We are also deeply grateful to Mr. Digamber V. Kamat, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa, who visited us along with Mr. Damodar Borkar, President, Goa Youth Congress, Margao Block & some other party members and donated 500 notebooks. They have promised to provide some more stationery & other items to our Shelter.

The month of June ended with many of our Shelter children returning back to us. These are the children we have been able to enrol into the local school. After their school hours, we coach them at the Shelter and assist them with their homework. Our Field workers have been busy organising games and other activities in the slums. We have been instrumental in providing medical assistance to the people in slums and have also stressed the need of cleanliness and hygiene, especially due to the torrential rains.

This month we have admitted 11 of the shelter children to the El Shaddai Children’s Homes. Irfan & Resma have admitted for night care as they do not have a father and mother is unable to take care of both children. We have now admitted both of them in the local Government School.

With regards to Vipul, we spoke with Dr. Manish Patel of Apollo Victor Hospitals, Margao and he advised that the next surgery has been planned for August. We believe that after this surgery Vipul’s arm will be as good as new!

On the fun side, we organised yet another Beach Program at Betalbatim. One of the latest additions to the Stepping Stones family, Anita, celebrated her birthday. We regular encourage the children to take part in the games to build camaraderie and self esteem. A mock fire drill was conducted to instill in the children the importance of following rules in distress situations.
 

We are thankful to Dilshad Meghani for sponsoring chicken and eggs for the entire month. Foreign visitors Matilda & Emelie (Sweden) visited regularly & spent time with children. Some of our regular visitors spent time with the children playing with them and teaching them new games.
   
In the coming months we have plan not only to address the concerns of those children in Margao, but of those in the surrounding areas as well. Colva has a lot of scope for developing a shelter and initial visits have proved fruitful. We are also starting a new slum school in the Khareband Slum. We hope to reach out and impact the lives of as many children as possible.