Watch the GOA VIDEO at the bottom of the page

We started our journey on a Wednesday morning with a 4:45am meet. Everyone arrived on time and we had a great crowd of parents who turned up to wave their children off on what we hoped was going to be a trip of a lifetime. The Journey to Goa was excellent. We flew with Qatar airways and not only was the flight smooth and comfortable but the food was great! Some of our pupils even found themselves talking to the locals while on the flight from Doha to Goa.
As you would expect, this revolved around the subject of cricket.
It took us 11 hours to fly to Goa and we landed at 3:30am in the morning. Even though the travel time took more than 15 hours, our pupils were excellent throughout the entire journey.

On our arrival into Goa the Inspire Worldwide team and Dr & Mrs Mistry greeted the team with a traditional Indian welcome. We suddenly knew we were in India as, even at 3:30am, the place was filled with colour and the hummidity instanly hit us.

Finally we had arrived!!!! The biggest part of the journey was over.

Apart from the travel, day one has been an orientation day. Pupils have been interviewed by the Inspire Worldwide team. They have asked a variety of questions about the trip but most importantly they have been asked what they want to acheieve from this trip. They have time to aclimatise to the heat and been given a tour around the Mayem Lake View.

Each pupils has been briefed on the project ahead and it's clear that everyone is excited about making the most of their time in India. Tommorow we will visit the project and the slum schools, and it will the first time the pupils and other members of staff will see the building we intend in rennovate as well as witnessing the poverty we are trying to get these slum children out of.

.The pupils are happy as its 20p for a bottle of coke. The food has been great, lots of choices and even Dom has tried some spicy food, somehting we keep telling him he will not be able to avoid.

Hopefully we will be able to upload the photographs for you as soon as possible.

Greetings from Goa! Breakfast to-day started at 7.00 am with everyone singing happy birthday to Duncan. No one was fazed by the deep-fried potato with coconut and chilli sauce, although more traditional breakfast food was also available.

We piled into the minibuses for Leading Light School, where we were greeted by the excited cries of children, who rushed out to welcome us, seizing our hands and inviting us in to their school to show us their toys and their work, of which they were immensely proud. They were particularly taken with Sam’s height, all waiting to touch him and ask his name, as if he were a lucky talisman.

At the HQ of the Educators’ Trust we met with Diego, who explained how, through education, he had made his way out of the slums to support his wife and children – all of whom work for the charity. His talk was inspirational and a few tears were shed.

After visiting Inspire Light, the organisation’s other school, we made our way to Lihona Light and saw, for the first time, the extent of the work that we will need to undertake, although tremendous improvements have already been made.

Lunch at Lihona Light was authentic Gujarati cuisine, freshly prepared by our fantastic cooks. Back at Mayem Lake View some of the lads played football with our local bus drivers, before we settled down in the cool of the evening for silent revision sessions.

We seem to be coping better with the heat and everyone is enthusiastic about working in the schools and on the renovation project.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Duncan!

Work on Liahona Light was intensive and productive; doors were stripped, walls sanded, plaster thrown and holes dug. Laura and Alyssia had the jobs of managing the site’s workers, basically checking and nagging us to take enough breaks and enough water on board.

After lunch we were taken to the families in one of Goa’s slum settlements. Their friendliness and the joyous enthusiasm of the children were very humbling. Words are inadequate to describe the conditions in which these people live. From a collection of hundreds of photographs here are a few just as an idea of what we have experienced. Suffice it to say, our work on Liahona Light has taken on a new significance.

Liahona Light - Main project

Work continues at an impressive pace on the restoration. This was the first day at the site where the team were split between the medical clinic and the schools. Many of the rooms have the “wow” factor, as plaster has been sanded and paint has started to go on. The Great Wall of Coll has been exposed in all its potential glory, ready for repair, painting and murals representing the Silcoates phoenix and the Educators’ Trust logo.
The team set their own realistic targets and take regular breaks for water, shade, suntan lotion and a large dose of moral support. Spirits are high. The weather is HOT and work clothes are smelly! In the day room they spent the day chiselling windows frames and even had the time to talk about their favorite McFlurries. On a very serious note Mrs Lingard, Abbie would like you to buy her a cream egg McFlurry and put it in the freezer as she is gutted she has only had one this year.

