Universal Child Rights Day

20 November is celebrated as the International Day for Children. The United Nations General Assembly recommended in 1954 (resolution 836 (IX)) that all countries institute a Universal Children’s Day, to be observed as a day of understanding between children and of activity promoting the welfare of the world’s children. The date of 20 November marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989. In Mumbai Smiles we work with the community living in the slums of Andheri East, but ever since the initiation of the organization 8 years ago, we have been constantly working for the rights of the children throughout our journey.

Two examples that give us a lot of happiness is that of Jitesh and Vaibhav, both of them who lived in the Karuna Orphanage, in which Mumbai Smiles took its first step through Jaume Sanllorente in extending our help to them. These are the two persons whose examples are given in the first few pages of Jaume’s new book, ‘The Power of Smiles’. It has been 8 years ever since and they have grown, they have completed their basic education and thus they now have opportunities for a bright future as Jitesh currently is an event organizer, while Vaibhav works as a caterer in a part time job so that he is able to pay the cost of his apartment while he continues to complete his higher studies.

The last Sunday, Sonrisas de Bombay participated in an event organized by Xarxa dels Drets dels Infants de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona, in Barcelona, Spain. It was an event that had various activities, sports, games etc through which the children were made aware of their rights. We have hereby attached a link with the videos and pictures of the event. We also present to you a discussion elaborated by Xarxa in the defence of public education.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8j_VOsTRLA

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonrisasdebombayoficial/sets/72157637809785396/