Shantanu Mishra tells Sidhi Mishra about Choone Do Aasman 2013, which aims to send 5,000 children to school by August 15
Tell us about Choone Do Aasman (CDA)IJ
CDA, an initiative by Smile Foundation, started in 2009, with the sole objective of enabling children from disadvantaged and difficult circumstances in realizing their dreams. The series is now in its fourth season and showcases dreams and aspirations of underprivileged children from across India.
What is the purpose of launching this programmeIJ
The purpose behind launching CDA is to enable children to grow up as empowered individuals who would know about their rights, secure a dignified livelihood, make informed choices and resist oppression; eventually coming out of the vicious cycle of poverty and suffering. Through CDA 2013, Smile Foundation aims to send 5,000 children to school by this Independence Day as education holds the promise of a bright future and dignified life. The core belief behind the initiative is that children should be at the centre stage of development in order to effect a lasting change.
What is the target area and people for this programmeIJ
Smile Foundation has evolved a working model named Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) which is based on the successful business model of ‘Venture Capital’.
Under the SVP model, Smile Foundation identifies handholds and builds capacities of genuine grassroots NGOs to achieve accountability, sustainability, scalability and leadership. The NGO provides seed money for launch of new projects, expansion of old projects, and also emphasises on regular training, handholding, efficiency enhancement and capacity building for good governance, sustainability and overall organisational management.
Tell us about the schools where these underprivileged students will be enrolled inIJ
At present, the foundation has 70 education centres under its Mission Education (ME) programme. ME is a national level programme which provides basic education and healthcare to underprivileged children.
More than 2,00,000 children have directly benefited from Mission Education programme since 2002. At present, the programme is reaching out to 16,500 children directly through 70 projects in 21 states across India.
We teach these student at our ME centres first, prepare them for the outside world and then try to mainstream them with government and private schools.
What are the other benefits given to themIJ
In a country with India’s dimension and complex problems, no effort is enough. Unless members of the civil society are sensitised and motivated to participate in the process of development, change will not happen on large scale.
In addition to the regular programmes, the Foundation keeps on inventing innovative teaching and learning methods to overall develop and groom the personality of the child and also takes them to exposure trips so that they are confident about themselves.
In addition to all of this we also teach the children about cleanliness and hygiene.
What are the other initiatives of Smile FoundationIJ
The educational initiatives include crèche, pre-school, remedial education, bridge course, functional literacy and family life education for adolescent girls. We majorly work with under-privileged children under difficult circumstances such as child labourer, children of poorest of the parents, street and runaway children, children with rare disability, disaster struck children and slum children.
Tell us about the support that this organisation is getting from the celebritiesIJ
When a popular celebrity joins a cause in various forms, the cause gets noticed and it reaches out to a large audience. For CDA also we are continuously getting support from achievers from all walks of life.
Starting from Hollywood star Jackie Chan to Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Bhagyashree, Prachi Desai, Pooja Bhatt, Harsh Mayar, Darsheel Safary, and Sania Mirza, these people have always extended their support for the many campaigns we understake.