These last few years, the French association Indian Smiles and the Indian NGO Ra Foundation have established strong links. From France, Indian Smiles cannot act alone on the Indian territory nor organise humanitarian actions without local logistical support. This is why Indian Smiles acts as a bridge between two shores and transfers the funds received in France to Ra Foundation. The encounter between Sunil N. and Michèle Fériaud thus is the starting point of a strong and complementary collaboration, since the two organisations, despite the distance, are motivated by a common objective: educate children in the Mumbai region.

 

After meeting Rheka in 2002, Michèle Fériaud came back to France deeply affected, but determined not to forget her dramatic eyes and to find solutions to get her off the streets. It was an emergency: since both parents were blind and visually impaired, Rekha's survival chances were very low. A race against time then started; Michèle had to activate her network of Indian friends, shaking mentalities and awakening consciences. After a few months, through a mutual friend, Michèle met Sunil N. Sensitive to his story, a surge of solidarity unfolded to find the girl and her parents. At first, volunteers localised them, brought them daily meals and ensured their survival.

Sunil then became an ongoing ally and an invaluable relay for Michèle in organising help locally. He created Ra Foundation in 2004 with the aim of structuring a community project. From 2006, he then launched the "Happy Kids Program", focused on health and education. After this program was set up, the Foundation was able to support several children at a time. This program is articulated around four fundamental stages: identify a vulnerable child, enrol the child to a partner school, provide childcare in view of his/her holistic development, and accompany the child towards employment.

Rekha, whose father soon died of tuberculosis, was also diagnosed with this infectious disease. Thanks to the joint efforts of Indian Smiles and Ra Foundation, Rekha was cured and her mother agreed to go to a rehabilitation center for people with vision impairments. Rekha Started a new life in a boarding school, followed by many other deprived or abused children.

 

Today, Ra Foundation is supporting 53 Children

To learn more about Ra Foundation, you can visit their website here. 

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The video below - Ra Foundation: An Insight - gives an overview of their work and retraces the origin of the encounter of Sunil and Michèle ("The story behind Ra Foundation") at 0:49 sec. from the start of the short film.

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