• Nov/Dec 2009 & Jan/Feb 2010 » |
|
Introduction
We have been incredibly busy and have not managed to keep up with the newsletters recently, We do apologise. Hopefully this extended newsletter will keep you going until we hopefully get back on track at the end of April.
We hope you enjoy 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 |
|
|
What Can You Do? |
|
|
And Finally |
|
|
|
|
|
What's Been Happening
Christmas Celebrations
The Christmas celebrations were a fabulous success, we managed to wrap and give out over 850 presents. The presents were distributed over 5 days in various pockets of slums in Goa. The celebrations ended with a party on Christmas day for all the Mango House children, with games, the play, "Babu and the Mango Tree", a Christmas meal and lots of games. I would like to thank all the staff and volunteers. Everyone played a huge part in making the holidays special. Ali was a star and made sure everything was organised with the children, Savita spent so much time (and effort) in stitching and sorting out the stunning clothes we gave to the children and Heena who wrapped presents for weeks running up to Christmas (helped by Prema, Tippi and volunteers!). Finally Saroja, Namita, Trupti, Yasmine and Volunteers for their continuing help every day.
Christmas Day At The Charity - By Jonnie Irwin
We all woke up on Christmas morning with a sense that something was very different. It wasn’t because the day was already warming up to what would become a scorcher in the mid thirties nor that we were all getting up at 7am. No, it was the fact that for the first time in as long as we can remember, we were all up and about on Christmas morning without a hangover! Such a huge amount of work and effort had gone into the planning of this big day that we all wanted to be on top form and to make the most of what was to be a very long and unforgettable day.
Upon arrival at Mango House there seemed to be a quiet buzz amongst all of the staff and volunteers, a mixture of excitement at the day’s activities and perhaps apprehension of each person’s part to play in the looming pantomime.
Everybody was scurrying around, loading baskets, preparing food and drinks and even making last minute stitches to costumes.
The bus to take the children to the beach at Ashwem was booked to arrive at 10am. By 10.15 am Matt (so laid back he’s horizontal) was starting to go an odd shade of frustrated purple. Relief swept over us all at around 10.30am when the bus finally turned up and after Matt administered a Sgt Major style rebuke to the driver we loaded up and were on our way.
 Whenever you go to the slum to see the children, you are met with heart melting smiles, but today, with the promise of the whole days' activities, the children’s expressions took on an expectant glee as they swarmed on to the bus to get a seat and save a space for their friend next to their favourite volunteer.
The bus ride took just over an hour and I was once again amazed at how well every child behaved. After a short walk from the bus to the beach it was time for the first instalment of fun. With everyone splashing about in the waves it was difficult to figure out who was having more fun, the kids or us although I think in the end, the kids might have just edged it especially with the formation of a game called drown the adult!
The following couple of hours involved all sorts of beach activities; building sand castles, bat and ball, beach cricket and even a game of rugby. At the end of all this, refreshments were handed out (involving yet another unfeasibly orderly queue) and then it was back on the bus whereby the children all promptly fell asleep.
Things were going according to plan!
After dropping the children off to get changed it was back to Mango House for us, to transport all the equipment to the local hall ahead of the afternoons' activities. Just over an hour later, the hall was teeming with excited children, some in their best clothes all lined up sitting cross legged around the wall, waiting to be fed a glorious lunch cooked up by the Mango House Ladies. Then, suitably fed and watered it was game time! For me the best party game I saw was one introduced by Steve. Every child takes it in turns to roll a dice until a 6 is rolled, whereby that lucky child then has to put on some fancy dress and once fully clothed in it, can eat as much chocolate as they can with a knife and fork until someone else rolls a six. I remember seeing one boy, his eyes wide with disbelieving pleasure and his mouth bulging with Dairy Milk!
 After the games it was Pantomime time. All of the past few weeks' work was to culminate into a half hour of glitz, glamour and air kisses. Steve, following Jack’s lead had now gone to Mariah Carey proportioned diva status and now refused to converse with anyone unless their requests were preceded by the word Maestro. It’s even rumoured that his rider included a bowl of paneer masala with the cheese taken out!
The performance itself was almost unrecognisable from the rehearsals that I had seen. Everybody threw themselves into their role and gave very convincing performances. My personal highlight was watching Jack’s astonished eyes as the magic beans turned into the Mango Tree. Although a question mark remains over whether this was in fact acting after he was seen at the end of the performance searching desperately for the magic beans to take home! (They really are just stones Jack!).
