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Finally the day arrives for us to go and meet the children that attend the Mango tree day centre and hand them the gifts that we have and let the staff know about the £600 that has been raised.
We collected many presents from lots of lovely people, we also collected lots of money- some of which was spent on gifts till we could fit no more in the cases so we have money to give also, which the centre can buy additional gifts with or whatever they think is best. I hope that's ok with everyone.
So we are all really excited and probably a little nervous, 150 disadvantaged kids and no idea how the day is going to go. Will they be hard work? Shy? Will it be too emotional? We get a cab there for just after it opens at 9.30am and are welcomed by the project manager who starts to explain in more detail about the charity and it's back ground, we learn that before they had the mango tree house the workers used to go into the slums and teach the children from there. We also learnt that each child is kind of means tested before being given a spot at the house- they only have 150 places and there are many more than 150 needy children. A worker will go to their homes, speak to their parents and assess the situation, the child has to attend on a regular basis else the space will go to another child. The centre picks up the children in their little bus and drops them back off to their homes, this is to ensure that they are not left alone at home which apparently isn't uncommon. The bus won't drop off the children if there aren't any adults at home and they are reported etc.
Places at the school are popular, so much so that they have 25 additional children that are privately tutored funded by the charity, there's simply just not enough space at the school for them all. However the charity are trying to build a bigger place and finally a place they will own, the mango tree is currently in an old run down Portuguese house that they rent so they run the risk of being closed down should the owner require it back. So the brick by brick campaign is underway, they've raised almost 45k at present so around half way there. They also have a sponsor that is willing to match any funds raised and so our £600 could actually be£1200- that's one pillar for the new place at 1k and 40 bricks! I'm sure our donation will be used wisely even if it is to build the new place or buy things to use straight away. Apparently the centre costs 2.5k a month to run and they say they often don't make this a month so it's pretty much in need from every angle and after spending the day there I can honestly say that your donation-be it a present or cash donation has gone to a very worthy cause. I can also vouch for the many genuine smiles that we saw and the total happiness of the children as they received the gifts that you all donated.
We were sat in the managers office pulling the 95+ presents out of the bags and sorting them into age related piles, there were just so many and the manager was so happy- you can tell she loves her job and does her best for these children. Then out came the football shirts, books, windmill kits, the five good quality footballs and the pumps that go with them (we saw one very shabby, old and soft looking football at the place so these were a good call!) then came the big bag of currency that people donated- there must have been a hundred plus pound in there! There were bags of marshmallows and sweets and a massive bundle of plastic medals saying "winner" on and also some baby stuff that was also donated (the baby stuff will be used to incentivise mothers to register their children's births- apparently many children don't know when they were born or how old they are as it was never recorded after being born at home)
To see everything unpacked and in front of us actually at the mango tree was a really great feeling- to know and see first hand where your fundraising is going is amazing. I'm sorry you guys didn't get to also see it first hand but we have lots of photos which will be added to this blog shortly and please take it from me you have made a direct difference.
So the day then went like this, snack time- The children all sit in rows and get given hot milk and cookies, Violet came out to meet them and they all said hello and Violet went crazy excited, waving like mad and shouting hello in as many directions as possible- she was quite overwhelmed! She then sat with them and they all had their snack. Next we went to the classrooms and met the children individually, they introduced themselves "my name is ...... and I am a boy/girl" so practicing their English. Next we had different kids reciting the alphabet or counting or singing nursery rhymes. It was really sweet and they looked so proud showing off their skills!
We had other children drawing something on the chalk board and telling us what it is- apple/bus etc. Total cuties.
It was soon time for lunch and the children all sat in their little lines on the floor and got given a huge silver tray with a little rice, curry sauce and an egg on which they pretty much devoured very quickly! The little boy next to us cupped his right hand and mixed his food (no cutlery here)and ate it so quickly and jumped up and went back for more! At least twice. Violet and I were sitting on the floor too as Violet was also eating, they bought her a spoon but she wanted to eat like the other children so also used her hand which was pretty sweet.
