Akshaya Today - 2011

7/31/2019 Akshaya Today - 2011

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Akshaya Today2011 nine years of serving the helpless


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Being a CNN Top 10 Hero means many things, but most important o all it means being

recognized or unwavering dedication to an unselsh cause and commitment to those

amongst us that are in need. The cause may vary signicantly and those served may

be o many diverse cultures, races, nationalities and social standings the important

considerations are the need and the dedication to the need.CNN received 10,000 Hero nominations in 2010. The nominees came rom over 100

countries and were dedicated to a broad spectrum o causes. CNN then conducted a

careul in-depth review o the many nominees and

narrowed the selection down to 24 nalists. This nal

group included one rom India Narayanan Krishnan

rom Madurai. Krishnan is the ounder o Akshaya Trust,

a charity dedicated to helping the destitute and helplesson the streets o Madurai.

A Blue Ribbon Panel made up o globally recognized athletes, activists,

entrepreneurs, artists, innovators, actors, authors and musicians,

everyone a humanitarian in their own right, was then charged with the

task o selecting the CNN 2010 Top 10 Heroes. Having started with 10,000

nominees which were then narrowed down to a eld o 24, the panels

task was not easy. With careul consideration CNN announced the BlueRibbon Panels decision Narayanan Krishnan was selected as one o

CNNs 2010 Top 10 Heroes.


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A message rom KrishnanNine years, 1,700,000 meals and a lietime o experiences

ago I started eeding the helpless homeless o Madurai,

in southeast India. I was 20 years old and a one man army

ghting hunger and desperation.

In those nine years the one man army became a group o

volunteers helped by donors rom all walks o lie rich and

poor rom around the world. My goal and the goal o the

volunteers is to transorm Akshaya Trust so it becomes a

movement in 2011 a movement that will be copied by many

to serve the desperate helpless around the world.

Together we must set aside thoughts o caste, creed and color

as we extend our hand to help those in need. Our time on

Earth is limited and how we use that time is our choice. In our

quest to give pleasure to ourselves and others we would do

well to consider the joy o giving.

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry,

naked and homeless. The poverty o being unwanted,unloved and uncared or is the greatest poverty. We must

start in our own homes to remedy this kind o poverty.

- Mother Teresa of Calcutta


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Those Akshaya ServesIt is dicult to understand why in a world o plenty there are so many that suer rom the lack o ood,

shelter and love. With so many desperately in need it is also very dicult to determine who to help when

your resources are very limited.

With careul consideration, Krishnan decided that Akshaya Trust would direct its limited resources towards

helping those that cant help themselves the destitute, mentally ill, elderly and rail that are uncared or

and existing on the roadside. It is painul to Krishnan and the Akshaya volunteers to exclude many asking

or help, but it is necessary due to the limits o Akshayas resources. Care is given to assure that none o

Akshayas resources are devoted to beggars and others that are capable o ending or themselves.

Akshaya provides nutritious, tasty ood and much more. As time and resources allow, the destitute are

provided personal care such a bathing, haircuts, shaves, clothing and the like. With an importance that is

almost as high as ood, Akshaya generously gives compassion, dignity and love to those it serves.

In 2012 Akshaya looks orward to establishing a very important milestone in its short history the

opening o the Akshaya Home in Melamathur on the outskirts o Madurai. On that day many o those

served by Akshaya will have not only shelter but a home that is theirs.


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This very appreciative lady is Muthammal. She is about 65

years old and has been served by Akshaya or approximately

eight years.

When Krishnan ound her eight years ago she was sleepingin a drainage ditch. She has two sons and a daughter but the

sons abandoned her on the roadside and took her house.

Krishnan and the Akshaya volunteers are now the only caring

people in her lie.

She asks or nothing, but Akshaya gives her two or three

meals a day and loving care. Some o the destitute receiveless than three meals a day because they move around and

can not be ound as the meals are being delivered.

Take a moment to ask yoursel, What would I do i she

were my mother or grandmother? You would most likely

answer very quickly I would help in the best way I could.

Think then o how much the Akshaya Home would improveMuthammals lie.