 A few of us would occasionally sneak a peak at the audience from back stage and from what we saw I think the camera should have been on the children. They watched wide eyed as the staff and volunteers shouted, sang, roared and danced about the stage, clad in fantastic Mango House fashioned costume and make up. Many of the children would never have seen such a spectacle before. The shrieks of surprise and joy felt like they would raise the roof and when Ali sauntered to the stage dressed as a Princess, it was finally too much for the children. The performance ended with Ali and Jack getting married (sounds weird doesn't it?) with cast and audience all dancing around the hall together, - needless to say, my Ogres wife’s blow up boobs didn’t last too long!
As the children were taken home we all started packing everything away. I looked around and saw tired but satisfied faces. For me, it was by far the most rewarding Christmas day I’ve had and a reminder of the ongoing selfless dedication of all involved at Mango House. It was a huge honour to be involved in a Christmas Day that I will never forget.
Thank you Mango House.
Jonnie Irwin
Jack Diamond's Account of CWT
 I worked as a Restaurant Manager for 3 years back in the U.K and decided it was time for a change. I've never been travelling before or had the opportunity to work for a charity so coming out to India and volunteering for CWT seemed like the ideal choice. I researched the CWT website and was very happy with how the charity was run. The set up seemed perfect and the video, newsletter, and volunteer experiences blog were very interesting.
I arrived at the The Mango House on 9th November and was very happy with what I experienced. Rob (the founder) and Savita (Rob's Assistant) were very welcoming. They gave me a tour around The Mango House and also an insight into what the Charity is looking to achieve in terms of well being for the children.
After a briefing on the Slum School and other activities we do with the children I had my first experience down at the slums. Firstly we went to Crossroads which is the first of 2 slums that we help. All the children were so friendly and energetic, all running up to the volunteers and calling their names. For children that have it so hard out here they are so happy and you can tell they look on the brighter side of life. After picking up the children for school we then proceeded to Karaswada to meet the rest of the children and start Slum School. Each volunteer had a specific role to teach. For example one would sing a song involving the numbers 1-10, another would have fun activities such as arts and crafts, and another would test the children on how to say their names. I could tell the children loved to learn and were enjoying every minute with the volunteers.
After finishing Slum School we left Karaswada, dropped off the children at Crossroads and made our way back to The Mango House. Not only do CWT help the children with teaching and other activities but they also supply food to every child that turns up to School. These meals consist of excellent Indian curries (Rice, Fish, etc), I should know as I've eaten them all. We then packaged the food up in separate containers and then went back to the slums to distribute the food. After this it was another hour or so of activities with all the children and then Free Time where a lot of the children enjoy going down to the field and playing games such as football, rounders, etc. All in all, an amazing experience for my first day and something I will remember forever.
As I am coming to the end of my sixth week here I have already felt I have achieved and learnt a great deal. My friend Steve (also a volunteer) and I have already set up a Football Tournament which was a huge success. We decided to take the winners (Manchester United) and runners up (Chelsea) to see a football match in Mapusa Football Stadium. We also enquired about allowing the kids to play on the pitch in the morning whilst it wasn't in use, this was agreed so we're doing this now on a regular basis.
I also have the lead part in our charity pantomime on Christmas Day. It's an Indian interpretation of Jack and the Beanstalk called Babu and the Mango Tree, where I play the part of Babu which I'm really looking forward to.
Overall I am overwhelmed with my experience here helping the children and the charity. The aim is to help Indian children to have a childhood worth remembering, this I believe is definitely happening.
Most of the kids here have the ability and the potential to further their own future. My only hope is that they get the opportunity to do so.
Mapusa Carnival, Goa 2010
 The Mapusa Carnival was a last minute idea last year and everything was sorted within a couple of days. This year however, a little more thought was put into the float. In June Ali suddenly wanted to know about Michael Jackson and within 24 hours Michael Jackson sadly died, this seemed rather spooky for the volunteers! Since then Ali has liked everything to do with Michael Jackson and convinced us all that a tribute to him should be the theme for this years' carnival. Taking his lead we sourced some Michael Jackson outfits (thanks to Guy and Jane) and started organising the dancing and props. As with most things time started to run out and the last few days saw us frantically getting everything together. A couple of large speakers were organised and a 'coat' for the van was stitched with 'Michael Jackson - Thriller" written on it in paint and glitter, we cut some eyes in the front so Ali could see where he was going and made them drip with blood...
