“Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.”- Rabindranath Tagore
A Magic called childhood
The world of children is pure & innocent. It’s a world where they are shielded from the intricate web of lies & deceit. It’s a world where they are their own masters & the universe is their playground. They live a life with friends, books, games, art & culture. They know that it is their day & their age. They feel they can surpass all mountains & climb to the pinnacle of glory. They are full of passion & compassion. They know that it is through sheer hard work they can conquer what they have set out for. At Child for Child, Smile Foundation, we believe that we should allow children to continue to believe in themselves, to continue to carry their magic wand that helps them win.
That magic wand is called perseverance. Children do not give up as easily as adults do. They are more resilient than adults and have a high tolerance for failure. They believe they can fight their demons if they have the right spells. And to get their spells right, they persevere. They aren’t born magicians. They work hard & smart to be one.
We strongly believe that every child has some magical talent, which could be latent & which if nurtured can be the potential that the child was born to achieve. According to India’s population census 2011, India has the world’s largest child population. The Constitution of India guarantees Fundamental Rights to all children in the country. We as adults need to protect these rights for them. We need to nurture their talents, prod them to ask questions, encourage them to be more curious & be prepared to answer their queries.
Child for Child
Smile Foundation’s Child for Child vertical works very closely with schools to foster a sense of self worth & an ability to persevere amongst children. We work with students, teachers & parents to create a world where children are aware, parents are knowledgeable & teachers are sincere. Awareness, Knowledge & sincerity are those qualities that can make the world a better place for the children, for their parents & the teachers. We want a cohesive structure that creates a holistic environment for these three important links to coexist. As in life, so in any structure, there will be those links that can rust, can crack or even break away. Yet, we endeavour to join the links and ensure that the cycle of life continues. We want schools to be a haven for all who attend. We want schools to be the place where children want to go, each day & every day. Hence we work closely with students, parents & teachers such that the heart feels what the brain wants.
At Child for Child we envision to go beyond. We aim to bring in more values into the system which perpetuates a civic driven change. We want people to take responsibility for each other. We want them to be our ambassadors of goodwill and goodness. And yes we believe in working with people right from their childhood. At schools we work on all disciplines that impact the development & well-being of children. We not only conduct workshops for students, but also for their parents and the teachers. Life skills are such that people need to be constantly reminded that they can inculcate more of it all the time, every time.
A workshop in progress for Parents in one of our partner schools in Siliguri
We also work on developing higher order of thinking amongst children via the medium of movie screenings. Movies that are high on empathy & moral values, and sits well with children’s sensibilities, foster an amazingly evolved level of conversation & discussion amongst them. Movies have a very high recall value amongst humans due to its visual content and powerful dialogues. After watching a movie we have noticed that children tend to grasp rather quickly the wealth of values and knowledge that the director had tried to convey in the movie. Critiquing a book or a movie pushes children to a higher level of consciousness.
At Child for Child, we also explore few short moments within the school setup, where we share our experiences of working with the underprivileged community. These short moments come by way of Assembly Talks, where, in a crisp and appealing way we share our narrative with children and engage them in acts of empathy. Early morning assemblies in school add a feather to the caps of children. It, in a way sets the tone for the rest of their day. Prayers are said, stories are shared and felicitations are done. Assemblies mobilize children in huge numbers and facilitate our connection with them quite effectively.
An Assembly talk in progress in our partner school in Jalandhar
As Smile Foundation’s Child for Child vertical increases its outreach to millions of children, we are striving to create a generation of empathetic individuals who while becoming better human beings, spread a wealth of knowledge & happiness around them. We aim to be proactive in our move towards sensitizing our community partners towards various aspects that will make this world a better place for our children.
Wait to hear from us as we share more stories about our journey.
You can volunteer for change at: https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/volunteers.asp