The children are allowed to go up as many times as they like which I was so happy to hear- they also have a big water dispenser that they kept going up too and drinking from. I know these things may seem so simple to us but to see that's it's not for them is what makes it quite moving.
It wasn't long before word got out that there were presents..... A little boy came into the office for something and his mouth opened in surprise- d said his face was a picture! Anyhow he left the office but soon came back with a little friend.... With word out it was almost time! The whole place was really quiet as they all got told if they wanted a gift they must sit quietly at their desks. We handed out the gifts and the children were so patient! I felt so lucky to be passing these gifts out knowing what was in there! I couldn't remember every package but I remembered many and as I handed them out I was thinking oooooh you've got the Lego! Or I think that's a Barbie! Tshirt and bubbles for you! Etc... They didn't open them in front of us they all took them home and as they went off on the bus they were waving the gifts happily! (Will try upload video clip!) I should add that violet wasn't very well behaved through this part as I had stupidly wrapped a couple of the gifts up in her frozen wrapping paper that all her birthday gifts were wrapped in last month- when she saw me pass a little girl a "Anna and Elsa" parcel she shouted MINE and tried to steal it! Poor little girl looked terrified!
I can't wait to tell this story at Violets 18th birthday party! Haha
Next- the second half of the day and different children, first half is around 75 kids and second half the same. These are the slightly older children now. These guys are going to get their presents a few days before Christmas- there were about 30plus gifts left and of course the money to buy more should they not have enough for them all after including other donations.
D had planned to play football with the boys and they were soon causing mayhem outside, they were playing on rocky gravel and Davidson fell over and cut his hand- the kids were so sweet and wouldn't let him play on till the staff looked at it and dressed it etc. The children were playing football with flip flops or no shoes at all... I can barely walk on the rocky floor in my flip flops let alone play football bare foot! Unbelievable. With Davidson throwing himself on the floor with passion in 33+ degree heat, Violet and I helped the children with decorating the fund raising wall, the children colour and glitter a paper rectangle which represents a brick... In the middle goes the donors name and the brick goes up on the wall. So cute!
We then went outside to watch the boys play football and the kids were all playing nicely with Violet. I started singing 'head shoulders knees and toes' and soon I had a massive group of kids all around me joining in and saying "one more!" Each time I finished singing! They hadn't heard the song before but they thought it was amazing (must have been my singing) I must have sang it 30 times! That's a lot of toe touching! I felt I had done a workout at the gym!
Even the teachers came out to see what was happening as we had quite a crowd- Violet was joining in and the kids were learning body parts in English... It was great! D finished up his football and gave the kids a medal each- they were so happy. And we finally sang the very last "one more" of head shoulders knees and toes and then we decided to buy everyone an ice cream- d ran to the shop and negotiated with the owner for 70 lollies and everyone was again so happy to get one! Even the staff. Some kids put them in their pockets and the teacher had to explain to them that it melts etc... I'm guessing they don't get ice lollies very often which was quite sad. It cost us just £7 for all those ice lollies.
Hopefully this proves that even the smallest of donations can really make a difference. Thank you everyone for helping make this day a success and ensuring the kids ALL had a gift and a fantastic time. I can't remember the last time I saw so many smiles and I know that both Davidson and I will remember this day forever. Violet may not remember it but we will remind her- especially about the frozen wrapping paper!
Ps) Quick question for you all....
Q) Roughly how many children are lost in India each year?
A) Around 35,000
- comments
Mum Wow! Sounds like you all had a brilliant day , apart from the frozen incident and the football injury lol Brilliant pictures for everyone to see where all the donated presents were handed out. Really lovely,happy day :) x
Candice Awww sounds like a lovely day and a emotional one too!!! I'm shocked all the kids didn't run off when u started singing
no1rainbowprincess Thanks sis! Haha Amazing day- we actually got invited to a different charity party the following night. All the local underprivileged and orphan kids got a Christmas party thrown and Santa turned up. It was amazing. These kids were so well behaved and happy. I may leave v with them for a week! Haha
Geniene Wow what an amazing experience. Very emotional aswell. Glad it all went well guys xx