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Murugan is about 65 years old and has been served by

Akshaya or approximately eight years. His wie died and he

has no children. He is let destitute on the streets o Madurai

without a home or money.

Akshaya ound Murugan on the roadside with a ractured

leg and hip. Medical care was quickly administered and

Murugans wounds have healed but he has been let disabled

and cant support himsel. His existence depends solely on

the nourishment and care oered by Akshaya.

A place in the Akshaya Home will give Murugan the comort

being surrounded by people that care or him and knowing

he is protected rom the hazards o a roadside existence.


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Kamatchi is between 65 and 70 years old and has been

under Akshayas care or approximately eight years. She has

no money or home. Her children took her on a travel tour to

Madurai and let her behind when they returned home.

She has many health problems including a hormone

imbalance, signicant back pain, an unknown skin disease,

and leprosy that has resulted in the loss o her toes. In

addition she is oten bitten by dogs (note the cut on her

nose). She has also been badly treated by other people,

including being beaten by shopkeepers to drive her away

rom their businesses. Such beatings have cost Kamatchi the

use o her right eye.

Akshaya provided her with a makeshit bed to ease her back

pain until she can be moved into the Akshaya Home. The

Home will protect her rom the horrors o a roadside lie and

provide medical help or her many health problems.


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Priya is 13 years old. She is let early in the morning on the

streets o Madurai to beg or money.

As Priya matures she may become exposed to urther

risk. This will not be a simple situation to resolve as there

are many legal and moral issues to be addressed. Priyas

situation is desperate and urgent.

This type o situation will be substantially easier to resolve

once the Akshaya Home is opened.


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Although his name isnt known to Akshaya he has been

grateully receiving the love and nourishment given by

Krishnan and the volunteers or approximately nine years.

He careully sets aside some o his ood or the ants, insects

and other small creatures around him. It is obvious he hasmuch compassion or others. He declines ood i he is not

hungry, telling the volunteers to, Give it to others.


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Boopathy is not greedy and seeks only his

basic needs. He gives Akshaya any money he

receives rom strangers. I dont need it, is

his only comment.

She was very depressed when Akshaya

ound her. She was also starving and had

started to eat garbage. She is now eating

three meals a day rom Akshaya.


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It has been almost eight years since

Akshaya ound Suburamanian sleeping

in a garbage bin with garbage over and

around him. Krishnan and the Akshaya

volunteers dug him out and have been

providing support to him since then.

The best that can be determined by

Akshaya is that Suburamanian has

mental problems due to all and head

injuries, and his amily abandoned him.


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Akshaya has been giving Padma roadside support or

approximately seven years. Very little is known about her

background other than she is one o the many destitute and

helpless people that have come under Akshayas care.

Padma suered a bad leg racture when crossing the road in

December 2010. She was taken to the hospital and received

medical care but could not be admitted to the hospital due

to legal issues. Although Akshaya has been providing Padma

prescribed medications she continues to suer much pain.

The Akshaya Trust has given Padma resh cloths and provided

personal care within the limits o what is easible in the

roadside environment.


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His severely deormed legs make it impossible or him to

walk. Instead he drags his body along using the strength ohis arms.

Akshaya doesnt know his name but it has taken him under

its care or seven years. During that time Krishnan and the

volunteers have learned that he is a person o principle

and determination. He lives on the roadside and considers

the area he is in to be his responsibility. Oten passersby

will discard trash rom their cars with no regard to those

at the roadside. He quickly drags he body to the trash and

removes it. This in spite o the act that it is a substantial task

or him to move and he is placing himsel in harms way. His

response when asked why he removes the trash is, Let me

do something!


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Akshaya Trust has not been able to determine any o

Pandis background but has taken him under its care or

approximately nine years. Although he trusts and relies on

Akshaya he will not communicate with others.

I Pandis meal is late he quickly resorts to eating garbage

reusing ood oered by anyone other than the Akshaya

volunteers.

Pandi is mentally and physically ill. His diseases are undened

he has inections and many leg wounds, most likely insect

and vermin bites. A place in the Akshaya Home would put

him in an environment where at least some o his inections

could at least be controlled i not cured.


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There are many challenges when caring or people living on

the roadside, with personal hygiene being an important one.

