Author: Smile Team

Pune, January 15, 2023: A select group of 120 meritorious students from five government schools showcased their talent and excellence in the areas of space science and technology in the Annual Science Fair. These children were selected from around 2,000 students who have been going through special STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education programme in five government schools. 

Smile Foundation has been conducting a special project named ‘Promoting STEM Education among children’ under its Mission Education Programme. The project, operating with support from Atlas Copco India Ltd., has been focusing on 1,965 children across five government schools in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) area of Pune. Most of the children come from economically weaker families and socially disadvantaged communities.

The students had created and presented various models, which they had developed under the guidance of Scientists and Trainers in the domain of space science and technology. Activities during the fair included aero modeling, satellites and launch vehicle display, rocket launching demonstration, among others which brought excitement both to the participants as well as visitors. 

An additional 1,200 school children from various other schools, along with their parents, had visited the annual science fair, organized at Pimple Gurav Secondary School, PCMC. 

Mr. Vikram Singh Verma, Executive Director, Smile Foundation said, “If children are introduced to proper STEM educations early, tomorrow they will excel in the emerging domains, besides creating innovations for the society. As children are the future of a nation, these foundational preparations can help them play an important role in nation-building.” 

Mr. Kabir Gaikwad, Corporate HR Head, Atlas Copco India Ltd. said, “STEM education and experiential learning are important for our children for them to develop critical thinking skills and concepts. Together, we should keep innovating ways to help the children learn effectively and grow.”

The broad objectives of the ‘Promoting STEM Education among children’ project are as follow: 

• Create: Critical thinkers, problem solvers, next generation innovators, highly skilled team of technical persons
• Access to and awareness of multivariate career disciplines
• Promote learning through: problem and inquiry based approach, engage students in hands-on activities
• Foster skills: persistence, teamwork, and the application of gained knowledge to new situations
• Stimulate curiosity and creativity
• Introduce effective pedagogy and resources that enable teachers to enhance their skills in knowledge transfer

The expected outcomes of the projects are:

• Shift of students from rote learning to learning by doing
• Improvement in academic performance in Science and Math subjects
• Increased retention in classes
• Increased knowledge of Teachers in STEM Pedagogy

About Smile Foundation 

Smile Foundation is an Indian development organization directly benefiting over 1.5 million children and families every year through more than 400 welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment spread across 2,000 villages and urban slums in 26 states.

www.smilefoundationindia.org

New Delhi, January 06, 2023:  The New Year began with a special note for Smile Foundation children with entrepreneur-singer-songwriter Ananya Birla spending a day with them. She organized a special meet and greet musical session, titled, ‘Spreading of Love with Music – One beat at a time’. The event also marked the beginning of a meaningful association of Ananya Birla with Smile Foundation.

The day was made memorable by the sterling performance of Ananya Birla with her band, followed by a special dance performance which the children had prepared especially for her. 

The event which was organized at ‘NeeV – a learning center’ in Gurugram, supported under Mission Education programme of Smile Foundation, laid emphasis on the power of education to enable dreams and transform lives.

Ms. Birla had words of motivation for the children and encouraged them to pursue their dreams. During the event, Ms. Ananya Birla said, “It is a great experience being here and I feel really inspired. It is truly commendable what Smile Foundation is doing and I wish more people did this at this level and at this quality. It has also been a great experience singing for these children. I would not say I was performing, it was all of us singing together and I really had fun. What NeeV is doing with Smile Foundation for these children is truly inspiring.”

Mr. Santanu Mishra, Co-founder and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation said, “I believe in the philosophy of ‘Civic Driven Change’. It means that unless privileged members of the society take part in the process of development, lasting change cannot be achieved. We thank Ms. Ananya Birla for her encouragement and participation.” 

Smile Foundation is an Indian development organization directly benefiting over 1.5 million children and families every year through more than 400 welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment spread across 2,000 villages and urban slums in 26 states. 

‘NeeV- A Learning Centre,’ a brainchild of Dr. Shalini Malhotra, was founded in 2007 to educate and empower underprivileged children. In the last 16 years, NeeV has grown from strength to strength, and under the guidance and support of Smile Foundation’s ‘Change the Game India’ programme.

New Delhi, July 15, 2022: World Youth Skills Day emphasizes the need to equip the youth with skills that make them employable, able to deliver stellar work, and become job creators. As the world revives from the pandemic, World Youth Skills Day 2022 is a chance to assess the need for skill development in a world undergoing remarkable socio-economic and technological changes.