Inspire Light school

Mary and William (B) were more than a little apprehensive to be leading the teaching of 20 or so little ones this morning. They need not have been; the children loved them! William sketched a caricature of himself on the whiteboard to introduce the craft session, as well as demonstrating the hokey cokey in the heat of the midday sun with Mrs Newell. Mary sang her way through number work and phonics. She was described by the regular staff as ‘a natural teacher’. I blame the parents.

Leading Light school

Sarah, Ibuki and Alyssia did a fantastic job working with the youngsters at this project. Sarah was thrown in at the deep end teaching a small class of infants on her own – it was sink or swim and she certainly swam! Ibuki and Alyssia delighted the children with songs and dances which they later performed to all of us after dinner. It’s amazing what you can be persuaded to do at the end of a long, hot day in India.

Morning Light medical project

Chris, Aimee and Laura accompanied Dr Mistry to his weekly slum clinic, which is nothing more than a folding table beside a water spigot. They had the opportunity to observe and help diagnose many minor ailments among adults and children; everything from dog bites to a seven week old infant with pyrexia, whom Chris noticed as being dangerously overheated. The students felt it was a hugely worthwhile project and were deeply affected by what they had seen.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Today has seen a vast amount of work completed at Liahona Light, despite Duncan, Matt, Faye, Dom, Abbie and Sam teaching at the schools. The most impressive part of the day was seeing the paint go on in the day room. This is going to be a great living room for the children and we are about 90% complete in this area. Work on the great wall of Coll has also progressed rapidly and the classroom has nearly been plastered. The dormitory has been sanded and the windows painted leaving just the roof to primer before the final coat of paint goes on. It hard to imagine that just a few days ago this room was in need of a total makeover and should now be complete in the next two days.

At the schools we had activities from learning about colours to cutting snow flakes. As usual lots of songs have been sung and each student is enjoying his time in the classroom.

Also, today it was the turn of George and Chris to become site managers. This is where they are resposible for ensuring everyone is drinking enough water as well as checking the site for potential hazards. They realised that everyone was beginning to get tired and at lunch they made up a new rule. The rule was: if you could sing while you work then this MUST be done. What a brilliant idea it was. We sang everything from nursery rhymes to modern day classics and before we knew it, it was home time.

Dinner on day 7 took a new twist. Mr Coll and Kris Hancock decided that they wanted to treat the pupils and therefore set off early in the morning to the local fish market. They returned with plenty of Kingfish and Tiger Prawns and even managed to pick up some chicken on their way home. In the evening both Mr Coll and Mr Mistry cooked the group, chicken / fish / prawns and chips. I think the group were craving some english food as everything went in a matter of minutes.
Desert was chocolate cake which was, in fact, Will Braithwaite's birthday cake.

Below are a few quotes from some of the team about what they have thought of the trip so far.

Ibuki "Challenging and rewarding"

Mary " Much hotter and harder than I expected, but more rewarding than I would have hoped"

Abbie " Chicken tonight!"

Andrew "Finishing the wall was a high point but a low point was finding the snake"

Laura "It has been.... what's a better word than amazing? Extrodinary - yes, it has been extraordinary"

Elayna "Heat not so bad anymore"

Charlotte"The food is sending me insane"

George "Its just as well I like digging!"

Will B "Having my birthday in Goa is certainly different: I have enjoyed it so far"

Sarah "It's a life changing experience. It has definitely made me value my education more"

Alyssia "I have lost my earring, but at least I have not broken anything"

Aimee"Stethoscopes are cool and I got to listen to a baby's heart"

Matt "Hard work but enjoyable"

Sam "I am glad I wasn't there when the snake was found but it is great that the day room is finished"

Will S "Emotional - really emotional - just the thought of what I am doing makes me proud"

Toni "Hot, hard but great fun"

Project Work

With half of the group missing, the work on the project made slow but very pleasing progress. Final touches have started in the Day room. Classroom 1 is one day away from completion of the plastering. The Dormitory has been completely primed and is ready for the paint on walls, ceiling and windows. The Great Wall of Coll continues to be a mammoth challenge; progress continues. Work has started on the front wall of the house as an extra task because of the excellent progress made so far.

