Spring Issue - 2018
smilescapes
Sensitising children about health and nutrition in New Delhi
Children of Smile Foundation's Mission Education centre in New Delhi were super excited to interact and participate in the activities that were conducted to make them more aware about healthy eating habits and nutritional facts. Through various demonstrations, the volunteers helped the children understand about good and bad foods, about healthy growth and harmful effects of malnutrition. Currently, children in 152 centres in 21 states are provided nutrition support.
olunteers and supporters get together with children to celebrate Children's Day
On 'Children's Day', all the Mission Education centres across India were decked up for celebrating the occasion. To commemorate this day and to make the little children feel special many volunteers and supporters joined the celebrations in different locations. Engaging activities and heart to heart interactions, songs, dances made sure the children had a great time. Besides the gifts, it was the valuable time shared by the volunteers that the children will remember through the entire course of their life.
Children from Mission Education centre in Noida go out on an excursion
Children from Smile Foundation's Mission Education centre in Noida were taken out for an excursion. The children had some much needed fun, and played games together throughout the day. The activity was conducted with the intention to enhance their ability to perform in a group, perform as a group, helping each other out when playing or involved in other activities in a group. The children had a picnic party and enjoyed a gala time throughout the day.
Health awareness for school children in Chennai
A health awareness programme was conducted for students from a school in Nuchikuppam, Chennai by Smile on Wheels. The children were sensitized about the importance of washing their hands before and after eating and exercising daily and the importance of playing sports and inculcating other healthy habits to avoid falling sick. They shared their daily routines and the steps they took every day to maintain hygiene. They learnt a lot from the session and promised to follow all the good habits.
Specialized training for doctors of Smile on Wheels mobile hospitals in Mumbai
A specialized doctors' training was held in Mumbai for the doctors working with various Smile on Wheels at PAN India level. The session was initiated with great enthusiasm, with the doctors' introductions, following which a session on providing Basic Life Support refresher training was conducted. The focus was on Standard Operating Procedures and calculating the disease rates in the community. Information, education and communication were the main focus of the training session.
Spreading nationwide awareness on World Heart Day
Awareness sessions and sensitizing programmes were conducted across 17 states in India through Smile on Wheels mobile hospital projects. People were informed about symptoms and causes of heart attacks, what healthy rules should be followed to avoid diseases of the heart. They were tutored on what measures to take in order to provide relief to heart attack sufferers. The people from the community were much benefitted from the session and pledged to share the information with their peers.
Awareness session for sweepers and cleaners in Bengaluru
An awareness session was conducted in Bengaluru for sweepers and cleaners. They are the people most prone to communicable and water borne diseases. To help combat the problem the awareness session addressed issues of personal hygiene and cleanliness, precautions that should be taken when cleaning the streets such as covering ones mouth to keep dust away and precautions that should be taken while cleaning water logged areas to keep diseases like malaria and dengue at bay.
STeP students across India taken on exposure visits for skill enhancement
Smile Twin e- Learning programme attempts to help underprivileged youth find employment in various sectors, hence exposure visits are conducted for the students to allow them to gain experience. Visits were conducted to various retail brands for the students of Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune centres. The initiative aimed at providing exposure and learning opportunities on latest trends and practices at workplaces.
Mentoring session with STeP trainees in Kapashera
A mentoring session was organized for the trainees of STeP Centre, Kapashera. The main objective of this session was mentoring underprivileged youth about importance of soft skills and employability. Individual counselling and personality development sessions were conducted; topics such as importance of communication skills, personal and professional relationships, and constructive use of the Internet and gender equality were covered.
A 'Male Involvement' meeting for community men conducted in New Delhi
A meeting of the male members of the community was organised under Swabhiman programme in New Delhi. The men were counseled on family planning, health of women and how they can support women in all spheres of life. The meeting also spread awareness about the growing cases of dengue and chikungunya and ways to prevent their family members from the diseases. Male involvement is an integral part of Smile Foundation's girl child and women empowerment programme.
Two-day residential learning fest conducted for Swabhiman scholars
A two-day 'Learning Fest' was organised in New Delhi for Swabhiman scholars to help them explore themselves holistically and shape their own lives. These girls have received merit-based scholarships to complete their education under the Swabhiman programme. Women entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors, lawyers, journalists and police women officers came together to encourage, motivate and inspire these girls during the fest.
Session on 'overcoming exam fear' for school children in Karnataka
A session on the importance of education for the development of the individual and the society was conducted for school children in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Students of standards 8th, 9th and 10th attended the session. They also talked about their fear of examinations, for which the teachers asked them to prepare beforehand in order to avoid last minute studies, which may crate a burden on students and cause a drop in their grades.
Value education session for school children in North Delhi
A value education session was conducted for school children under Smile Foundation's Child for Child (CFC) programme in North Delhi. Over 300 children attended the early morning session which included the value of empathy, care and integrity in life; how to grow up as a successful as well as happy individual, among other subjects. Smile Foundation visits various privileged schools across India and conducts engaging sessions for the young minds, under CFC programme.
Five-day capacity building workshop for grassroots NGOs
Grassroots NGOs from across India participated in the 5 day capacity building workshop on local fundraising. Leaders from these organisations discussed their challenges in raising support in communities where they work, and best ways to tackle these challenges. This session was part of Change the Game Academy, an international e-learning platform for grassroots NGOs created by the Dutch development agency Wilde Ganzen, which is being implemented by Smile Foundation in India.
Volunteer Engagement session conducted for STeP trainees in Mumbai
Volunteers from Barclays conducted a session with STeP trainees, wherein they trained the students on basic functions of Microsoft Office products. The session was a two way learning process, which augmented the knowledge and skills of both the parties. The Barclays team was very happy with the welcome they received from the youth attending the session and the Smile Foundation team.
