PARTNERING FOR A BETTER FUTURE

“My father works as a cleaner in a jewellery shop. I love the sparkling office that remains clean all the time. Whenever he takes me to the shop, I quietly sit in a corner and not say anything or touch anything. Everything in that store is so beautiful; it feels like it would get dirty if I touch it. I would see so many women come there and buy all kinds of rings and necklaces. Sometimes, I would get sad thinking that I would never be able to buy anything that beautiful because Papa says that I would have to earn a lot of money to buy such beautiful things and we do not have so much money to get a good education. It makes me sad but Papa says when I smile I look more precious than any jewel.”

Nisha is a student of Class 5 of the Mission Education centre SHED in Mumbai. Her parents had been forced to move to the city a few ago when their village was affect by severe droughts. Ever since they moved to Mumbai, every day has become a matter of survival for the family. In a situation as this, being able to afford educating their Nisha became a far off dream for her parents until they came to know about the free education provided by Smile Foundation, an NGO in Mumbai working in fields of education, healthcare, women empowerment and livelihood with centers all across the country.

Mumbai often referred to as the “city of dreams” is not so for a significant number of people. The city is a nightmarish hub of the largest child labour force in the country. Approximately 30,000 children are victims of child labour in Mumbai presently. Most of them earning less than 100 rupees a day while working long hours at stretch.

Children as young as 10 years old are forced to work either due to lack of family income or having been a victim of trafficking. As per 2016 National Crime Records Bureau reports, over 10,000 poor children have been forced into labour after being trafficked. Mumbai is one of the major cities habouring such cases.

According to the Census 2011 data shows that the problem of child labor in agriculture gets exacerbated in drought-prone regions of Maharashtra, like Marathwada. When long and severe droughts hamper the income, poor children and their families migrate to cities like Mumbai in search of source of living. In over 85% cases, condition of the poor children worsens when such migrations happen. This also results in a rise in rate of school dropouts, child marriages and children working as daily wage laborers.

Every child deserves a safe and healthy environment to grow with access to education. The same is robbed of more than 40,000 children living in Mumbai. The figure is even higher in the rural Maharashtra. With laws like Right to Education and initiatives like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Swachh Vidyalaya Swachh Bharat and more, the number of children attending school as increased significantly. However, there is still is a long way to go to reach 100% literacy of children in India.

Smile Foundation an NGO in Mumbai and its Mission Education programme has so far directly put more than 200,000 children like Nisha into the path of empowerment through education.

Last year, 51% of the total beneficiaries of Mission Education programme were girls. One of Smile Foundation’s endeavors as an NGO in Mumbai is to work towards girl education and bring many other out-of-school girls to schools.

You can help a child escape from the bonds of poverty through our online donation. Your support online connects you with a child in need. Smile Foundation as an NGO in Mumbai lets you gift life-changing benefits to that child for a low monthly and yearly contribution. Your valuable support online guarantees that a kid receives benefits which will alter his/her course of life.

We have made their education our mission. You too can hold their hand and take them a step closer to their dreams.

Support online to ensure that poverty doesn’t stand in the way of a child’s education. Your donation online will help a child receive education, healthcare as well as nutritional support through every phase of his/her young life.

Join and help us in our efforts to put Every Child in School.