The pandemic might have disrupted the pace of skill development and there might be considerable ground to be covered to upskill youth in preparing them for a better tomorrow. The job sector and various industries have undergone a major transformation during the pandemic and the demand for enhanced skills has only grown. 

India has the largest youth population in the world with an average age of 29. Nearly 40 percent of the Indian population is aged 13 to 35 years. The youth (18-29 years) form 22 per cent of country’s population, totaling more than 270 million in number. 

The Prime Minister has rightly reiterated that India would lead the fourth industrial revolution, supplying high-quality workforce to the whole world. Skilling youth properly, across urban and rural India, will be the key to actualizing this vision and ensuring a strong, future-ready workforce for India.  

India’s demographic dividend opportunity is the longest in the world, available over five decades, from 2005 to 2055. India has the potential to emerge as one of the largest consumer economies in the world too, thanks to emerging economic dynamics and favourable demographics.

The young and working population brings many unique possibilities for India’s future too. They include social mobility, economic growth, and a more inclusive and equitable society.

“Both employability and entrepreneurship are the keys in enabling today’s youth to take the nation into the future.  I feel convergence of endeavour among all the important players will play a significant role in the path of nation building,” says Mr. Santanu Mishra, Co-founder, and Executive Director, Smile Foundation. 

Smile Foundation has been one of the leading organizations working in the areas of skilling and upskilling youth across India. 

• Three Smile on Wheels Mobile Medical Units will be launched in Balrampur, Chandauli
  and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh 
• These will provide access to quality primary healthcare services for the underprivileged

Lucknow, June 21, 2022: MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck Sharp & Dohme (known as Merck & Co., Inc. in the United States and Canada) and Smile Foundation today announced the launch of three Smile on Wheels mobile healthcare units in the districts of Balrampur, Chandauli and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

Shri Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, flagged off the mobile healthcare units today in Lucknow. Smile on Wheels is a national-level mobile healthcare programme focused on serving underprivileged children and women. Through the partnership, MSD Pharmaceuticals will fund three Smile on Wheels mobile medical units, that will provide primary healthcare services for underprivileged citizens in and around the three districts of Uttar Pradesh, under its CSR programme in India.

The programme aims to address the primary healthcare needs of 10 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh. The primary care services would be provided through enhanced technologies to doorsteps, thereby sharing the load of Government health facilities and delivery of quality healthcare.

“It gives me immense joy to flag-off these mobile medical units, which will support the healthcare accessibility measures in Uttar Pradesh,” said Shri Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh. “The Government of Uttar Pradesh continues to dedicate itself to improve accessibility to healthcare in the state and such complementary efforts deserve accolades,” Mr Pathak  added.

Mr. Rehan A. Khan, Managing Director, MSD Pharmaceuticals, India Region said: “At MSD we are passionate about redefining healthcare and improving lives around the world. Building sustainable partnerships to meet India’s commitment for the unmet medical needs is one of our key focus areas. This partnership strengthens and supports capacity building for health care delivery,” he added.

“We are delighted to be able to provide access to primary healthcare services to those who need it badly but cannot access it,” said Vikram Singh Verma, Executive Director, Smile Foundation. “We are grateful to MSD Pharmaceuticals for their support to the Smile on Wheels initiative and look forward to continuing to work with them to provide primary healthcare services to the community,” he added.

The Smile on Wheels programme sends well-equipped medical mobile units, along with specialized doctors, nurses, medical staff, and medicines to villages and underserved communities to provide crucial access to healthcare services. The objective of the programme is to ensure improved healthcare services reach the doorsteps of people residing in unserved or underserved areas. Smile on Wheels provides free healthcare services to more than 1.5 million children and families every year across India.

About MSD Pharmaceuticals

For 130 years, MSD has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programmes and partnerships. Today, MSD continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals — including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases — as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. 

About Smile Foundation

Smile Foundation is an Indian development organization directly benefiting over 1.5 million children and families every year through more than 400 welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment spread across 2,000 villages and slums in 25 states.

The two films, shot at Smile Foundation’s projects, capture real-life journeys of two inspiring youth from rural Odisha

New Delhi, Aug, 2022: Two films made by Smile Foundation got a world premiere at the 43rd Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). The films are among the top 12 films selected globally under the Audience Choice category of the Nelson Mandela Film Festival, partnering with DIFF this year.

‘Manayun’ and ‘Torch’ are both documentaries shot at Smile Foundation’s education projects in Odisha and capture the real-life coming of age journeys of two ordinary but inspiring young men. 

