OCTOBER 2020
smilescapes
The pandemic-enforced lockdown has caused a tremendous amount of mental distress in people. The worst hit are children and families of daily wage labour in the rural as well as migrant urban populations. The fear and anxiety of these construction labourers, farmers, domestic helps, quarry workers etc is immense and palpable.
NO CURE. NO VACCINE. NO JOBS. NO LIVELIHOOD.
At Smile Foundation, we devised a two pronged approach to mitigate the crisis as much as we could.
CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH CHILDREN AN ANTIDOTE TO THE MENTAL STRESS OF LOCKDOWN
We are living in a constant fear of the unknown. With the threat of Covid-19 looming over us, paranoia has crept into our behaviour and vocabulary alike. There is a real and immediate need to look after our mental wellbeing. The most vulnerable of all are children - they are supposed to be out in the open. Playing and learning with friends helps them develop their social skills like nothing else. Sadly and for no fault of theirs, they are restricted to the four walls of their house.
HEALTHCARE ON DOORSTEPS AS HOSPITALS BECOME COVID CENTRES
With hospitals now pressed in the service of fighting the Covid-19 virus, healthcare for the deprived has become an even more difficult to find necessity. Families surviving on limited incomes do not visit the public healthcare services to avoid spending on medicines or even traveling. In these days of financial hardships, it has only gone worse. We are addressing the urgent assistance required by such communities on health issues. With a two pronged approach:
E-LEARNING FOR EVERYONE. TAKING THE MEANS TO THE MASSES.
It’s common perception that schools are going digital and that classes are being taken to children via laptops and smartphones. That’s for the privileged section of the society. As per UNICEF, 76% of children in India do not have access to those facilities. Technology has become the new divide between the haves and the have nots.