Sam is winning the award for excellence in plastering and Sarah and Alyssia are joint winners for painting themselves more than the wall in front of them.
Mr Mistry spent the day flicking water at people for no reason and was rewarded by twisting his back – it is not too painful.

The trip to Anjuna Market

This morning, Andrew, George, Tom, Matt, Ibuki, Charlotte, Dom, Elayna, Mary, Andy, Toni, Liam and Chris set off to the local market at Anjuna. It was to be the first relaxing activity of the trip. When we arrived, we all went to the Educators’ Trust stall and, wearing our bright orange teeshirts, half of the group started handing out flyers and talking to the tourists about the work we were doing in Goa. The other half set off into the depths of the market. After an hour the groups swapped over places.

Hope you enjoy the photos

Today has seen further work on Liahona Light. The day started off with a Bangra filled morning due to our usual radio station being changed overnight. However, after only a matter of minutes, both Mr Coll and Toni were singing along to the chorus and impressing us with their best bangra moves- or at least Toni was dancing. Work on the Great Wall of Coll has moved slowly but, despite the lack on man or woman power, it is taking shape, as many of the big gaps are starting to be filled. The day room is nearly done and the dormitory has had its first lick of paint. It is amazing to think that just a few days ago this room was ugly and not in a state to house anyone. The pupils and staff are very proud of the work done in this room because we know that without a bedroom, we would not be able to house any girls once we leave the project.

Today was the turn of Andy and Dom to cook. To say we were scared about the prospect of eating their food and potentially getting Dehli belly - or should I
say Goa belly ? - was a understatement. We need not have worried as their potato and cauliflower Aloo Gobi was excellent.
The evening concluded with much chocolate cake in celebration of Mr Newell's birthday. Happy bithday Jonathan!

Children at Leading Light and Inspire Light have learend dozens of new songs and dances from our students over the past week ; they now only have to hold each others hands to burst into the Hokey Cokey!
Mrs Newell's group arrived at Inspire Light to-day to the sounds of Bangra fom a CD player, whereupon Alyssia immediately launched into a Bollywood routine, which was then taken up by the pupils and their teachers.
Teaching through play, George, Tom, Charlotte, Will (S) , Liam, Elayna and Alyssia heped them with numbers, simple convesational sentences, colours and shapes to-day. Tomorrow we take the children out of the classroom and down to the beach. Watch this space..........

Sorry for the delay in getting the blog out for Friday. With a variety of internet problems and having gone away to the Elephant camp for the weekend where we have had no internet signal it has been hard to get anything out for you to look at. Anyway i hope you enjoy the next few days.

Today day 10 has seen everyone on site in the morning. Bodies are tired but everyone is still working as hard as they can to get the project rooms finished. With the English radio on and new room fans installed in the day room, spirits were high and again an amazing amount of work was achieved. The day room is finally complete as the floor as been cleaned and the painted windows installed. The only thing this room needs now is children and furniture. Room 1 completed. In the dormitory the final coat of paint has been put on the walls and the roof. The windows and window guards have also been installed. The transformation of this room is amazing and only a few final Silcoates touches are needed before the bunkbeds can be erected. The classroom hasn't seen much action because it has taken a long time for the plastering to be finished and for it to cure. However, work has finally finished in this room and what was once two rooms divided by half a wall is now one giant classroom ready to be painted. The great wall of Coll has been fixed! Sam Wilson, our master plasterer, aided by the actual plasterer and Laura Kaye has finished filling the gaps and now the great wall is ready for painting. This will make a massive difference to the front of the house as now it will look clean and inviting.