We had 2 groups of children, one group dressed as Michael Jackson and the 2nd group dressed up as zombies. Both groups learned their dance moves with the help of the, now legendary volunteer "Jack", the Duracell bunny. All the volunteers and staff did their part, making costumes, putting on face paint and being involved in the carnival.
We patiently waited at the start line for the go and then cranked up the music and danced the afternoon away to Michael Jackson's hits including the classic thriller. As you can see from some of the photos, the children loved it and stunned the audience with their moves.
We would like to thank the children, Jack and all the volunteers and staff who made the day one definitely to remember.
Volunteer Viewpoint (By Jane)
After volunteering with Children Walking Tall at the beginning of the year I could not wait to have a return journey in November. I had forgotten so many things after returning to the UK. The first thing was the heat. When I got off the plane the intense heat hit me. “It was great!” I then had a typical taxi journey to my accommodation and remembered it would be fine, everyone drives like this..... I got a good night’s rest and in the morning I headed for the Mango House, the children had made such an impression on my life and there was a little apprehension that they may not remember me. I kept telling myself that they see so many people and have so much going on in their lives, why should they remember me?
When I pulled up at the house I could see some of the new volunteers but no children.... What had happened? As I went in to the house all the staff was there with great smiles and an amazing welcome. Robert explained that they were going through a process to renew the licence for the house, but as with the original licence it was taking such a long time. As they didn’t have the licence yet the children could not come to the house. I could not believe it. This wonderful property which had been so alive and full of spirit when I was there felt dead and completely lifeless. The children were not running around and filling the house with laughter.
Robert explained that we were now taking the meals and doing the lessons in the slums. So off I went to see the children that I had thought about every day since I left. Again the thought of them not remembering me was just sitting in my head. When we pulled up at the first slum all the children were queuing waiting for their meal. They looked so small and so dirty compared to when they were getting showers at the house. Their clothes were rags and they all looked just a little lost. Then they looked up and saw me and their faces and eyes just came to life. One of the children who I had spent every day treating his septic leg ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug. My heart melted and I realised I was remembered.
As we saw more and more of the children I could tell that the time they had not been able to come to the Mango House was really showing. There were so many more medical issues. I am sure this was just down to the fact that they were not getting a chance to have a shower so the smallest thing was turning into an infection.
I saw one of the older girls who was so full of life when I was a volunteer just seven months before, this time I thought she had grown so tall but looked a little pale and not so much life. It could be that she is a teenager and seven months can be a long time, but I cannot help wondering if they just miss the centre.
The children’s lives are so difficult, beyond what anyone of us could comprehend. To them it is just life!
I realised how much The Mango House gives to them!!!!
Beach Olympics
 On Steve's birthday we took the morning school children to the beach first thing. Ashwem beach was a beautiful as ever and we played running races, three legged races, 'water balloons balanced on your head' races and many others. With all teams having close scores the final test was to create the best sandcastle. The winning team shone with not just a sandcastle, but a complete sandy village, complete with a river running through it!
Steve handed out party packs to all the children, this included pencils, treats, balloons and birthday cake.
Then once Ali took the children home, the construction of the afternoon's Olympic size assault course began. With jumps over water, hurdles made from piles of sand and a slalom, it was a difficult task. Soon the bus arrived and out charged 50 or more of the older children. In keeping with the topic of 'food' we made 4 teams with a volunteer leading each team; Mango, Banana, Pineapple and Papaya. Each team created their own deafening noise of fruity song and shattered the peace of the tourists nearby!
It was hard to tell who enjoyed the races the most, the children, the volunteers or the amazed onlookers. Steve's Papaya's team triumphed which was surprising as the man himself didn't quite fit through the hoop at the beginning of the course! Mango came a close second with Matt being ever competitive and straining every sinew (then throwing a tantrum and wanting a re-run). A cool down in the Arabian sea was followed by Ice cream and a rousing chorus of "A-pee Birt-day dear esh-Steven, A-pee Birt-day to yooo!"
