Photos : Mattresses Given Out To The Families In The Slums, Mapusa, Goa
Collection of photos taken while giving out the mattresses in the slums during July, The families were delighted to receive them.
A Place To Lay Their Heads, Mapusa, Goa
Rhys who has kindly supported us for the last couple of years made contact at the beginning of the monsoon as he had several mattresses that he was replacing and thought that a few families in the slums would be happy to receive them. The mattresses were from the villas that he manages in Goa. The mattresses would be mostly King Sized and as many of the children only have small rooms a little investigation would need to be carried out to see who could use them and who would like them. Rob took a day and visited the children, most of the families sleep on the floor, with perhaps some cardboard or blanket underneath them, not exactly soft or comfortable. A few of the families had single bed frames, but I don't think any of the families have had a mattress before so there was a lot of excitement when the truck pulled up full of mattresses.
In total there were twelve mattresses, eight king size and four single 'coir' mattresses. Gopi, one of the older lads helped distribute them, so as a thank you, he got to choose first and as we went round the slum each family got to choose. There was a little rush over the last two but everything went well and we missed most of the rain thankfully although a small shower caught us at the second families' room.
As well as the mattresses we had a few kingsize sheets in stock, so most of the families also got a bed sheet to cover their new mattresses.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Rhys and Goa Holiday Villas for their very generous donation of 12 mattresses. The mattresses were all used but in great condition and the children and families were delighted to have a chance to own one.
Clothes Donations, Panjim, Goa
We are always happy to receive donated clothes that are in good condition; this year the girls have been very lucky as nearly everything that has been donated has been for the female persuasion. Sadly the boys keep asking and I have to say "sorry, not had anything in". So if anyone has any clothes that they would like to donate with a preference for boys clothes aimed at ages 5 to 15 years we would be, or should I say the boys would be ecstatic!
In the last couple of weeks we have had to sets of donated clothes come in, both for the girls. The first was from the very generous Kavita, from Panjim who boxed up a great range of beautiful clothes for the girls, they were mainly for the younger ones with a few items for the older teenage girls. Cleon. Our new helper kindly picked them up for us as he stays in Panjim and dropped them off in Mapusa. Cleon also helped sort the clothes into bags ready to be washed and given out. In with the clothes were some gorgeous party dresses for the little ones. The party dresses were really beautiful so we made a special trip out to find suitable recipients, most were too small to understand how cute the dresses were but the parents faces made up for that. Thank you so much to Kavita for her generosity.
A few more clothes were given just this week by Duniya and her mother, it was just a small collection but they also donated a large bag of books and a few board games. The children have already taken a few of the games home to keep them entertained as due to the monsoon weather they are spending much more time indoors.
Thank you everyone for your donations, it all helps.
Now Things Are Returning To Normal, Mapusa, Goa
Thankfully the new school year jobs have all but finished and everything is returning to normal. Although our normal is still busy with making sure the children have sports clothes, books and various other little items for their new schools. We are also experiencing a little cold epidemic where most of the children and Rob have come down with flu, it’s draining and with the monsoon rains upon us, it does bring your energy levels down. But we’re all pushing through and hopefully the end is not far away.
As a month of school is nearly over we are preparing the educational rice supply. Each of the 100+ children attending school will be receiving a rice quota each month a small gesture of goodwill to the families for allowing their children to attend school and to ensure that they keep good attendance. This was previously a simple task as we had fewer children but with now well over 100 children the amount of rice, and its cost has increased. We already had several bags from last month in stock but we still had to buy another 168 KG of rice to ensure we had enough this month, this is quite a large task at present as our only mode of transport is a motorbike! But where there is a will there is a way.
We hope to continue the rice quota, but we could really do with your help. If you would like to help donate towards the educational rice then please visit our online fundraising page and pledge your support.