Bringing cheer to those less fortunate

For 18-year-old Swati Solkar, life would have never been the same if on June 8, she hadn't registered herself for a Smile Twin e-Learning Programme (STeP) programme. “I wanted to improve my personality and my knowledge of the English language as well as computers which are very essential today, if someone wants to grow in their professional life,” says Swati.

She is not alone. Many youngsters like her want to change their lives and live a dignified life. There are many ventures which help individuals to achieve that but there is one organisation that is different from the rest. It not only identifies but also supports genuine grass root individuals, groups or organisations and handholds them till they become self sustainable.

Smile foundation, a national level development organisation, reaches out to more than one lakh underprivileged children through various education, health care, livelihood and advocacy projects across 21 states of India. “Social Venture Philanthropy was evolved by a group of like minded corporate professionals who decided to finance, handhold and support genuine grassroots' initiatives targeted at providing education and healthcare to underprivileged children. In the process Smile Foundation was formed in 2002,” says Naresh Chaudhary, Chief Operating Officer, Smile Foundation.

Among the various programmes headed by the foundation are Mission Education and Smile Twin e- Learning Programme. The programmes aim to provide vocational training to children in slums and children of commercial sex workers; thus providing them with job opportunities and guide them to lead a respectable self sufficient life away from the world of drugs and crime.

Akshay Berde, a 20-year-old HSC pass, joined the STeP programme to improve his command over the English language and now works with Aditya Birla Minacs and earns a good salary. The programme was launched two years back in Mumbai to impart vocational training to the youth in subjects such as Computers (Micrososft certified courses), English and retail management.

But it's not that easy to get in; there is a screening process. “Interested candidates go through a selection process which includes written test and interview. Students who qualify in the selection process are then registered for the course,” says Naresh.

Same goes for the students of Mission Education which is run across seven centres around the city with the assistance and cooperation of various NGOs. The programmes include providing pre-primary classes, non-formal education, functional literacy and life skill training. Children between the age group of 4 to 15 are covered in this programme.

It can boast of benefiting 1175 children. Sweta Preiera is one of them. She joined the foundation in 2007 to complete her education, and adds “I feel proud when my school mates feel jealous of me because I can speak fluent English unlike them even though they go to an English medium school.”

The response, these two programmes have got from the communities has been encouraging, though communicating the differentiator of the programme has been a big challenge for the organisers and volunteers.

“Our dream is to reach out to bigger and smaller town in the city and cater to more and more youth and support them. We plan to start 50 more STeP centre in 2009-10,”says Naresh. Mission Education, which is a flag ship programme, will also see an addition of more projects.