Make A Child Smile brings joy to children during the festive season |30 December 2022

A real smile ... from Make a Child Smile and Ezy D

Announces new projects for 2023

As is customary, since 2016, during the Christmas period, ‘Make A Child Smile’, has once again presented gifts in the form of toys to families of children with disabilities, medical conditions and the less fortunate.

For the past four years, Daniel ‘Ezy D’ Vadivello has been strongly active with Make A Child Smile and this year was no exception, with him going the extra mile to organise a Toy Drive on Christmas eve, where people not only donated toys, but also cash, which went towards food and toys for more children who were not on the list.

Toys were distributed to children from the three main islands; a total of 28 on Mahe, 9 from Praslin and 6 from La Digue.

According to the founder of Make a Child Smile, Clifford J. Mondon, although they had appealed for donations, the feedback from Praslin and La Digue was not positive.

‘’It is sad that people from Praslin and La Digue complained that nothing is done for children on these two Islands, but when we decide to seek sponsorship in the form of toys for them, people from these two islands barely participate. On Praslin only two individuals and members of the group ‘Zezi Vre Zonm’ based on the island, contributed. On La Digue nobody came forward,” he said.

Mr Mondon added that in order to Make the Children on La Digue smile, presents collected on Mahe had to be shared with them.

The gifts were distributed last Monday on Praslin and mid-week on Mahe and la Digue. For Mahe, this was done by Ezy D, accompanied by Soso, a team member. Whereas for Praslin the team was made up of Ezy D and Mr Mondon, accompanied by Jourdanne Alcindor of Praslin Caritas, Sydney Senezan and Carlos Dorizo of  ‘Zezi Vre Zonm’ and Christian Pedersen, who had taken a day off from his business to drive them around Praslin.

“This is a life changing experience for me and something I will cherish for the rest of my life. Seeing Sharib, the 9-year-old boy who lost both his eyes due to cancer, ride his bicycle and walking around as if he could see, left me amazed. Meeting these children has made me appreciate my family more and I will continue to help Make A Child Smile on Praslin,” said Mr Pederson.

Presents to children on La Digue were distributed by Mr Mondon, accompanied by Mrs Alcindor, a La Digue resident, Mervin Jeannevol, and Kenny Nibourette as their driver.

“When these children got their presents, we could see the joy, not only on the face of the child but also the parents,” said Mr Jeannevole.

Make A Child Smile says it plans to continue with its gift drive next year 2023, becoming more active and involving more people from the community as well as targeting more children.

Mr Mondon said that this will be possible as Ezy D is teaming up with them.

“Five people from Praslin and two from La Digue has already been identified to represent Make A Child Smile on these two islands, thus ensuring that children on these two islands are covered. A plan is also underway to have one representative from each district on Mahe, as well as having a regional team assisting with different activities. All these people will of course be helping on a voluntary basis,” he said.

It should be noted that other than distribution of gifts, a Christmas lunch is also organised annually and Mr Mondon said things will be done differently in 2023, with more children being invited. Registration will be done as early as January 2023.

The organisation has also announced that it is reviewing its mandate, which initially was to assist sick children to regain their health and those who were disabled, to cater for more children.

Make A Child Smile will re-activate its ‘Feed A Child’ project after the first quarter of 2023 to assist the less fortunate families on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue with some food items, on a monthly basis.

The project was initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic to seek sponsorship for food for less fortunate children.

“Though we might not be able to supply a family with their monthly requirement, we will try to contribute at least R1000 worth of food items which I believe would be of great help to them, allowing them to make a saving, which could go towards payment of their utilities or their children,” said Mr Mondon.

Families registering for this project will be visited by a representative who will assess their needs, to ensure there is no abuse.

Meanwile, Make A Child Smile has thanked all its sponsors for this year’s donations, namely Cat Cocos, Behram’s Pharmacy, Spar, Le Duc de Praslin, Belvedere Builders, Aqua Ventures and other individuals who helped make these activities a success.