Author: Smile Team

Young Leader (17 August 2010)

Sandhya Jyoti Darpan (17 August 2010)

Hindustan Times (17 August 2010)

Punjab Kesari (17 August 2010)

Rajasthan Patrika (18 August 2010)

BusinessLine (December 17, 2016)

BENGALURU, DEC 16: In an attempt to understand and directly connect with children in the underprivileged sections of the society, US Consul-General Phillip Min, along with his wife Eun Young Lee, visited Smile Foundation in Bengaluru. Muni Murmu (mother of three children).

The senior US official and his wife spent considerable time with the children of Sukrupa, the NGO partner of Smile Foundation, and inspired them to come out of the vicious circle of poverty by means of education. They also talked about the various dimensions of the deep-rooted Indo-US relations.

Interacting with the kids Phillip Min said, “I had a great time with the children of Smile Foundation. Smile Foundation is doing a wonderful job by nurturing the kids to become good citizens of tomorrow. My best wishes are with Smile Foundation to continue the good work.”

Smile Foundation strongly believes that education leads the way for change. I would like to thank the US Consul-General for his time and wishes to encourage and motivate our children to do well. Espousing the cause of education for children by people like Mr. Min will add more strength to Smile Foundation.” Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder & Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation, said in his message.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/us-consulgeneral-visits-smile-foundation/article9432454.ece

Daily News (18 August 2010)

Child Labour(11 December 2016)

India CSR News Network ( NOV 30, 2016)

Smile Foundation, the Indian partner for the global initiative being implemented in Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and South-Africa

India CSR News Network

NEW DELHI: Smile Foundation, a national level development organization, in collaboration with The Wilde Ganzen Foundation of the Netherlands, has organized a five day residential workshop for NGOs from nine states of India, called ‘LOCAL FUNDRAISING – EMPOWERING GRASSROOTS’ in New Delhi from November 29- December 3, 2016.

In the light of the current situation of constraint of foreign funds, the focus of the workshop is to orient grassroots NGOs with various local Fund Raising Skills and getting well versed with CSR Act and bridge the gap to garner funds from the estimated Rs. 40,000 crore CSR budget of the India Inc.

The workshop addresses the current challenges of sustainability of the grassroots NGO’s and equip them with the skills to operate in a more structured and effective manner. The workshop also assists them in building capacities at various project management techniques thus leading to sustainable growth of their organization.

27 participants from eighteen grass roots NGOs coming from nine states – such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telengana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal are participating in the workshop. The workshop is being conducted under the aegis of Change The Game Academy, a unique and one of its kind, e-learning platform that offers training to the Grassroots NGOs on sustainable solutions such as – local fundraising, building organizational capacity and mobilizing support to name a few.

The portal provides free e-learning courses, toolkits, inspiring case studies from across world and tips to replicate the same in Indian context with an active support of an extensive library. Apart from its presence in India, this program is also being implemented in Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and South-Africa.

Speaking on this occasion, Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation said, “There are thousands of Grassroot NGOs working in the distant parts of India. Most of them don’t have a proper training and knowledge and usually depend on available grants for their survival. Through this workshop, we want to speed up the process of development through grassroots level NGOs with the training from Change The Game Academy”.

Smile Foundation is a national level development organization benefitting over 400,000 underprivileged children, their families and the community directly through 158 welfare projects on subjects such as education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families and the community.

Wild Geese Foundation since 1958 supports people in their efforts to achieve a better future for their community. In addition to supporting small-scale projects, Wilde Geese Foundation invests in domestic resource mobilisation and claim making capacity in low & middle income countries for structural, long term change.

Source: http://indiacsr.in/change-the-game-academy-to-skill-grassroots-ngos-to-survive-on-local-funds-due-to-foreign-fund-crunch/

GoBarefoot blog (October 27, 2016)

“Their father abandoned them when they were just babies. I have been taking care of them all alone ever since. On days when I cannot get any work, I go to the jungles to collect Sal leaves and make plates from them. My children should not sleep hungry. That’s all that matters to me.” Muni Murmu (mother of three children).

As a daily wager, Muni Murmu struggles hard to feed her children. She believes only education can get her family out of poverty. Her children are among the brightest students at Smile Foundation‘s Mission centre – SERVE in Burdwan District, West Bengal.

Muni’s family is part of a remote tribal community residing in the village of Aandharsuli in Burdwan. Cut off from the mainstream world and all its amenities, the tribe here leads a difficult life. Other than farming, weaving and carpentry, making Sal plates is their only source of livelihood.

In this otherwise serene backdrop of tranquility, education of the children takes a backseat. With little access to educational facilities, children here spend their day helping their parents with farm work or doing odd household jobs. Consequences of which eventually lead to another generation making a living by doing work way beneath their potential.

Children of Aandharsuli would earlier traverse through 4-6 km of dense forest to reach the nearest government school. As a result, may would lose their interest in studies and drop out of school within months. But things changed when Mission Education centre – SERVE was set up in the village.

Children of Aandharsuli used to traverse through 4-6 km of dense forest to reach the nearest school.

Bringing the first batch of children to the centre proved to be quite a challenge. A dedicated team of community mobilisers and volunteers worked round the clock to identify each and every child of the community. The next step involved sensitising parents about the lifelong impact of education on their children’s lives.

The Mission Education project not only provides education to these children but also addresses their healthcare and nutritional needs, aiming at their holistic development. Special emphasis is laid on outdoor and extra-curricular activities. Not to miss the extra efforts put in by the teachers to make the learning process fun and engaging. 

Today, the centre has been successful in minimizing the school drop-out rate to 5% and increase the attendance of students by 80%. Being exposed to education, the community of Aandharsuli, led by its children, has shown a huge transformation. They are much more confident, expressive and above all, geared to lead a better life! The collective effort of the teachers, volunteers, mobilisers and of course the community has indeed paved way for a bright and empowered future of the children. 

Source: http://www.gobarefootblog.com/education/a-tale-of-transforming-the-tribe/