Personal hygiene plays a very important role in restoring

the well being o the people Akshaya Trust serves. Such carehelps improve the comort and raises the individuals sel-

esteem. It is also an important actor in the eort to improve

the individuals overall health.

Krishnan, with the support o the Akshaya Trust volunteers,

provides personal care or the destitute and helpless to an

extent that many o us would nd dicult or impossibleto do. This includes bathing, giving hair cuts, shaving and

changing clothes. The diculties are many but the care is

given whenever possible, depending on the extent o care

needed and the reaction o the individual receiving the care.

The completion o the Akshaya Home will greatly acilitate

providing personal care to those in need. It will signicantlyhelp Krishnan and the volunteers when providing care that

many o us would nd impossible to do.


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Preparing and Serving

Nutritious and Delicious Food


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One o the most devastating physical hardships aced by the

deserted helpless is hunger. Facing days without the hopeo having even the smallest morsel o ood destroys all hope

o salvation rom a lie o misery. The bodys basic unctions

struggle to continue, the mental processes become conused

and the pain can not be measured.

To combat roadside hunger or the helpless, Krishnan and the

Akshaya Trust volunteers have prepared and delivered three

meals a day every day o the year or nine years that equals

over 1,700,000 meals. Akshaya is now eeding approximately

450 deserving people a day.

Once the Akshaya Home is completed and unctioning the

task o eeding those in need will substantially change. Food

preparation will be more ecient and the drain on resources to

distribute the ood will be virtually eliminated.


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Cooking three meals a day or 450 people would be a major

task or a well staed restaurant with the best o equipment.

For Krishnan and the volunteers at Akshaya Trust it is a

routine done three times a day with minimal sta, very basicequipment and in less than an hour or each meal.

All meals are prepared using ingredients rom local markets

that are selected or reshness, nutritional value and taste.

They are then combined according to local recipes with

spices, rice, lentils and other appropriate ingredients. The

recipes are also selected based on their appropriateness or ameal that is delivered and served on the roadside to people

in many separate locations.

Here we see Krishnan adding vegetables and rice to the

mid-day meal while volunteer Mani is preparing rice with

vegetable subji.


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A Home or the Helpless


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The Akshaya Home has not been designed to be a shelter,

institution or place o connement. It is to be a place o

reuge, a place o comort, a place o compassionate and

loving care. It is to be a home when home is dened as aplace or a amily.

When completed, the Akshaya home will be able to provide

many o the essentials o lie we take or granted when we are

secure in our home and surrounded by our amily:

Three meals a day o resh tasty ood to give

nourishment and comort.A clean and comortable bed.

Accessible clean bathing and toilet acilities.

On-site medical care will be provided or made available

o-site i beyond the scope o the Akshaya Home

Medical Clinic.

Akshaya will also work with secular volunteer groups toprovide social programs aimed at giving the residents a

sense o community.

Waiting or the Akshaya Home


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Krishnan and Contractor Mani Blocks 1, 2, 3 and 4

Construction projects need many things to make them a success a good design, proper materials,

able cratsmen, nancial support and good management. Good management like good materials is an

important element o a project budget. Contractor Mani is a very good construction manager who is

providing his expertise to Akshaya Trust at no cost.

The heart o the Akshaya Home project consists o our blocks. Block 1 houses the medical clinic andpatient rooms. Block 2 includes a sick bay and doctors oces as well as dormitory areas. Blocks 3 and 4

are devoted entirely to male and emale dormitories. Other blocks include the dining room, special needs

acility, administration and security.


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Security station and well

Dining room oundations

Care has been taken to be sure the Akshaya Home is being

built in a very cost eective manner. The goal is to make it

a reuge or the helpless homeless or generations to come.

Many actors have been taken into consideration to assure

this goal is met. The initial construction costs are obvious

actors, while the operations, sta, maintenance and repair

costs will be the main budget actors in the long term.

With these important actors in mind the Home is being

constructed using durable, low maintenance materials o

high quality. This approach will assure that the Home can be

eectively operated and maintained with minimum sta and

recurring expense.

