World Smile Day was on 2nd October 2015. World Smile Day (WSD) is a day we do an act of kindness for random stranger(s) without expecting anything in return. WSD was invented by Mr. Harvey Ball who designed the smiley face in 1966 and the first World Smile Day was celebrated in 1999. Since then WSD is celebrated on the first Friday in the month of October.
This was my very first community project and as Ambassador for World Smile Day I made it as an experiment as well as experience. My mom helped me research of all the ways that someone can do an act of kindness that would not cost them any money and I came up with a list of 12 acts.
1. Let a pedestrian cross the street - smile and wave.
2.Let another car merge in front of you.
3.Smile and say Hello to the security guard.
4.Hold the door open for someone.
5.Pick up trash at the park.
6. Donate blood.
7.Compliment someone randomly on the street.
8.Tell a joke,make someone laugh -is my favorite.
9.Give directions to someone that's lost.
10. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
11.SMILE at random people on the street.
12. Say 'Bless you' when someone sneezes.
Next my mom and I discussed what I could do to make people know about WSD. We decided to make little cards, drew smiley faces for each one, wrote jokes on some of them, some we wrote 'Here's a Big Smile just for you and the rest had World Smile Day Oct 2 2015 and its motto 'Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.'
Next I purchased 72 packets of Oreo cookies with money from my Do Good coin box. Some of my mom's friends contributed another 300 packets of Oreo's. Next my dad spoke to Bangsar Village management to seek permission for me to use a small corner in their premise for my project. They obliged to our request.
Thursday the day before was a very busy day for me. With the help of my mom we drew various sizes of smiley faces, made up posters and took a long time taping the cards to each packets of Oreo's.
Friday 2 October World Smile Day had arrived. I was both excited and nervous. We arrived at Bangsar Village and my mom and dad got busy putting up the poster for me and arranging the table. The time frame for my project was 10am-1pm.
Soon I was already to get started. I armed myself with a hand held WSD Ambassador poster and packets of Oreo's. My mom stayed in the background keeping an eye on me while my dad had to rush off to work. I went to work approaching random strangers as they walked into the mall. The reaction of these people were priceless. A lot of them were wary of me, some thought I was seeking donations, others were baffled as to why I was doing this. A lot of people quickened their pace when they see me approaching, some buried their face into their phones or pretended to speak on the phone. I had a few people shoo me away like I was an irritating fly. Many of the people were pleasant and curious and asked me lots of questions to which I was glad to answer and explain.Almost all of them said no one has ever given or done something nice for them.
My mom explained to me that a lot of times people do good for the wrong reasons for example they donate money when it's attached to a raffle ticket and she also helped keep my spirits up whenever I came across someone who wasn't very pleasant.
From this experiment I learnt to continue being kind and polite even when others weren't. It taught me courage to do what I believed is right and that happiness comes from the fuzzy feeling inside when I did something nice for another without expecting anything in return. Being kind to others does not always mean donating money to the poor, the homeless, or charity homes. Being kind also means a SMILE to anyone you may meet and it does not cost you money.
I am grateful for my family for the guidance and love they give me.
My name is Caitlin Smith. I am 7 and 1/2 years old. My motto is SMILE for its the purest form of giving.
