As responsible citizens of India, a group of people who were constantly worried about the underprivileged sections of our society founded the Student’s Mobilisation Initiative for Learning through Exposure (SMILE) in New Delhi in 1986. The main objective was to sensitise young people on various social issues. SMILE began its operations in the Northeast in 1995. Since then SMILE has been playing a leading role towards serving the youth specially street children, handicapped children, downtrodden girls, and orphans.
With this vision in mind, the founders of SMILE set out to accomplish a mission to provide a helping hand to the youth under the name of SMILE. From then, SMILE had no turning back and gradually progressed in its efforts to bring back smiles on the faces of the less fortunate ones.
SMILE in the Northeast conducts various youth oriented programmes like workshops, seminars, exchange programmes, career counseling, etc. SMILE also provides scholarships to those students who are not economically viable. The main objective of the exchange programmes conducted by SMILE is to help the youth to gain exposure and also to aware them about the current social issues. The events are financed by Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS).
At present, Ritupon Gogoi is the state coordinator of IGSSS for the Northeast. "Our objective is to make a difference in the lives of these sections by establishing meaningful partnerships with NGOs and communities at the grassroots," Gogoi said while interacting with the youth at a recent film festival in Guwahati.
IGSSS was established in 1960. It is a development support organisation seeking to reach out to the most marginalised and vulnerable communities of the Indian subcontinent. The main objective is to make a difference in the lives of the lower sections of people by establishing meaningful partnerships with NGOs and communities at the grassroots level.
Operation Smile mobilises a world of generous hearts to heal children’s smiles and transform lives across the globe. SMILE is a network of volunteers across the country. The SMILE world builds awareness among the youth about various day-to-day social issues, raises funds, and educates students about the values of commitment, leadership and volunteerism. "The desired changes in the society will come only when more and more privileged people with a desire to bring changes start participating proactively in 'solution finding' process," said Ranjan Baruah, who initiated the SMILE Film Festival.