Buddha Smiles

Lotus Outreach is now entering its 7th year of partnership with Buddha Smiles, supporting non-formal education for children of quarry labor families in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. Escaping severe economic hardship and desperate to find employment, entire communities arrive to work in stone quarries in this region. These impromptu settlements have little to no access to healthcare and other social services. Basic community infrastructure such as sanitation, potable water and electricity are likewise scarce. One consequence in particular – children’s extremely limited access to schooling – came to the attention of Lotus Outreach.

The Buddha Smiles program works to provide educational opportunities to those who would not otherwise have them. Children are visited by skilled teachers – Buddha Smiles volunteers – during non-working hours in makeshift classrooms. Apart from basic literacy and mathematics, children are learning life-skills such as critical analysis, self-esteem and conflict-resolution. They are also learning about human and civil rights through the examples of great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Buddha Smiles seeks to deepen the understanding of the value of education amongst children and otherwise illiterate adults working as quarry laborers. It aims to achieve higher degrees of literacy, better grades, lower dropout rates, increased self-esteem and better employment options for the children participating in the program. Most importantly, the program seeks to combat class discrimination by helping underprivileged children compete educationally with more privileged segments of the population.