Indispensables

Summer has arrived in India and with it, the insufferable heat of this country. Summer break has started for the students in all of the schools in India. This includes the Yashodan School, in the slum of Shashtri Nagar, one of the schools Bombay Smiles started supporting three years ago when it was on the brink of bankruptcy.

The teachers, who merit a special mention, are also preparing for break. For now, some are correcting the final exams, some are preparing summer school for selected students, and others are busy planning the next school year. Without them, this project would not be possible. Their dedicated involvement benefits not only the children and school but also the student's families.

From Rathi Madam, who has been working at the school for more than 20 years, to the newer teachers (some as young as 23), all of the staff is very involve with the students and preoccupied about their futures.

They know each students personal story, including where they live, how many people are in their family, what their parents do, and more. All of it so that they can be closer to the students and be able to identify any change in behavior or character.

They are there, not only to teach, but also to help the children in anything that is necessary. For them, as much as for Bombay Smiles, education is very important, especially as it is the only tool these children have to escape from this cycle of poverty so that they can chose a better future.
It is for this reason that, when asked, many of the students say that they want to be computer engineers, doctors, professors or business men and women, and it makes us smile because we have no doubt that they will achieve their dreams!

A big hug for all of them!

New Laboratory

Without a doubt, the summer vacation, that started a few days ago in Mumbai, will serve to set up the installations and infrastructures for the new school year.

This is the case with the laboratory in Yashodhan School that has been renovated and improved thanks to help from the Rotary Club in Thane (Bombay).

Them too?! What do you think?

Yesterday we talked about the last day of school before vacation in Yashodhan School; today it was the turn of the more than 3,000 students in the 109 balwadis in the various slums of the city.

If the happiness was considerable en Yashodhan, imagine it in the nursery schools with students between ages 2 and 6…!!!! ;-)

As we said yesterday, the vacations in India generally last from the middle of April until the middle of June.

Again: HAVE A GREAT VACATION!!! :-)))))))))))))

Vacation!!

The faces that the boys are making in these photos, and the shouts and leaps of happiness that followed them and lasted all morning won´t surprise anyone because the occasion merits it… Summer vacation has begun!

It’s like this: for the last few days the students at Yashodhan School have already been enjoying their summer holidays (that, in India, last from the middle of April until the middle of June, the period of year where the Monsoons ensure that more than just heat “explodes” from the sky), a time where they can play and enjoy themselves all day.

However: nobody should think that they have not been applying themselves sufficiently or that they will not have homework. Because they will have it, these are things that are common for everyone… ; ) Anyways, remember that even with their homework taking them just a few hours a day, the vacation will still be very fun… :-)))))))))

Have a wondeful vacation!

Photographs: http://www.100familiasindias.com/

Thank you for the hope!

“Education is the path to development.” From this there is nothing more to say about the projects that are dedicated to those who don’t have the same options as others simply by birth. Thanks for permitting us to share with you the great work that you are doing for the people in India.
Jennifer

After being in Pune for a week, discovering a bit of Indian culture, I want to thank Bombay Smiles because today I have been able to understand a bit more of the reality of life here. After this experience with you, and in India in general, I am even more convinced that the “smallest ones,” the children, have the power to push this society forward. Thus, I think that your projects and those that I could see in Pune (helping the children with difficulties) are truly the future of a society that is constantly improving. Thank you.
Bàrbara

Today has been a beautiful day and I have been able to get to know this NGO and the children it works with much better. In the balwadi were we went, they were singing a poem in English, and I realized that they are very intelligent children that are also learning the alphabet. I had never before being in a balwadi, but now I can say that the teachers are very good and the children are learning a lot from them.
Shekar

Our most sincere wishes go to this organization that achieves something so simple, but at the same time so complicated, as drawing smiles in that crazy society that tries to get away. Congratulations and thanks for your sympathy.

