May-2015-ICE-Today-PDf

Cover FocusCover StoryFoundation is the work of young students volunteeringeveryday. They work diligently and believe that theirunited effort can help create a positive outcome. Thesevolunteers don’t seek any monetary benefit. They aresolely driven by the will to see a better society.How does Smile run? Is it true that the organisationhas not yet received any grant or external funding?Smile has not asked for or taken any monetary donationsfrom anyone as of yet; all the projects are financed by mybusinesses. Up until now, we only took donations in theform of books, clothes and food. I also want to add that,not taking financial donations from anyone has had atremendous effect on our volunteers. They believe inSmile’s initiatives and have faith in the organisation’smotives.How actively involved are the volunteers in theoperations?They are the major driving force behind Smile. We havea Smile student wing in almost all public and privateuniversities of Bangladesh. Whenever there is a disasteror a calamity in any part of the country, our team reachesthat area as soon as possible. Even the remotest part ofthe country is not out of our reach and the team can beat the spot within twenty four hours, at max.Besides Smile, what other projects are you currentlyworking on?I am the co-founder of People’s Rokeya Foundation.Fifty three orphans are currently residing in our shelterhouse for females. We provide them with training andalso plan to increase the number of students in theshelter.Your journey with Smile is very inspirational for theyounger generation. What message do you have forthem?Most young people nowadays are extremely mature,displaying the right amount of eagerness to work towardssocial welfare. I would like to say that wanting tocontribute is great but one must be self sufficient beforeone can donate. Try not to depend on others financially.Each one of you must personally try to reach a levelwhere you have enough to help others. Self sufficiency isthe best policy.What are your future plans with Smile Foundation?I want to increase our volunteer base and work furthertowards improving the society. Currently we have morethan seven hundred kids in remote areas of Bangladeshavailing our education programs. I am inspired by BRAC,which has over twenty thousand schools all overBangladesh. Although Smile has a long way to go, wehope to reach that dream number very soon.In case of disaster management, we have successfullydealt with the Rana Plaza mishap by setting up arehabilitation centre for the victims. In disastermanagement and support, our ideal is Centre for theRehabilitation of the Paralysed in Savar and somedaySmile hopes to be able to provide a massive scale ofsupport.I believe that to live a life of peace and harmonywe shouldn’t limit our lives to only earningmoney65