Introduction With the arrival of Shermina on January 3rd and the start of a New Year, we begin our first clear year of activity in Goa. Our first five months from August 2004 were largely filled with fundraising activities at home, setting up and extending the web site and with Rob making contacts and searching for possible premises here in Goa. Christmas was a very busy time but we had great fun going to the slums and giving out the presents that had been donated to us. We visited three slums on Christmas Day and gave out carrier bags that contained colouring books, pens, pencils, rubbers, pencil sharpeners and sweets. There were also toy trucks, teddy bears, fire engines and other toys that had been donated. The children were delighted with their presents, and every child who received a present on Christmas day also received a selection of fruit. We hope you enjoy this instalment of the newsletter and if you have any queries or comments then please contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website The website is still growing and amazingly, we will be reaching our space limit again soon. This time unfortunately, we will have to remove some of the older photos, but the good thing is they will be replaced with new ones. There will be nine different photo albums for you to look through, so please keep visiting to keep up to date. Remember that the small pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them! The photos that have been added this month are : Christmas Day Slum Visit Many of the children living in the slums have never before received a present so watching their small faces on Christmas day was definitely a treat. There were smiles all around and the children enjoyed eating the fruit and sweets that were provided. Pipe People Robert took a trip to some slums, but on the way found several families living by the side of the road in Industrial pipes, they were migrant workers and their families, they just move with the work and have to make a home out of what ever they find. We took a couple of trips with clothes that had been donated and sweets and fruit. They have now moved on to their next job, perhaps we'll meet up again by the side of another road. Other Updates Photos aren't the only things that have been updated on the website. Due to the great support of people wishing to purchase items from our needs list we have been able to add new items and remove some items that we have already received funding for. Shortly, we will also be adding a Project page to sponsor. This will allow us to extend our work with the children. We are aiming to implement projects in the slums that will help provide families with the basic provisions they need. For example food visits (rice, fruit, dahl, flour), health visits, and non formal school visits. We can also accept donations online now, which is a great help as people can donate euros as well as pounds. Where ever you see the Give Now image you will be able to click on it and donate directly to Children Walking Tall. Fundraising Fundraising is ongoing and progressing steadily. Unfortunately we didn't succeed in the Daily Mail promotion, but that isn't going to stop us trying our best in every promotion we can find. *How to Help* with fundraising Please spread the word about Children Walking Tall. A simple way is to forward this newsletter to your friends and family asking them if they could find the time to read it and to visit our website. If you work at a company that might sponsor any of our projects, please get in touch with us. Be a member of our UK fundraising team by distributing leaflets or raising money. A good way is by finding something that you enjoy doing and having a fundraising event. If you know of any promotions that we could apply for then please get in touch. Christmas bags of goodies Huge thanks go out to Claudia from Germany who is a constant supporter of Children Walking Tall. She contacted us as she had put together 100 carrier bags full of Christmas goodies (contents mentioned at the top). We also went to Mapusa and bought some fruit to add to the bags. Bananas, apples and oranges were given out to every child. Claudia was also there on Christmas day in the slums to help give them out. Clean Clothes at Last Friends of Claudia (who joined us at Christmas in the slums) were kind enough to donate the money towards a new washing machine. Thanks to Hannelore, Anja and Martin Flips Flops Thanks to Heather and Dave who visited our website and kindly donated money towards buying flip flops for the children that have none. Children often end up with large open wounds on their feet due to walking around barefoot, but these shoes will hopefully prevent this for the lucky children who receive them. Christmas Toys Galore A big thanks to Lorna Wallis and Haley Williams who donated a number of presents for the children at Christmas. Pictures of the children receiving the gifts can now be found in the photo's section on the website. Olga and Peter help in the kitchen We cannot say a big enough THANK YOU to Olga and Peter for buying us a lovely new fridge freezer. The shop didn't have it in stock while they were in Goa so we had to wait 10 days before it was delivered. It is now towering over our kitchen, ready to be moved into our new home. This is not the only thing Olga and Peter did during their holiday in Goa. They also bought a worktop gas burner, electric mixer, emergency lights, pressure cooker and finally gave a donation of around �100. The money they brought was given by themselves and friends and family. These items will be a huge help when we finally get our new building as they will ensure that we can get up and running straight away. They also took a trip to one of the slums with Robert to give out sweets and balloons then returned to give rice and fish. They were great and I'm sure many of the children and adults living in the slums are as grateful to them as we are at CWT. Clothes and Toys A special mention goes out to Iris Ainsworth who joined Robert and Claudia on Christmas day to give out the presents to the children in the