Shoes for smiles

More news about our collaborations in Spain!

We had told you earlier about our tie-up with Sacha London, one of the biggest footwear brands in Spain, wherein they sold limited edition t-shirts and donated part of the proceeds from the sales to Mumbai Smiles. They gave us a cheque for €2,000, for which we are very thankful.

 Sacha London has now also come out with a line of India-inspired shoes for its Spring-Summer 2011 collection, and will again donate part of its sales proceeds to our projects at Mumbai Smiles.

We are proud of this collaboration and are convinced that such collaborations with different sectors of society will only strengthen our efforts.

La Merce Festival 2010

A few months ago, we had told you about the famous La Mercè Festival that takes place in Barcelona, Spain, every year and how Mumbai Smiles was invited to particpate in the festival. See post.

The festival took place last weekend (Sep 24-26) and was a big success. More importantly, Mumbai Smiles was present at the festival; we had our own information kiosk and organised an educational activity on the Millennium Development Goals.

A big thumbs-up to our colleagues in Spain who did a fabulous job at the event and our thanks to all the volunteers and supporters too. Here are pics from festival:

Six ways to give, this week

Starting September 26 (Sunday) and ending October 2 (Saturday) is the Joy of Giving Week in India, an initiative organised by a network of non-profit organisations to promote charitable giving across the country. This ‘festival of giving’, as the organisers are calling it, is in its second year, and, significantly, ends on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday.

The idea behind an event like this is to nudge, and sometimes prod, people into giving something – money, time, other resources – to someone else who needs it more. So, to save you the confusion and trouble of figuring out what to do, we’ve put together some ideas on what you can do to help:

1. For starters, to know more about this giving extravaganza, visit http://www.joyofgiving.ning.com/.

2. Check out the incredibly pro-active and useful blogs – http://www.fundacauseposterous.com/ and http://www.jaagore.com/ – for ideas and inspiration.

3. Write, text, tweet and talk about the incredible work non-profits and social entrepreneurs are doing. They can use all the publicity you can give them. Visit http://www.mumbaiaction.org/ to see what people all over Mumbai are doing.

4. Charity begins at home. Give your kids’ old books, clothes, crayons to your domestic worker/driver/office peon’s kids. On a bigger scale, collect clothes, household items and school supplies from people in your neighbourhood and drop them off at the Goonj collection centre. Read more about Goonj and their countrywide recycling campaign here: http://www.goonj.org/

5. Volunteer your skills. There are hundreds of NGOs doing great work, who could use help from trained professionals to plan events, write their newsletters, design brochures, handle their legal work, and more. Log on to http://www.ivolunteer.in/ to see who needs help.

6. Pledge your support to Mumbai Smiles :) Your time, your resources, your skills, anything can help us in our efforts to help thousands of people in Mumbai have access to a better life and a better future. Visit http://www.mumbaismiles.org/ to know more about us.

More scholarships for Yashodhan students

Last Friday, the Future Smiles team continued its great work on the Scholarship Distribution programme. Six more students from Yashodhan School were given cheques that will fund their college tuition and extra academic classes they enrol in.

As you know, the Future Smiles programme helps the older children we associate with in their further studies. Till now, the programme has arranged  for the college education of about 40 students -- helping them select the course and college, arranging for extra classes, accommodation, providing advice and counselling -- for the current academic year. It will do the same for about 10-odd more students in the coming weeks. 

These students have been given monetary support after assessing their needs and socio-economic background. There are a few other students as well who don't need financial support at the moment, though there is the possibility they might need help later.

With these efforts, we are committed to pave a better life for the kids, matched by their determination to succeed.

'We will build bridges of friendship...'

It's Friday! See what people had to say about us, and enjoy your weekend!

Only a thankful heart learns and you understand that many people can learn. Thank you for having such a big heart and helping future generations of this fascinating country to learn and take on life.

A big hug from Barcelona, and I’m sure we will build bridges of friendship to strengthen and enrich this project.

