A non-formal school for sex worker's children

Smile foundation in partnership with Hriday at Jaigaon, Jalpaiguri has recently come up with a non formal school ‘Back to School’ for children of sex workers. An inauguration ceremony was organised for the purpose at 1, Tribeni Tole on April 21, 2009. At present, 80 children are enrolled in the school.

Partho Roy, Regional Head, Smile Foundation, East handed over the cheque to Ms. Marzina Begum, Asst Secretary, Hriday. Mr. Narender Kumar Majhi, pradhan, Gram Panchayat-II, Mr. Ratan Lal Agarwal, J. B. Lama, member, Panchayat Samiti were also present. Sunrise English School, New Adarsh English school, Green View School, St. Johna School and B. D Memorial English High School were also a part of the programme.

Stars unveiled

Smile Foundation along with six other NGOs were invited to a cultural programme ‘Unveiling Stars’ organised by La Martiniere Girls School. It was a platform for different NGOs working for the underprivileged children in Kolkata to interact and share their experiences.

Tripti Dey and Emele Das of Smile Foundation, Kolkata along with ten children from the Schools of the World (in the age group of 6 to 14) attended the programme. A dance programme ‘Jai Ho’ from the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ by the students of Schools of the World moved the audience and was much appreciated by the guests comprising of eminent members of the Rotary Club, members of Interact Club and the principal and staff of the school.

Annual Day celebrations

Prakruti St. Theresa’s Bacq School, Bangalore organised its annual day on May 16, 2009 with great fervour. The function started with the lighting of lamp by Musrath Begum, which was followed by an invocation ceremony. The Bharatnatyam dance performance and a Mime show presented by Smile Foundation children was liked by one and all.

It may be noted that Smile Foundation has partnered with Prakruti St. Theresa’s Bacq School for the Smile Twin e-Learning programme.   

Seminar on Swabhiman

An interactive seminar on ‘eve teasing and harassment faced by a girl child’ was organised at Modern Vidya Niketan, Aravali Hills on April 28. It was organised by Smile Foundation under its Swabhiman programme. The seminar highlighted on self–defense techniques and taught the girls how to tackle such problems. A puppet show on the issue was also organised by the Foundation. It was followed by an interactive session which explained the students about the ‘dos and dont’s’ to be followed and how to retaliate to the antisocial elements in the society. The programme helped the students in building confidence and learning the self–defense techniques. The seminar was very effective in conveying the message to the audience.