10 years of spreading Smiles!!

10 years of spreading Smiles

The Much awaited celebrations and the much awaited day – “10th year celebrations at Mumbai Smiles, from where it began to where it is!” finally took place on the 6^th of April. The event was a humungous one and saw participation by our beloved beneficiaries, persistent partners, dedicated donors and all our well-wishers. The event was an opportunity to relive the journey of Mumbai Smiles.

The celebration started with an inspirational song sung by Sooraj from , followed by lightening of lamp by our 4 guests for the evening His Excellency Eduardo De Quesada, Mr. Suresh Nair, His Excellency Jaume Sanllorente and Narendra Kumar Dundu along with a Balwadi child. The Executive Director of Mumbai Smiles gave an inspiring speech, where he spoke on different programs such as Balwadis, HOPE and mMitra. People seemed uplifted and full of enthusiasm after this speech. Jaume then took the stage. In his speech, he talked about his journey to Mumbai and the vision of Mumbai Smiles – how the organization wishes to give the underprivileged a dignified life. He thanked the entire team, the collaborators, and the people who live in areas within Mumbai smiles’ reach. The Chief Guest, Mr. Suresh and Mr. Eduardo de Quesada also gave a speech, where they spoke about changing the city. They also thanked the team for the invitation, and applauded Mumbai Smiles for successfully completing 10 years of existence and making a difference to society.

The second part of the program involved performances by beneficiaries of various projects. The audience applauded when the Balwadi children started performing “We Are the Future”. The children danced while their teachers waved balloons and presented cards with problems faced by slum children.

Balwadi teachers followed up with another performance. Dressed in white kurtas with red ties around their waist, the respected women performed a Hindi skit. The skit represented the voice of women suffering from abuse and inequality. The audience was silent as they listened intently to the women’s speeches and chants. The teachers spoke with conviction and performed incredibly well. The skit was followed by a drama, depicting the journey of Mumbai Smiles. It was performed by young women empowerment program beneficiaries. The performance was very touching and heart filled. It started out with a dance, and then went on to tell the story of Jaume’s first visit to Mumbai – shocked with inequalities in the city, and lives of people in the slums and underprivileged areas. The performance demonstrated the growth of Mumbai smiles and the launch of projects such as The Balwadis, Future Smiles, Life Skill Empowerment, and mMitra. The performance of these young girls left the audience enthralled.

Partners of Mumbai smiles presented some videos. The first video was from the Hospital that co-operates with HOPE. The video was followed by a clip from Yashoved School. There were also clips of the partners from Abucus and Saprem. After hearing from partners, there was a video montage of 5 most successful beneficiaries. From HOPE to SEED and LSE (life Skills Empowerment) to Balwadis, each beneficiary shared his/her story of association with Mumbai Smiles.

Towards the end of the program, a thank you dance was performed by one of the Balwadi children, and many of the audience members clapped and moved to the beats of the song. Everyone enjoyed the dance thoroughly! Natasha gave a word of thanks to all the members present on behalf of the entire Mumbai Smiles team. It was the perfect closing to an inspiring night.