It's amazing to see that, even after 1 whole week on the project, so much work can be achieved by our pupils. The mini Silcoates is nearly complete! Chris Leech summed it up when saying " I will work wherever you need me and do whatever you want me to do, i just want to work and make this a home"

Every Friday afternoon Educators' Trust take the children from Leading Light and slum children from Inspire Light to the beach. The whole team dressed in orange made our way to Baga beach. This is a very tourist- filled beach in the southern part of Goa. Watching the team walk down the beach reminded me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when all the Umpa Lumpas walked to the gates of the factory. You have never seen so much bright orange. As we made our way to the children they could see the team approach them and the majority then ran out of the water to greet our pupils. A lot of the team had taught at the schools and so had already built up strong relationships with some of the children. What followed was two hours of sheer fun. We had games of cricket, pupils throwing nerf balls, football games, frisbe, playing in the sea and some lucky children even buried George! I was being bullied by two little girls who had too much energy and who, at every opportunity, would splash me with water and then hide behind Elayna. Unfortunately for Elayna I take no prisoners and so splashed all three of them, much to Elayna's displeasure. Tom Coll could have been married off as he was permanently attached to two girls who just wouldn't let him go, and I think if the price was right Mr Coll would have waved goodbye. We sang songs that had been taught at the school on previous days and as a whole group we did and excellent version of the Hokey Cokey! It was sad to leave at the end of the day as nobody wanted to go home. It was a delight to see all the pupils from Silcoates and all the children from Leading and Inspire Light have so much fun.

I hope you enjoy the photos. My favourite is Geroge being buried but still managing to keep hold of his sunglasses.

Saturday gave us the luxury of a whole hour lie in. After breakfast we met our guides for the weekend - Hercules and Sampson.

The Shanti Nature Reserve is set in hundreds of acres of national park. Our first stop was to its elephant sanctuary, where we were thrilled to ride on the elephants, to feed them, play tug of war against them and see them dressed in their ritual Hindu splendour. As is her wont, Toni composed a singing countdown before our encounter with the animals. The highlight of the day, however, came when the elephants joined us in the lagoon for their bath and we had the pleasure of scrubbing them down with coconut husks. In return, we were power showered by them.

That night we were to stay in very basic mud huts which, as it turned out, we shared with an assortment of insect life. It is worth mentioning that more boys than girls complained about their eight- legged friends.

All meals are taken al fresco and in addition to Bengali food, the children were delighted with chicken and fried potatoes. There was a party atmosphere around the camp fire, as befitted Mr and Mrs Coll’s 22nd wedding anniversary. Several of the pupils entertained us and we joined in learning traditional Goan songs. It was during a Goan dance- in which we participated with symbols and drums- that Mr Newell finally snapped! The ligaments in his knee collapsed and he is hobbling along. It’s looking as if he will be painting on the project tomorrow from the comfort of a plastic chair. Other than that, it was a great party.

The morning after the night before, Easter Sunday, saw us up and dressing at 5:30am to begin our jungle walk up to the Shanti Falls. High temperatures and humidity made an early start essential. It was a blessing to reach the cool mist of the falls and to rest for a while before making our decent to a yoga session next to a 13th century Hindu temple ( which is a world heritage site dedicated to Lord Shiva.) We were instructed by an incredibly flexible yogi. Our attempts to assume the positions were not always as successful as his.

After breakfast it was back to the mini buses for our journey to the Savoi spice plantation. The bus ride was not without incident. We pulled over to assist the aftermath of a road accident. Dr Mistry, Mr Coll, Kensa and Sophie administered first aid and comfort to the victims. The large crowd of people were amazed at four brightly-clad strangers who arrived with medical supplies and on- the- spot treatment before the ambulance arrived.

By contrast, the plantation was a calm oasis of lush greenery where we learned about the properties plants and how they grow. Have your Indian cookery books ready for our return as we bought up half the spice shop on the way out.

Not for the first time I find myself using the adjective “incredible” to describe our Goa experience. The past week end was one we will never forget. Happy anniversary to Sandra and Dan, and a very Happy Easter to all our readers.