three slums we visited. With the combined presents from Claudia and Iris, we managed to give out over 150 presents. It was a fabulous experience, but oh so tiring� Iris also brought clothes and other toys from the UK which will be used in our new home. Iris has also offered to help us fund raise in England which requires a special thank you. "Thanks" Echinaforce Drops Thank you to Carl at Earth Foods in Southbourne for donating bottles of Echinaforce Drops. These are herbal drops used help boost the bodies' immune system. These were given to the doctor to use at the most recent health visit at the slums and will hopefully reduce the number of children needing medicine next month. Keeping in Touch Marilyn, Mark, Alexandra & David Harvey, Jeanne Gray & Nicky Slater have paid for a telephone and telephone line for us. This will be a great help for the charity, as not only does it mean that people can contact us, it also means that we will be able to reply to emails quicker and update the website more often. Needs List Galore A big thank you to Danny Gray who visited our needs list and decided to purchase a fire extinguisher, a floor standing dual gas burner and some kitchen equipment for our new home. At this rate, as soon as we are registered in India, we will have enough kitchen equipment to move into a house which is functional, and this will allow us to start caring for children straight away. A Friendly Face Once again we have to say an enormous thank you to Maureen Charters and Margaret Loewenthal. Not only does Maureen fundraise in the UK for us but they also brought out two suitcases full of children's clothes and toys. Christmas Presents A number of items were donated from friends of Iris Ainsworth that need a special little mention. Jenny � Thank you for the Sesame Seed bars which were taken and handed out at the slums. Caroline � Thank you for the slippers to keep the children's feet cosy at night Valerie � Many thanks for all the clothes which will let the older children look hip and trendy Julie and Terry � Thanks for the games and toys, some of which were given out on Christmas Day and others that will be kept for the children at our home to enjoy. Mary � Thank you for the costume jewellery that is already being modelled by several of the children in the slums. Zara � Thanks for all the support you gave your mother on her recent trip to Goa and for donating the games and felts. Josh � A special thank you goes out to you for donating your shorts, t-shirts and favourite teddies to make another child smile. What's Been Happening? A suitable house/flat We are continuing to investigate several properties and are now looking into flats in Mapusa, Panijm, Margao and Vasco where we could make a start. The ideal solution would be to buy a property, but we still need more support before we can afford to do this. Until we raise enough funds we will use a rented flat as a base. Doing this, will allow us to quickly help the children who need it, and give them a place to eat, learn and rest. Shermina's Arrival Shermina has finally arrived in Goa after finishing at her school just before Christmas. She was hoping for a quiet week when she first arrived, to have a rest before she began work. However, surprisingly enough this did not happen!!! As always, Children Walking Tall rules what happens. So far she has visited a health camp, had two trips to the slums giving out fruit, sweets and toy visits and bumped into a number of children who just want to say Hello and who remembered her from last year. Registration in India Hopefully within the next month we will be a fully registered charity in India, this will enable us to look after children in house rather than visiting the slums. We have had to put things on hold until this process is complete due to the strict laws in Goa regulating child protection. However, until then, we will carry on our work in the slums and on the streets, doing everything we can to improve the lives of the children we meet. UK Trustee We are very pleased to say that one of our UK trustees Pat Lyon has been out to visit us this month. She has been a great help in the UK and also brought out a number of items for the children. Thank you for all your continued help and support with Children Walking Tall. Sad to say Goodbye! We are very sad to have to say goodbye to John Elias, one of our long term fundraisers. John has resigned from Children Walking Tall due to bad health. He was our first donator and has continued to fundraise up until recently. We wish him all the best for the future. Thank you for all you have done! What you can do to HELP!!! Perhaps you could make a difference in the lives of the children. Make a donation to Children Walking Tall. If you have a preference on what the money should be spent then please tell us, and we will try and make the money work the way you want it to. Other ways to help are to donate clothes, books, pens and toys. This can be especially helpful if you're planning a trip to Goa and can bring them with you. The easiest thing that you can do is tell others about what we do. The more people who know, the greater the chance we have of supporting children like these. Do you have any comments about the newsletter? Would you prefer a shorter version? Would you like to see pictures in the newsletter? (Email with be larger if pictures are added) Please let us know what you would like, as we are always wanting to improve what we do. And Finally If you would like to receive these monthly newsletters by email please contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject "Cancel Newsletter" Many Thanks from everyone at Children Walking Tall. Cynthia ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/0FHolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> http://www.goa-world.com http://www.live365.com/stations/61664 Live Konkani Music http://www.mahableshwar.com/ Addresses: Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL to this page: http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gulf-goans/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