Manayun – My Wonderland showcases the journey of a young migrant who travels in search of livelihood. His struggle makes him realize the importance of education and he returns to his native village to open a school. His homeland happens to be the picturesque, naturally endowed district of Kalahandi.    

The other film, Torch, captures the life of a teenager growing up in a village near Konark, home to the Sun Temple. Soumya suffers from a condition in his legs that prevents him from leading a normal life, pushing him into depression. His interest in life is rekindled by a torch light.

Both the films have been made by Smile Foundation, known besides its development work, for making the iconic children’s film I Am Kalam in 2010. The organization has carried forward the legacy by making several documentaries, films, television series and a children’s film festival called SIFFCY that has been running for eight years now and is known for its curation of handpicked films for children and youth from across the world.

Santanu Mishra, Co-founder of Smile Foundation and producer of Manayun and Torch, says, “We want to take the work, the stories and the inspiration from what we practice on the ground to a larger audience. Ever since I am Kalam, we have come to believe in the power of films as a tool to reach and sensitise the masses. These films are a step forward in vocalizing challenges that are faced at the grassroots, and exemplify how ordinary people can bring change in their lives, their communities.”

Mr Pranab Aich, Director of the two films, says “I have been making documentaries with NGOs for 15 years now. I am fond of telling stories through children as they are our future, and their perspective on life has mostly been ignored in the mainstream. Smile has been doing excellent work with children. Getting to make films on such stories is a challenge and joy as well. Manayun was shot in very difficult terrain.”

Smile Films is an initiative of Smile Foundation, an Indian social development organization, benefitting over 15 lakh children and their families every year. Smile Foundation believes that unless members of civil society are involved proactively in the process of development, sustainable change will not happen.

Smile Foundation believes cinema is one of the most influential and creative tools that can promote positivity and aims to empower and educate society about societal problems and about the way to resolve these through good cinema. Smile Foundation has been deploying good cinema as a medium for sensitizing the masses and engaging them proactively in the process of initiating social change. Smile Foundation wants to involve civil society, to take an active partner in all its welfare initiatives. 

About Smile Foundation: 

Smile Foundation is an Indian development organization directly benefiting over 1.5 million children and families every year through more than 400 welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment spread across 2,000 villages and urban slums in 26 states. 

New Delhi, Dec 12, 2022: Smile Foundation receives the CSR Times Award 2022 for Skill Development. Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Km. Pratima Bhoumik presented the award in the presence of eminent dignitaries. 

The award conferred under Gold category was in recognition to the foundation’s Smile Twin e-Learning Programme or STeP. Smile Foundation conceptualized and launched the Programme in 2007, with an aim to create a pool of skilled and gainfully employed youth through skill enhancement in tandem with market requirements across India. 

Smile Twin e-Learning Programme (STeP) is further aligned with the ‘Skill India’ initiative that was launched by the Government of India in 2015. STeP aims to empower the underprivileged youth of our country by providing them with knowledge and the requisite skills, thereby increasing their career opportunities and enabling them to secure jobs in the organized sector, become financially secure.

“We are thankful for such a meaningful encouragement. Looking at the emerging and growing opportunities for the youth, we are preparing ourselves for a significant expansion of this programme,” says Mr. Santanu Mishra, Co-founder & Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation. 

This national level programme develops and trains youth with necessary skills, ensures beyond-classroom learning, helps them on career choice and counseling, facilitates exposure visits and interaction with prospective employers, and provides them with job placements. 

Initially, the skill development programme was a primarily focused on providing market-oriented skill training to underprivileged youth for gainful employment in retail, hospitality and ITeS sectors. As the pandemic brought major disruption in many industries, it also triggered emergence of new jobs that demanded specific skills. As a result, Smile Foundation restructured the STeP curriculum to fit the emerging employment market. Efforts have been made to facilitate skilling and employment of youth in sectors such as healthcare assistance, digital marketing, BFSI (business, financial services and insurance), BPO (business process outsourcing) and e-logistics where the demand for workforce is rising rapidly.

Currently, 84 STeP centres are operational across India. Out of the 75,000 students that have been trained so far, 47,000 have been placed in over 200 brands successfully. Others chose to pursue higher learning and explore more opportunities with their new-found skills and confidence. Girls constitute 61 per cent of the overall beneficiaries.

About Smile Foundation:

Smile Foundation is an Indian development organization directly benefiting over 1.5 million children and families every year through more than 400 welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment spread across 2,000 villages and urban slums in 26 states.