Don Bosco Bal Mela
We would like to thank Don Bosco, Panjim for their very kind invitation to their 'Bal Mela'. We were invited to take part in this annual celebration. The Bal Mela brings together a large number of poor children from different backgrounds and categories for a day of togetherness – a day that celebrates their childhood. The Mela was a day’s programme of fun entertainment, games, food, creativity sessions, dances and programmes that encouraged the children's participation. Children Walking Tall was just one of the many groups that took part in the activities. Altogether there were over 1000 children which enjoyed the day. Thank you to Fr. Arvind Severes, Fr. Jose Sequeira and volunteers and staff of Don Bosco School, Panjim.
Football Stadium - By Anna (Sweden)
A football stadium is big, I mean really big. So you can imagine the faces of ten small children entering this vast area of only grass, grass and more grass. First you could read puzzlement in their faces. Then there was curiosity, followed by excitement – and suddenly their faces all cracked up in big smiles and they started to run. They ran up the soccer field, down the field, across and back again. Their small legs were kicking footballs, fetching tennis balls, frizbees, or simply just running after one another, or nothing. They were rolling, head standing, crawling, and wrestling. And there was so much laughter! The children and the volunteers ran and ran and ran until we couldn't anymore and we just fell to the ground in pure exhaustion.
The children enjoyed every minute
Volunteer Experiences
Mareike (Sweden)
"The first thought that comes to my mind when thinking about volunteering for CWT is : ’I loved it.’ The children are amazing; each of them has their own little character. During my time I learned much more than just their names (what is, by the way, not as easy as it sounds!). I learnt about them, their families and their backgrounds, the children also taught me so much."<Mareike Full Volunteer Experience>
Barney
"On my first morning at Children Walking Tall, after being settled into my lovely beach side apartment by Rob, I was set to the task of pencil case filling. “What are these for?” I ask the CWT teacher. “The school children.” she says. “We give them out in June at the beginning of the school year.” It was August! Well lesson number one was they like to be prepared. In the afternoon we headed down to the slum to give out the food and take care of any medical needs. I was greeted by smiling faces and raised arms. Not for cuddles or a welcome hand shake but to be spun. Round and round and round. Lesson two these children love to be spun around, a lot!" <Barney's Full Volunteer Experience>
Annette
"I have lots of experience with children, both as a parent and grandparent and professionally, having spent seven years working with socially excluded and vulnerable teenagers. However, I have never experienced children like the one’s I met through Children Walking Tall. What a joy they are, always smiling, always so polite and showing respect and so enthusiastic to learn. I now feel so humbled and honoured to have spent time with them"
"One of the highlights of my time at the Mango House was being invited back to the slum in the evening time to share in the families’ Diwali celebrations. They have so little but they welcomed us into their homes and offered us a meal. Other highlights of my time there were the trips we did to the beach, the Water Park and Mayem Lake. The children really love these outings and you get a lot of satisfaction from seeing them running around, laughing and enjoying their childhood. Something which many children in India never get the chance to do."<Annette's Full Volunteer Experience>
Tanya
I decided that I wanted to do something worthwhile with my life and take some time out of my normal day to day life. So I searched the Internet and came across Children Walking Tall, I did my research and decided this was the charity for me. I packed my bags left my loved ones and came to India for 4 months." <Tanya's Full Volunteer Experience> |
|
|
|
Website
Pictures
Here are some photos that we have taken over the last few months. There has been so much going on including Christmas! I normally get these photos out straight away, but it's been very busy so they were a little late (sorry), so other highlights are the charity play, the Goa carnival (Mapusa) and Holi Celebrations. We have also captured a few shots of the children in the slums and a few street children along the way. Do please have a look at the photos as they've all got a story to tell.
This year we managed to give out around 850 wrapped presents in the slums throughout Goa. Here are just a few photos from the 4 days of giving. Unfortunately I was without a camera so this years' photos are thanks to Steve.