Thank you, Jaume, for your example and your ability to generate synergies.
Jordi, Sandra, Marc, Roger

Thank you very much for the visit to the school. I am a teacher myself and I congratulate you for your work in the schools. Information is power and education the future. Thank you for betting on education.
Eva

In the world we live, it is always special to meet people so generous that they dedicate their lives to making the world a fairer place. Working with children is synonymous with working for the future of a country. As a teacher, I believe in the power of education to change the world.
And thank you very much for the warm welcome, we felt very comfortable on the visit.
Eugenia

Because the world has people as generous and strong-willed as you, countries like India are getting a better future. As a kindergarten teacher, I find the balwadi projects very interesting, since the foundation of a good education is established at a very young age.
Raquel

Update from Mumbai Action

As many of you now know, Mumbai Smiles has a website called Mumbai Action that acts as an information and advocacy platform for Mumbai's development sector. The site is full of interesting and useful stories, news items and information.

Here's a quick update from the site. To read old features, visit http://www.mumbaiaction.org/:

By the people, for the people
Community media units like ‘Hamari Aawaz’ and ‘Apna TV’ are empowering the poor with a voice to tell their stories and find solutions to their problems. They have been helped by Video Volunteers, an organisation that creates models of sustainable, locally owned media that empowers the poor to tell their stories and find solutions. Read more.

An InspirEd goal
Organised with the aim of focusing on innovative approaches in the classroom, the InspirED education conference drew hundreds of India’s teachers from around the country. On the eve of the conference in August, Mumbai Action caught up with Vandana Goyal, CEO of Akanksha Foundation, one of the key organisations behind the event and pushing for quality education in Mumbai, for her take on the event. Read more.

Joy of Giving week
GOONJ, an organisation that recycles clothes and other material to help the underprivileged, is organising a nationwide awareness and collection campaign called the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ from September 26 to October 2. Read more.

IIT-Bombay on a recycling mission
Students of IIT-Bombay continue to add to their institute’s Green Campus Initiative started in July, in different ways. This time, 22 students who are also part of the organising team of Techfest 2011, have decided to recycle tetrapaks on the campus and are placing dustbins made of tetrapaks all over the campus. Read more.
Homeless animals cuddle up to visitors
On International Homeless Animals Day on August 21, In Defense of Animals (IDA), an NGO that cares for animals – homeless, abandoned or cruelly treated – chose to shower them with affection at their Deonar centre. Adults and children who visited the centre were seen cuddling the homeless puppies and kittens housed there. Read more.

Spinning beyond freedom
Charkhas or spinning wheels are artefacts of the past for most people. But there are still some who continue to find time to spin the wheel, like those associated with the Sadguru Anirudhha Upasana Foundation (SAUF). In fact, they spin the thread using the charkha to make school uniforms for underprivileged schoolchildren across the nation. Read more.

Ganpati bappa morya!

Today, Mumbai's popular Ganesh Chaturthi festival comes to an end.
The festival is a celebration of the birthday of Ganesh, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. The Hindu god is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.

While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in western India, especially Mumbai, where specially built Ganesh statues are installed in colorfully decorated homes and specially erected temporary structures (pandals) in every locality. The pandals are erected by the people or a specific society or locality or group by collecting monetary contributions.

The main sweet dish during the festival is the modak, a dumpling made from rice flour/wheat flour with a stuffing of fresh or dry-grated coconut, jaggery, dry fruits and some other condiments. It is either steam-cooked or fried.

Public celebrations of the festival are hugely popular, with local communities (mandalas) vying with each other to put up the biggest statue and the best pandal. The festival is also the time for cultural activities like singing and theater performances, orchestra and community activities like free medical checkup, blood donation camps, charity for the poor, etc.

Today, Ganesh Chaturthi is not only a popular festival, it has become a very critical and important economic activity for Maharashtra. Many artists, industries, and businesses survive on this mega-event. The festival also provides a stage for budding artists to present their art to the public.

After 10 days of worship, on the 11th day, the Ganesh statues are taken through the streets of Mumbai in a procession accompanied with dancing, singing, and fanfare to be immersed the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of his devotees. This is the ritual known as Ganesh Visarjan.

As they say, Ganpati bappa moray, pudchya varshi lavkarya. Beloved Lord Ganpati, come back soon next year.

Walking the line...

Last week, when we made a trip to one of our new balwadis in Andheri (E), we found the little kids learning to walk the line... literally.
Their teacher had drawn a line with chalk on the floor and each of the kids took turns to walk on the line as a test of how well they could keep balance. Let`s just say, watching a bunch of little kids walking on a chalk line with great concentration and determination is a memorable sight, at the very least!

Join the global fight

Leaders from 139 countries are at the United Nations headquarters in New York, USA, for a three-day summit that starts today to review the progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals – a set of eight targets to fight hunger, disease and ignorance to be met by 2015.

