rain. We hope this continues!
Perhaps most notable about the monsoon is the limiting effect it has on the activities we can do. Outside play is obviously off limits if it’s raining; for ‘The Mango House’s budding cricket stars this is obviously a huge disappointment! In practice however we are usually able to entertain the children. The incentive to find a group activity that suits all is stronger when the space available is limited by rain; Children Walking Tall becomes a more tightly knit community as a result. What’s more, when the weather brightens and we are able to venture outside the children really appreciate it. Games that were a bore from October to May suddenly become a novelty, and are enjoyed much more.
More importantly, educating the children becomes easier during the monsoon. Much of this has to do with the fact that the rains coincide with the start of a new school year. The structure of formal schooling allows Children Walking Tall to act in a supporting role, removing the responsibility of being the sole educator. This can be as basic as helping with homework, or more sophisticated. John, an Australian teacher who is one of our current volunteers, has been working on phonics with the children; breaking down a word and learning to identify the basic sounds it makes (ssss for S, for example). This is an important counterbalance to the wrote-learning encouraged in Indian schools, which often leaves the children with only a basic understanding of pronunciation.
Lastly, the monsoon affects the workload in ‘The Mango House’. There are considerably less volunteers around than in season time; the low ebb being only 3 for a fortnight in July. This means more work for everyone, but is in some ways a blessing in disguise. Those who are here tend to band together; pulling out all the stops to keep up the level of support for the children. If the rain is a problem, the spirit it engenders is not.
So, all in all, monsoon is one of the most idiosyncratic, difficult and enjoyable times for Children Walking Tall. Few here regret it, and even fewer forget the 3 most peculiar months of the year.
The Mango House Recently Ali and Robert have taken down the roof on the porch and replaced one of the beams and most of the batons to provide a new clean roof. The tiles were heightened so that new guttering could be placed underneath and metal sheets were added around the seams to seal it from the worst of the Monsoon weather. What we thought to be a simple job became quite a task. Apart from a few easily repairable leaks at the beginning of the monsoon, 'The Mango House' is in great shape especially if you compare it to when we took it over 3 years ago.
The Bathroom has had a make over as well. 'The Mango House' is an old Portuguese house and we continually work on making it more child friendly with brighter rooms and better facilities. Thanks to Marie Matthews we were able to work on the bathroom. It now has 6 glass skylights which has turned it into a much brighter space, which is especially welcome during the monsoon months. Thank you to Ali for helping fix them in place
Families MovingThe two local slums we work at are always receiving new families, while unfortunately some families also move away due to family commitments. In the last year a few of the families have moved and it's always sad to see them go. For the staff it's a gradual change but for returning volunteers it can be heart breaking as their 'favourites' are no longer there. Thankfully most still are, although in the last year several of the older girls have got married and moved back to their villages, and a couple of the younger ones have moved to other areas in Goa. We still get to hear updates from their friends and families but it's sad to see them go. We wish them all the best for the future. |
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WebsiteThe website has settled down and we now have a google page rank of 4, which might not mean much to most people but we're quite proud. Below are the other changes to the Children Walking Tall website.
Children Walking Tall LinksWe hope that some of our supporters will be able to help by including our links on their own websites or blogs. It is a simple gesture but has a great benefit to the charity. We currently get on average 2500 visitors a month. We would like to see that touch 4000 a month by the end of the year. Can you help?
We have added three new pages to the website. Each page has a set of links, the code can be copied from the text boxes and pasted into the source of your blog or website. Just like the one below
Animated CWT Logo 128x106 pixels
* When Selected Press Ctrl-C to copy to clipboard
Please us the following links to see more samples :
Small Charity Website Links
Medium Charity Website Links
Large Charity Website Links
PicturesThere has been 3 sets of new photos added in the last couple of months, these have been :
 Giving Out Clothes, Hats, Shoes, Toothbrush and Toothpaste
We have given quite a few clothes out this year. These have been to poor children in local schools, government hospitals (babies) and also children living in the local slums and working with famiies along the highways. On one of the trips It was a suprise to find a fair haired pale skinned baby being held by her grandmother (last photo in this group) as we gave some out in Karaswada. |
 100 Children in School
Education is such a vital tool in the world today however this idea is not always shared by some of the parents. This year we have helped more than 100 children with their educational needs, for most this is helping them be admitted into school, providing books, filled pencil cases, bags, uniforms, shoes and rain coats for the monsoon. Aloysius took charge and organised most of the children's requirements. Here a a few of the photos of when the children came to the house to collect their things. |
 "The Monsoon House"
Anyone who has been to Goa during the monsoon will know that... When it rains... It really rains... This rules out outside games so lots of the time is spent indoors doing arts and crafts with the volunteers. Here are a few photos of the children's painting, making puzzles and catching those few dry moments outside... Oh... and not to forget the talcom powder after their shower! (they never realise how much they put on!) |
Volunteer Experiences We like all our volunteers to put fingers to keyboard (or pen to paper) and send in their volunteers experience, for some, volunteering is a shock, but for most it is enjoyable and even life changing. To get real volunteers real thoughts then please visit our volunteer experiences page for the latest entries by Nadja, Matt, Kate and Paul. Kate has also written a 'Volunteering what to expect' entry to give a straight forward idea of what volunteering for children walking tall is all about. |
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Fundraising and Donations
Months ProvisionsWe would like to thank the Punjabi couple (Adil & Parneet) for donating a months provisions for The Mango House. They bought rice, biscuits, 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.