|
|
The volunteers put on a great show for the children by performing Jack and the Bean Stalk (Babu and the Mango Tree). Thank you to all the volunteers and staff for putting on a fabulous performance. Ali looked especially beautiful as the princess.... :o) Pictures thanks to Matt & Lucy |
Ali has liked everything to do with Michael Jackson and convinced us all that a tribute to him should be the theme for this year's carnival. Taking his lead we sourced some Michael Jackson outfits (thanks to Guy and Jane) and started organising the dancing and props. Here are a few photos from the day which was exhausting but very enjoyable for all who took part. |
Here are just a few random shots taken in the three local slums close to The Mango House. No theme, just kids being kids.... |
One of the most interesting celebrations in the Hindu calendar is 'Holi', the festival of colour. Many of those who have been lucky (or unlucky) enough to be part of it will understand... The festival of colour is celebrated by covering your friends and family members with bright powder paint. The results are amazing and the vivid colours look wonderful dashing against the dark Indian complexion. The children love it and as you can see below, everyone joins in with the fun! |
Liz is currently volunteering with us and is teaching the children photography, The children love taking photos of friends and family and of anything actually, Liz is trying to get them to think a little more and has given them projects of photographing shadows and reflections, Below are a few photos of the children taken by Liz, the teacher. Perhaps one day one of our children will have the same eye as Liz has for a photo. |
During the children's holidays for Diwali we managed to take a group of children to the Blue Whale water park in Baga, Goa. Most of the children had been before but it's one of their favourite outings so there was glee and excitement as the children boarded the bus for the 30 minute ride to Baga. Once at the park the children lined up by the side of the road and the local sellers who haunt the coast asked them questions about where they were from as many of the children are from the same caste and originate from the same place in India. The children were great during the whole day and spent hours on the slides and dipping in the pool amd then some were a little more confident than others but everyone (volunteers and staff included) had a fabulous day and hopefully we will get chance to go again in the next few months before the monsoon rains come.
* ( Photos courtesy of Amber Mezbourian ) |
|
|
|
|
Fundraising and Donations (UK)
Everyone!
Thank you to everyone who has helped, donated and shown their support during the last few months. We are getting increasingly busy as the number of children we help increases. If I haven't thanked you in this newsletter, please accept my apologies, do please email me if you think I've missed you and I will try and add you to the next newsletter. Thank you for understanding - Rob
Our Supporters
A huge thank you to all our supporters in India, There has been a mixture of small and large donations recently and we would like to thank the following for the generous donations : Mr Jus, Josie Carrasco, Cornel A.K. Mehindirahee, Marjorie Pinto & Mr Dias.
We would also like to thank Casa Colvale & the Good For Goa Trust who continue to support us each month. Their help enables us to provide around 700 meals each month.
Last but by no means least is Amit who continues to help by providing free ice cream for the monthly birthday parties and he also managed to visit us recently.
Visitors
Christmas and New Year has been a very busy time with us, we have had a great response from everyone and the children have been so lucky in the items they have received. We would like to thank everyone for their help and hope the new year brings as much joy to you as you have given to the children we help! Below are just a few thank yous, if we have missed you off and you would like a mention then do please email me with who to thank and I will add it to the next newsletter
Parcels
We have received a few items buy post recently, If you included an email address I should have already thanked you. If not then "Thank you", everything we have received has been ideal, Many Thanks....
Thank You to Everybody
 We would like to thank everybody who has helped to raise funds and awareness over the last few 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 send it to us by email. 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. |
|
|
|
What Can You Do?
Add a Link to our website
 Do you have your own website, blog or have a say on a company website? If the answer is yes then please add a link to Children Walking Tall. We have a collection of links that you can use, or if you want something designed for an offer, 5% goes to charity, or £1 for every order goes to charity then do let us know and we will make a link that fits your website.
Join our Facebook Cause
 Children Walking Tall now has a facebook cause we you can add to your profile on the social networking site Facebook. Unfortunately we can not link in to the donations side of the facebook application as this is restricted to charities based in the US/Canada but it does allow people to support us by joining and sharing us with others.
If you are on facebook then do join our cause and become part of the group to show your support. You will join others who also want to support us and it's a great way to keep in contact with volunteers (old and new) and to keep up to date with the charity.
Follow our Charity Blog
 Children Walking Tall now has a shiny new blog, it was started a few months ago, but we kept it quiet to make sure it was sustainable. The blog is home to all the news stories before they make it into the bi-monthly newsletters. So for those who want to keep up to date with everything before it reaches the pages of the newsletter then why not follow our blog on http://childrenwalkingtall.blogspot.com/.
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. 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 Word
An 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
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. If you have something to sell, and want to support Children Walking Tall at the same time, then please select Children Walking Tall to receive a portion of the selling price. Visit Ebay for charity (Children Walking Tall) for more information |
|
|
| |
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 |
|
|
|