Today it was back to the usual routine. We thought you might be interested in what a typical working day entails.

Daily Routine

6.15 Wake up call or 6.45am for the boys as they don’t get up!

7.00 Breakfast – boiled egg, Indian potato balls, sweet coffee, chai masala, “radio-active” jam, bread (slightly toasted at the edges) and fresh fruit.

8.00 Set off to the Project (with Mr Mistry, Mr Newell , Mr Coll, Kensa and Kris) or the schools (with Mrs Newell, Mrs Coll and Sophie).

8.30 Site meeting and start work on the Project.

9.30 (After travelling to the schools) start work with the pupils.

10.30 Break at both the Project and the schools. (30 minutes break)

12.15 Schools end and our pupils are picked up and transferred to the Project site.

1.00 Lunch for everyone – poppadum, pickles, rice, chapattis, dhal, a variety of vegetable curries, fresh tomatoes and cucumber. The chef and his family are on site all the time. Preparation of lunch takes all morning and two of our pupils (today it was Abbie and Will B) help with the traditional Indian cooking skills and in serving the food.

2.00 De-brief for the people who have been at the schools; everyone else back to work on the Project.

2.20 Schools people get changed and get back to work on the Project.

3.45 Pack away tools.

4.00 Leave the Project.

4.30 Shower time.

5-6.45 Silent revision.

7.00 Evening meal – guess what? Rice, dhal, a variety of vegetable curries, occasional chicken curry, chapatti and fresh fruit.

8-9.45 Board games or lesson preparation time for those in the schools the next day or optional revision time.

10.00 Bed and lights out.

Today Laura, Sarah, Aimee, Matt, Chris and Dom coped admirably in the classrooms and playgrounds. At Leading Light the expected number of children in the infants group was 5. We actually had 15 so Aimee and Dom had to think very quickly on their feet and change their lesson plan. They coped remarkably well under pressure and the pupils and teacher were delighted with the work on colours and rainbow that the children produced. In the primary class at Leading Light Laura and Matt had them eating out of their hands. They introduced the pupils to classroom objects through flash cards, games and the written word. They finished off with pop up card of a bird which the colour insisted on finishing rather than go to play time.

At Inspire Light Sarah and Chris were hoping to reinforce recent lessons on shapes and colour, with strict instructions to make the children use full sentences when asking for the colours they needed to complete their rainbow display. In order to qualify for mainstream education, all Indian children have to show proficiency in English, so we have tried to be consistently firm about pronunciation. The pupils come from families of itinerant workers, so most of them were meeting us for the first time to-day, which required Sarah and Chris to be very flexible in their teaching and to adapt their plans accordingly. Needless to say, they rose to the challenge, and the image of Chris linking little fingers with a four year old to sing the “goodbye” song is one that will long stay with me!

Antonia, Mary and George visited the Morning Light project with Dr Mistry and Mr Coll to conduct health checks on the slum children and adults. Dr Mistry explained the process of diagnosis and what key factors he was looking for. He gave each of the pupils a stethoscope and introduced them as medical students. He asked the pupils their opinion and expected them to use their observation skills. Cases looked at included a boy with ringworm, a girl with severe diarrhoea, a boy with abdominal pain and an adult with severe stomach pain due to abuse of alcohol. The pupils were very observant, learnt quickly and related very well to the children. They particularly enjoyed using their stethoscopes listening to the differences between the heart rates of babies, children and adults.

Our pupils work really hard in the schools and on the Project in temperatures which are in the mid 30s. We hope you are as proud of them as we are.

The photos today are mostly from the Medical Camp and the Schools as we had so many students off project site today.

Today saw Sam, Abbie and Mary go to Inspire Light and Toni, Will S, Tom and Andy go to Leading Light.

At Leading Light it got very competitive with everyone playing a game and Toni’s team missing out at the last hurdle to Tom’s team. The day was full of fun and laughter with lots of learning and the team came away feeling that a lot of progress was made. The highlight of the day was when Andy was playing the leap frog game and falling over in front of everyone!