There are mixed reports on whether the goals will be met or not by 2015, so the purpose of the summit is to get the schedule back on track. According to aid groups, the European Union is expected to announce US$1 billion (S$1.33 billion) of MDG funds and the World Bank US$750 million for education.

Laid out in 2000 by all 192 United Nations member states and 23 international orgainisations, the Millennium Development Goals are:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme Poverty and Hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rate
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

At Mumbai Smiles, we work every day towards achieving these goals and contributing to the global movement. Show your support for us and this global campaign in any way you can.

Read more about the MDGs here.

'Where there is light, there is always hope...'

We end another busy week with some lovely comments from our visitors. Have a good weekend!

It was wonderful to be here with you. Jaume transmits calmness and a kindness that touches the heart and no one can be indifferent to it. I hope everyone who comes here is a partner and collaborates and takes with himself or herself the magic and a desire to improve the world, to be a better person, to smile and help like Mumbai Smiles. Nehal is very nice and the whole team is wonderful. I've loved the projects.
Susanna


I noticed a strong inner light that comes from Mumbai Smiles. Where there is light, there is always hope and I'm sure that Mumbai Smiles will go a long way in Mumbai. I will always keep in touch and thank you very much for sharing your joy with me. You are great! Thanks.
Carmen

I came to know of you through a friend and started reading about your projects online and yesterday I could see your work. To look into the eyes of these kids that are full of hope to have a better future and to change the future of the country. It is the best gift that I am taking with me in my heart.
Susana

Your work is very interesting and organised. Thank you for the visit. It was a good experience. Congratulations and keep it up.
Ana


I just want to congratulate you on your work and your dedication for such a great cause. Keep it up.
Diego

There are no words left after seeing the work that is done here. I only want to wish you all the best for now and the future. Thank you for everything and for your efforts.
Julia

Our first-ever Executive Directors summit :)

This has been a busy, busy week at Mumbai Smiles. For the past few days we have been hosting our first ever Executive Directors' Summit at the Mumbai office. Now that Mumbai Smiles is a fully staffed multi-national organisation, we are planning to make this an annual event.

The summit had a series of meetings between the top-level management of Mumbai Smiles -- made up of the Chairman and MD and three Executive Directors -- and presentations by various departments about the projects. The purpose of the summit was also for each chapter of the Mumbai Smiles -- India, Spain and Mexico -- to plan, strategise and budget for the coming year.

The summit kicked on September 8 when the Executive Directors of Spain and Mexico arrived at the office and were received in traditional style :)

Here you can see Vaishali Kambli, (Accounts and administration department), Sachin Bhagat (Executive Director India), Alexandra Haglund Petitbo (Executive Director Spain), Jaume Sanllorente (Chairman and Managing Director), Cristiane Tolotti (Executive Director Mexico) and Nehal Upadhyay (Visits department).

This was followed by a short tour of the office when the visiting delegates met all the staff and saw all the expansion and changes that have taken place in the past year.

And then it was down to business. The next week was filled with meetings, visits and discussions, with the summit finally coming to an end yesterday.

It was a fulfilling week and we're sure that good things will come out of it :)

There's kindness around us...

We had told you last week about the demise of balwadi teacher Ashvini Sondalkar, after a severe bout of illness. Ashvini's daughter, Tejal, who was also ill, has now been discharged from the hospital and is on the way to recovery, and Mumbai Smiles is working out the details of paying her hospital bills.

In response to this tragic death, the other balwadi teachers have turned their grief into something postive. They have decided, on their own, to each donate some money towards paying for young Tejal's school education. This gesture cannot turn back what happened but it will at least relieve the family of some stress and worry.

This is proof that in a time of sorrow and crisis, it is possible to count on the kindness of people around you.

Bollywood fun in Spain!

A couple of weekends ago, Spain got a taste of Bollywood-style fun at the Festival of Sabadell that took place in the city of Sabadell. Mumbai Smiles was also present at the event and, in particular, participated in the Bollywood Dance for Solidarity organized by the Anantapur Solidària Association.

It was hilarious with many people dancing (or trying to dance) in true Bollywood style.

Mumbai Smiles had also set up an information stand at the festival, and a stream of visitors came to ask about our work and see our brochures, books and other items.

It was a special day where people had fun even while promoting the important message of solidarity.