Nadja (January through April )

Comments : A wonderfull fuilled time I had being a volunteer at Children Walking Tall.

I shared so many happy moments with the children and staff which made my 3 month stay a deep and rich experience which I will carry forever in my mind.

I felt part of the CWT family from the first moment I stepped into 'The Mango House'. The work with the children is so interesting and it made me feel happy to see how much talent the children have. Each is unique and adorable and I'm so grateful to have met them all and it's so suprising how quickly these children have captured my heart.

Working as a volunteer has been a dream job for me and I'd like to thank Robert for taking special good care of the charity, the children and also us, the volunteers. It was a deep pleasure volunteering and Robert is putting so much effort and care into the charity and I hope it will cotinue so I can return in the future.

I would like to say thank you to all the staff (Ali, Saroja, Savita and Yasmine) it was a pleasure working with them and it made me feel like I wanted to stay forever..

At the end, the deepest thank you is to the children of CWT. All of them are wonderful and their smiles and laughter will always be embedded in my mind and close to my heart.

(to be continued.... :o) Klak, Klak... Pufff!

Laura ( August 07 )

Comments : I came to Children Walking Tall in August 2007 with my friend, Rosie. Before I set off for my big month in India I was having many worried thoughts. For a start I’d never even left Europe before,  I’d never spent more than an hour a week with any child under the age of twelve and to top it all off couldn’t eat even the mildest spicy food.

At last my first day at the charity arrived, I felt I’d acclimatised to India relatively well in the hectic five days that I had been there, but this didn’t stop me feeling those “first day at school” nerves. I don’t know what I was expecting when I was dropped off outside, perhaps it was to witness absolute chaos and see children running around wildly and hanging out the windows. This was not the case, in fact, at nine o clock in the morning, no children had arrived yet. Instead we were greeted by a very calm and quiet house, we met Oli and Stu, who were really helpful, showed us the ropes, and answered many of our questions. All the staff and volunteers who I met on that day were all equally welcoming and helpful. At 10.00 the small children arrived, one by one they came through the back door with huge smiling faces, they would say good morning to the volunteers and then zoom off into the school room to play.

When the older children arrived in the afternoon, they had the same smiling faces and came straight up to Rosie and me, shook our hands and asked “your name?” Although Laura isn’t the most complicated name, the children have so far interpreted it as Flora, Lulu, Lala and Low-ra, not that I mind. I have to admit that it took me a long time to learn all the children’s names; I think I had about 95% of them before I left.

After settling in I realised there are only a few basic things a volunteer needs to bring to the charity; energy, enthusiasm and ideas. In one day you are a teacher, dinner lady, doctor, cleaner and many other things. If there is something you specialise in, there is usually an opportunity to use it, whatever it may be. Rosie and I used our musical background to give the children some music lessons.

The children are the best children you could ever wish to spend time with. They are smiley, optimistic, brave and a little bit mischievous. For me, seeing these children cast a dark shadow on the extreme material values we have been brought up with in the Western world. This experience did alter my view of people and the world, and I’m sure it did so even more for volunteers who stayed longer than me. Although I doubt we will be denouncing our laptops, phones and pizza anytime soon, surely a bigger view is a better view.

I would recommend anybody who thinks they could contribute to the charity to volunteer, it is a fantastic experience and one that you will remember forever.

Rosie ( August 07 )

Comments : I will never forget the time that I spent volunteering at Children Walking Tall. Ever since my first day at the Mango House I was welcomed so kindly by all of the children, staff and the other volunteers. Working with the children was such a rewarding and fun experience, being able to teach them things such as reading and helping them with their homework was just as much fun as playing games! My favourite memory of the children was on Independence Day when for a treat we took the children to a park, it was so great to see the smiles on their faces and to hear the laughs of happy children!
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at the Mango House who made my experience as wonderful as it was. I wish you luck for the future and hope that Children Walking Tall will continue to grow and make a difference to the lives of many children in Goa.

Paride ( Dec 07 - Feb 08)

Comments : My name is Paride, I am Italian, I arrived in the middle of December 2007 as a volunteer at Children Walking Tall. My expierience was fantastic and gave me a lot of joy because helping the children has been one of the most important experiences of my life. I have found the other volunteers very kind and together we did a good job. Robert too was very kind and gave some good useful advice to work on a day to day basis.

I am leaving and I am sorry because I will miss the work, children and collegues. I really hope to come back again to do the same job that I have done till now

Paride