At Inspire Light the day was excellent. The pupils involved taught an entire morning in English without the need for an interpreter. It was great to see all the hard work from the last week come to fruition. The quote of the day came from Sam Wilson when he got on the bus and said, “That Vjay is bright alright but he is a cheeky monkey”

At Liahona Light the project continues to make excellent progress. It’s hard to believe that it will all be complete in a matter of days (Hopefully!). Our four chosen rooms are now awaiting finishing touches in the next couple of days. In the dormitory the students have decided on a candy theme mural which will bring to life a blank wall just inside the doorway. An extra addition to our four rooms was the creation of an emergency exit from the dormitory by Duncan and Chris. Today’s cooks were Alyssia and Laura and the group were treated to a traditional southern Goan meal with some special Indian sweets. Mr Newell managed to consume nine of them!

Photos to follow shortly.

Any comments made will be read out to the group.

Today, we saw the elements of the project start to slot together. With half the group away at Anjuna Market, the other half cracked down to work.
At the site, Dom, Ibuki, Laura and Will B began the art of painting their masterpiece of a mural. However, at the other side of the room, Toni and Mary continued cleaning the dormitory floor, with plenty of elbow grease.

A floor below – in the Mistry Room – two layers of paint were applied to the walls with the help of Mr Mistry, George and Liam. All there is left to do, is to clean the floor and hang the whiteboard to make the classroom officially finished!

Out the front of the Liahona Light building Matthew spent the whole day painting the window frames and grilles which have finally, after days of hard work, been completed. A big team, including team leader Sophie, have also been cleaning down and priming the stone lattice patterns at the front of the house.

With the absence of Mr Coll from his ‘Great Wall,’ his missus stepped into his boots and directed the troops in applying the second coat of white paint. The side wall has been completely covered in paint to join onto the main wall. On the return of Mr Coll himself, the steps at the front of the house were painted in traditional Indian pattern.

The Anjuna Market faced the second wave of Silcoates pupils who bartered and bargained their way through the day. The group raised awareness of the charity ‘Educators Trust’ and gained numerous support from numerous people. Once Duncan had bargained his way to his own set of Pantaloons and Laura had wiped the market of bracelets, totalling a grand total of 61 bracelets bought, the market group headed back to site to help the others.

To-day was a day of high emotions. Two groups worked at the schools where, as well as revising everything they had learned over the past two weeks, the children stitched paper garlands for the afternoon’s celebrations.

On the building project itself work continued at a somewhat frenetic pace. Floors were washed, the front steps and the outside benches were painted, the mural in the dormitory came to life and the Wall of Coll received its traditional Indian orange decoration.

Unbeknown to Mr Mistry, a party had secretly been planned for the afternoon to celebrate the completion of the renovation and, at 2.00pm, a large coach arrived with children from Leading Light, Inspire Light their teachers, volunteers and Diego (the founder of Educators’ Trust) It was the very best sort of party; all ages and nationalities sat together on the veranda floor to share great Indian food. There was dancing, singing and many little boys running and skidding across the floor, as they do at parties all over the world.

Outside, the children entertained us with dances (choreographed by Alyssia and Neeta – one of the teachers.) There was scarcely a dry eye at Liahona Light, and when Laura and Sam spoke so eloquently to thank everyone involved in the project the tears were flowing freely. Dr Mistry translated their words for all the Indian craftsmen who have come to know - and to admire- our students’ commitment and hard work. Mrs Mistry then cut the ribbon and declared Liahona Light “open”. It was a very proud moment for us all. We had exceeded all expectations on the building and in raising expectations in the schools. As Dr Mistry said, everything had been achieved because we had “… worked as a team, and where there is teamwork there is love, and where there is love here is care.”

It was hard to say goodbye to the little ones, especially as each child thanked us personally for our work. There were so many hugs and tears as we waved them off. In his speech, Sam had said that we had all been changed by this amazing venture. The depth of that change was clearly evident this afternoon.

After showers and a change of clothes at Mayem we gathered to wish Mr Mistry farewell as he set off for the wedding of an Old Silcoatian friend in England. Suffice to say - it was a very lively departure!

