A Prize Of A Lifetime

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A Prize Of A Lifetime

15th November 1993

As a winner of the 1st Prize in the H.A.P.C. Grand Lottery Draw I have nowords that could describe my extreme shock and joy to have been the lucky one picked out of 100’s of entries at the H.A.P.C. Charity Gala as the No 1 Prize winner – it was a God send!!.  I recall the evening that Mr Pereira informed me of this news, there was pandemonium in my house!.  We had to find the other half of the ticket and my entire wardrobe was on my bed whilst the children hunted through my pockets and handbags until they found the tickets!!.  And then of course none of us slept all through the night, it was all too much to take in!!.

I was then invited to a presentation at the offices of Hayes & Jarvis where I met Mr Artizone the Overseas Director, who presented me with the Flight Tickets and the Hotel accommodation voucher.  It was a pleasure to meet Mr Artizone.  May I take this opportunity of thanking him and Richard King for dealing with our holiday plan very efficiently. The flight on Monarch Airlines was excellent and we had a very enjoyable trip.

Our two week stay was at the hotel Cidade de Goa situated in the heart of Dona Paula. The hotel was beautiful, the services excellent and everybody we came in contact with, was very polite and courteous.  Here again I wish to specially thank Mr No Cardozo and his members of staff for making our stay a very precious memory.

Having now told you all about my prize, I would like to say something about the poverty stricken children in Goa, and in fact all over India.

As a mother of three children it was heart breaking to see children between 5and 9 years of age, begging that you buy a carrier bag from them to put your shopping in for a mere penny, or carry your shopping for you to the taxi stand for just 5 or lOp. This is what they depend on to buy their main meal of the day or to help with the cost of their family meal for the day.  Whenever I visit Goa I always give the children one rupee for their carrier bags and to see the delight in their eyes is something so special. In saying this I have always wished to do something more for them but one never knows where tostart and what to do.

Since winning this prize through Help A Poor Child I have learnt a lot moreabout this Charity and the wonderful work that Mr Pereira and his committee members have dedicated to the poor children all around India. I think they all deserve a gold medal for their hard work in making Help A Poor Child a success and for bringing joy and love to thousands of helpless little children who would have no hope otherwise.  I hope that someday I can be of some help to them and in the meantime, I take thisopportunity of wishing them every success in their tremendous efforts for the future.

Felicia Saldaialca