Jesús

“We are all one” (Gandhi). We are so very happy to have seen this organization that we are left speechless. Now I have found the strength to make a true promise: “I will continue to follow my dream.” Jaume and his staff have demonstrated to me that through love you can achieve everything, thus leaving me with the idea that i too can do something!! For those that need me most!! Thank you so much.
Virginia

After reading the book that brought me to tears, I decided to follow my dream: travelling to India. And, of course, I came to visit the projects, absolutely astonishing. Thank you very much!Olga

Well, what is there to say? Simply to congratulate you for the beautiful work that you are doing. After having spent the day with you I have to admit that your name is very appropriate, I am sure that you make many people in Mumbai smile, at least you have made me. A smile to all of you and thank you so much for everything. We´ll be in contact.
Borja

Hello Smiles! I came from León to here, Bombay, in order to see your work. Through seeing the Yashodhan School and knowing your projects, I think that although the project is young, it has a promising future as it’s based in love.
Anotonio, Sara and Toni


Photos: Bombay Smiles

Independence Day 2009, Yashodhan School

Yashodhan School is the place chosen for the Independence Day celebration on the 15th of August, a national holiday in all of the India, according to what the Bombay Smile’s in Mumbai office has informed us. As in the previous years, the students in this school, located in the slums of the Shashrti Nagar, will be responsible for the solemn act that will start with the raising of the flag at 7 AM in a ceremony that will include all of the Spaniards visiting our projects.

Photos: Bombay Smile's Archive

The Year is Almost Over!!

How quickly the year passes! It seems like yesterday when we announced the opening of the first balwadis (nursery schools) and now there are only a few days until the year ends.
In just a few days summer break will begin, that in India goes from the middle of April till the middle of June.

While the more than 100 balwadis end on the 9th of April, Yashodhan School will continue a few days longer and end on the 13th, the day when the students and teachers will say goodbye before the vacation and in that day, as is normal, the children will be more rambunctious than normal.
We are already preparing some end of the year parties to surprise the students, although right now we can’t reveal more… You’ll have to wait ´till next week!

Photographs: Juan Pelegrin and Bombay Smile's Archive

New Agreement

Bombay Smiles is currently finishing an agreement that will be signed by all of the benefited communities and all of our local counterparts of Bombay. Thus, any community that carries out our projects, should ratify in writing certain premises that emphasizes their compliance with Declaration of the Rights of the Child, approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations November 20, 1959.

Principle 1
The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. Every child, without any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family.
Principle 2
The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.
Principle 3
The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality.

Principle 4
The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.
Principle 5
The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular condition.
Principle 6
The child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, needs love and understanding. He shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security; a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from his mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State and other assistance towards the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.

Principle 7
The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture and enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society.
The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents.
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this right.
Principle 8
The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.
Principle 9
The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.
The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; he shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental or moral development.

Principle 10
The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.

Photographs: Bombay Smile's Archive, Mother Mary Studio

Volunteering

Every year as summer approaches we start to receive and infinite amount of emails and calls from people wanting to go to India to volunteer with us.

While we are so grateful for the offers, we regret to inform you that, from the start of our organization, we have only accepted local volunteers in Mumbai.

Bombay Smiles gives first priority to the local people, due to the ease that it implicates (language, cultural knowledge, geographical knowledge, etc) and the desire to increase the amount of work opportunities in the neediest communities: that of the poor and untouchables. As you will understand, this is the type of development that Bombay Smiles looks for: benefiting as many people as possible through its projects. Today, Bombay Smiles, through its projects and counterparts employs more than 339 people in Bombay.

On the other hand, it is important to point out that, although the city is filled with misery (more than 60% of the population live in extreme poverty), Bombay is considered the “Indian New York:” it is filled with doctors, people skilled in every field, universities, pharmacies, hospitals… And as the funder of Bombay Smiles has often said “Bombay is a cosmopolitan city, but we work in its ‘bronx.’” It is true that more than half of its inhabitants, due to their fiscal state, cannot access Bombay’s comforts or schools, but they do exist within the city. Hence, Bombay Smiles is able to find qualified people within Bombay without having to turn to foreign help. And the organization works, day by day, so that these economically and socially disadvantaged citizens can one day share in the comforts of this city.However, if you want to come and see our projects, we would be delighted to invite you and allow you to see with your own eyes the small, daily, advancements that we have made in this peaceful fight against poverty. All you have to do is write an email to visitas@sonrisasdebombay.org and our partners will do everything that they can to help you with your visit.

Photos: Bombay Smile's Archive