Today was a difficult day as everyone was rushing around to try and get the building finished. Some of the team also went to Leading and Inspire Light to say goodbye to the children. The transformation of the building is amazing and so instead of a long blog i thought it would be best just to show the photos of the finished rooms and the last day building work.

Below are the FINAL photographs of the dormintory. They go through the stages that this room has gone through during the tour. I hope you are impressed with the work that has been carried out. This room was the most important room to finish as it now allows us to put in bunkbeds and give the girls somewhere warm and safe to sleep. The addition of the mural just gives it a Silcoates personal touch.

Below are Final photographs of the Day Room. This room will be used as a modern day living room. This is the first room you see when entering the building and so needed to be finished to a high specification. All we need now is some furniture and pictures on the wall.

This room was very difficult because it invovled removing a wall and then taking all the old plaster off just to get it back to brick so that a new finish can be applied. This room is going to be the main classroom for the girls and therefore it was vital that it was finished.

What can i say about the Great Wall of Coll. This is the first thing that you see as you pull up to Liahona Light and therefore giving it an entrance that shows that the school cares about its apperance is important. It says that we care about the girls. Its an impressive wall and Mr Coll and the team wanted to do it justice. The bright white and orange contrast each other very well and the orange keeps Liahona Light within the colours of Educators Trust.

Due to the fact that every student and memeber of staff including the two inspire leaders and Kris Hancock worked so hard. We were able to start a new job. The front of house was looking very old and needed the lambi taking off as well as all the old paintwork. This was a massive job but in true Silcoates style we were up for the challenge. I hope you like the results.

The last weekend was a chance for all the students and staff a chance to have a well deserved break. On the Saturday we visited Fort Aguarda which is an Old Portugese Fort that has some amazing views out to sea. After this we took a dolphin boat ride out to sea. We saw lots and lots of dolphins and took some amazing photographs. That afternoon we ate a place called Zeebops which has some of the best fish in all of Goa. They brought the fish out on a big platter and you got to choose which one you wanted to eat. Tom Coll decided he wanted shark but my favorite is the red snapper. Once lunch had finished we finally got to spend some time on the beach. The sun was around 38 degrees and needless to say alot of our pupils caught the sun. Mr Newell and Kris Hancock definatly caught the sun on the top of their heads.

On the Sunday after breakfast the team checked out of Mayem Lake View and travelled to Bogmola Hotel. This is a 5 star hotel with its own beach. It was finally the time for the pupils to have a bit of luxury. At the hotel the pupils were allowed to use the spa but more importantly the pool. It was a day of fun and laughter and the ideal way to end what has been an amazing but very hardworking trip. Jumping in an ice cold pool was the best way to relax those tired bodies.

Luckly at Bogomla that evening it was karaoke night and lots of our students and even Dr Mistry joined in. Although the singing wasn't Xfactor standard everyone still enjoyed themselves. Luckily Mr Mistry wasn't there as he has been telling everyone all week that he has voice like Lemar!

We left the Hotel at 1:30am and Dr and Mrs Mistry met us at the hotel and gave the group a traditional Indian goodbye. This invovled putting a rakri band onto everyones right wrist and then he gave them a little present. This was Lord Ganesh. Lord Ganesh is given to wish people good luck. This was a really nice gesture but didnt surprise the group as Dr and Mrs Mistry have been amazing throughout the whole trip and have tried to make the trip as memorable as possible for everyone.

I hope you enjoy the last weekends photographs.

It is safe to say that this has been an amazing trip. Full of hard work laughter and fun. Every pupils and adult should be very proud of what they have done and i hope everyone understands what a difference they have made. Because of the work we have all done Educators Trust, Dr and Mrs Mistry are in a position to get some girls into the school in July.

Bring on our next trip!

The two photographs are of the entire Goa Team. Spot the difference!

Below are links to youtube videos of the Goa DVD. These are short clips of the main DVD.

I hope you enjoy the video.

It might take a while to load but
i hope you agree it is worth it!