Piano ConcertWe would like to thank John & Brenda Cordeaux for their continued support. At the end of June they were kind enough to organise a piano concert. The concert was held in Coldwaltham village hall. The pianist, Tanya Ursova played beautifully, thank you to everyone involved for their help which made the event a huge success.
Indian Day at SchoolThank you to Melanie and Heather who joined in on the Indian Day at Wellesley Primary School in Yate for years 3 and 4. Melanie volunteered for us in 2006 and has wanted to come back ever since. Melanie showed the children her "presentation" and gave a chat to five different groups of children.
The children were brilliant and listened intently and asked sensible questions. They were all keen to know where Melanie stayed when she was in Goa. Some of the children thought Melanie had actually lived in the slums with the children!!
The teacher mentioned that during the dinner hour the children were full of Mel's talk and it had really given them something to think about. Melanie and Heather were thrilled that as well as saying the "thank you very much" as requested by a member of staff many of the children came up to them in the corridors, playground and in the classroom and said thank you to them and how they had found the talk interesting.
Goaenfield motorbike toursWe would like to thank Goanenfield for supporting our work. Goanenfield provide motorbike tours of India. They are providing direct donations to Children Walking Tall from their website and providing their customers the option of getting sponsorship for their rides.
The team at Goanenfield provide everything you need to combine your relaxed stay at the beach with trips to explore the Goan and southern Indian hinterland. Their services include organising selected accommodation, airport transfers and ticket reconfirmation. They have 2, 3, 4 or 5 day tours to fit with your budget and requirements giving you the opportunity to experience India from a unique perspective. Don't settle for the normal tourist path, get off the road and see the real countryside in all its glory.
All their tours include rentals of classic Enfield Bullet motorcycles with touring gear, service packages and insurance for individual use.
For more details then please contact them at bookings@goaenfield.com
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
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.
Thank You to EverybodyWe would like to thank everybody who has helped to raise funds and awareness over the last two months. It is becoming increasingly difficult to write details about all the donations we receive due to the amount of work involved. If you are kind enough to arrange an event for Children Walking Tall and would like your event to be included in the newsletter, then please write a small paragraph about how the event went and who was involved and email it to us. The newsletters are very time consuming to put together so this would be a great help to us and allow more time to be spent helping the children. |
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Future Plans
Rebuilding the tree houseThe HMS Illustrious crew came out and built a fabulous tree house for the children which was named HMS Mango, it was a great achievement for a days work. It was used everyday by the children but unfortunately when the rain came it became worse for wear so we took it down for safety reasons. But this is not the last you will see of the tree house as we have stored the bamboo and hope to rebuild it at the end of the monsoon and get it 'ship shape' for the new season. Thank you to all the crew who helped so much on the tree house and all their projects around the house.
Vocational TrainingWe are planning to include some vocational training for the children. We have already have a couple of sewing machines and a computer for the children to use, so we will try and organise some classes to teach the older ones especially about sewing, computers and hopefully Mechanics with the help of a local garage.
Swimming LessonsIt is hoped to start swimming lessons again near the end of the monsoon so we can again teach the children the basics of swimming and hope some will jump at the chance to continue their training.
ChristmasI know Christmas is a long time away but I am not sure how many gifts we will be able to do this year due to the drop in tourism (by around 20%) to Goa and also the increasing costs in fuel which will inevitably have an affect on the extra luggage allowance that the airlines will be willing to give. As such for those who are visiting it might be worth buying small gifts here rather than bringing them with you unless you are sure you will have extra space in your luggage. For ideas of what to bring do please visit our Charity Luggage page |
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What Can You Do?
Add a Link to our websiteWe hope that some of our supporters will be able to help by including our links on their own websites or blogs. It is a simple gesture but has a great benefit to the charity. We currently get on average 2500 visitors a month. We would like to see that touch 4000 a month by the end of the year. Can you help?
We have added three new pages to the website. Each page has a set of links, the code can be copied from the text boxes and pasted into the source of your blog or website. Charity Website Links
Monthly SponsorshipThe 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 £40 per month. This 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
Spread The WordAn easy way to help Children Walking Tall is to just 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 TeamBecome a member of our UK fundraising team by raising money or organising fundraising 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
Wisdom TrustWould 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.... |
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And Finally...
Newsletter By EmailIf you would like to receive these monthly newsletters by email please Contact Us. 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 with the subject “Cancel Newsletter” 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 |
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