Project Smile

Program Results

IREX awards approximately 90 Smile grants each year. A sample of recent projects includes:

Seven Azeri students purchased tree saplings and planted them on the grounds of an orphanage. Children from the orphanage participated in the tree-planting activities and were taught to care for the trees.
A sports day was held in Georgia in the Tbilisi Sea district. Local children were invited to play games and learn good-sportsmanship from the famous world champion kick-boxer Georgian athlete, Shota Lomidze. Lomidze and a team of volunteers spent the day teaching sports techniques and orchestrating games.
Kazakh orphan children were taken on a day trip to the Charyn River Canyon. A local guide took them on a hike through the canyon, introducing them to the geology of the natural formations of the canyon, the ancient markings on the rocks and the importance of the canyon's eco-system.
Children undergoing treatment at the Anesthesiology and Resuscitation Wards at the Center for Cardiology and Therapy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan were invited to decorate the children’s ward. Volunteers were recruited from the Bishkek Arts Schools to guide the artistic process.