The Home has also been designed so that uture expansion

can be done when needed at minimum expense and

interruption to ongoing operations. Each o the our basic

blocks can support an additional level. The columns have

been extended above the roo level thereby negating the

need to disrupt the initial construction when adding the

second level.

The Akshaya Home is a place or todays helpless homeless

and with appropriate support will be able to address

tomorrows needs as well.


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The Special Care Facility will be dedicate to the individuals that

or a variety o reasons may be at risk to themselves or others

and thereore need to be reasonably isolated. The acility willbe able to support up to thirty residents.

The individual rooms o the Special Care Facility are accessed

by a covered walkway and will create a peaceul atmosphere.

This type o an environment has been planned to help

establish an ambiance that will be calming and reassuring to

those residents that have high levels o anxiety or ear.

Special Care Facility

Special Care Facility open area


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The design o the Akshaya Home takes local fooding caused

by seasonal rain into consideration. The plan raises the

ground foor level above the anticipated food level. The

adjacent grade level is then elevated to the foor level by

lling in the area between the building and the retainingwall as shown in the photo to the right. The lower grade level

between the retaining walls will be landscaped to give a

peaceul ambiance to the area. The raised grade adjacent to

the building will be a covered paved walkway connecting the

our building blocks.

The concrete strips on the ground are the oundations or

a bridge between the building blocks. The bridge will give

the Akshaya Home the ability to eciently and saely move

residents between the residential areas and the medical clinic.

Retaining wall or covered walkway

Connecting bridge oundation


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The proper installation o quality building

materials is a basic step in creating an eicient

and easily maintained acility. These photos show

the care being taken to assure the marble loor

tiles and wood doors and shelving are properly

installed and inished.

Woodwork tting and installation

Floor tile ready to be polished

Cratsman tting a marble foor tile


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Triage and emergencycare area

Sick bay area

The construction o the Akshaya Home Medical Care Facility

is nearing completion. The installation o the medical

equipment will be the next step once the construction and

associated site work is complete.

Once the air conditioned, equipped and staed acility isready or occupancy it will provide comprehensive medical

care to all residents o the Akshaya Home. This will include

oxygen and medications or those in need as well as 24 hour

care given by qualied doctors and nurses.

The Medical Care Facilitys sick bay will house those residents

that must be isolated rom the rest o the population and

need supervised medical care.


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Medical clinic patient room

Medical clinic corridor topatient rooms


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Patient room lavatory

Patient room toilet

As in all aspects o the Akshaya Home design, attention hasbeen given to the use o design concepts and materials that

will acilitate the care o the residents and keep operating and

maintenance costs to a minimum.

Examples shown here include lavatories that are accessible

outside the toilet area and toilet and shower areas that

are ully tiled or ecient hygienic maintenance. Otherconsiderations include easy access to patient rooms, ease o

visual observation o patients, marble tile foors or durability

and ease o cleaning, adequate storage cabinets, and well

placed windows or light, ventilation and a peaceul view.


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Ater having spent years existing on the roadside it will

be an unimaginable luxury to have a bed in a place that

is protected rom the weather and dangers commonly

experienced in the open. It will then be nearly

miraculous to awaken rom a physically comorting

sleep and have your emotions soothed by a pleasing

view o the green countryside and rolling hills as seenrom your window.

Such a miracle will be an everyday reality or the

residents o the Akshaya Home.


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The Akshaya Home residential area


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Akshayas Helping in H.E.L.P. Trust9, West 1st Main Street, Doak Nagar Extension, Madurai - 625 010, India

E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +91 (0) 452 4353439 / 2587104Website: www.akshayatrust.org Cell phone: +91 (0) 98433 19933

FCRA Regn No. 075940512 Min. o Home Afairs, Govt. o India I.T. 80(G) Regn. No. 108/2003-04 ITC Madurai

80(G) exemption C. No. 464/119/CIT-I/2003-04 dated 7th October, 2010

Akshaya USA17359 E. Caley Place, Aurora, Colorado 80016 USA

Telephone: 303.995.8967 E-mail: [email protected]: www.akshayausa.org Facebook: www.acebook.com/AkshayaTrust

Exempt rom Federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) o the Internal Revenue Code - Public Charity

Akshaya Today - 2011

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