Gift a Smile provides free, holistic, value based education to underprivileged children in India and elsewhere.

 

In India many children don't have the opportunity to go to school. Often people from remote, rural areas cannot read or write, as their families were unable to afford to send them to school, or there were no schools within traveling distance.

 

The Gift a Smile programme was started a few years ago to build schools and provide education for children in the underprivileged rural, tribal and slum areas of India. We currently support over 115 schools across the country, the largest being just outside Bangalore, with 1000 pupils. The children travel to school every day by school bus, often a journey of two hours. Many of these children are the first in their families ever to go to school. With your support we can continue and expand this valuable work.

 

Siri pictured above has been at the school for two years. She smiles happily as she talks about everything she's learnt. She wants to become a teacher and has already started to teach her older sisters to read. One Pound a day is enough to support one child at school providing everything that's needed for a good education. This is one of the service projects of the International Association for Human Values (IAHV). As well as the basic classroom skills, our schools nurture values of friendliness, compassion and a sense of belonging to a caring community. The Gift a Smile schools always receive the highest accreditation in the annual government inspections.

 

 

 

How the money is spent:

 

Building and equipping schools.
Teachers and teaching materials.
School uniforms.
Transport,a cooked meal a day.
Medical and dental care.

 

 

 

 

 

This project is run entirely by volunteers, so that all of your donation goes directly to benefit the children as nothing is deducted for administration. With your help we would like to set up more schools and support more children.

 

£1 a day - £7a week - £30 a month-  - can change the life of a child.

 

Gift a Smile! Gift Education! Help us lay the foundations for a child's future. We need your support to make their dreams come true.

 

Providing Education in India

 

Internationally, over the last few years IAHV has established over 115 schools with over 12000 pupils.  Since 2004, IAHV UK has raised around £75,000 for Gift a Smile to provide value based education to poor or disadvantaged children who would not otherwise receive any education at all.

 

“Education is this civilization’s greatest leveller. It has the power to empower the weakest of the weak, bring peace to the world and alleviate poverty. It is often seen as the only lit path in the pursuit of happiness” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of IAHV.

 

The Gift a Smile Project, funds an innovative school service programme for children and their communities in India. It has laid the foundation and created structures that facilitate free, value-based, quality education without compromising on the dignity of children from underprivileged areas.   As part of the project, children are given free education, medical care, free transport, stationary, books, nutritious meals, and school uniforms.