Assam flood relief works help rebuild lives

Since the lashing of rains and overflowing of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, Assam suffered day after day and it seemed never-ending.

It always starts as the rivers start gushing down carrying the silt as a result of the melting glaciers. Added to the heavy monsoons and the melting glaciers, the river volumes enhance and pick up intensity downstream, resulting in floods.

This is the case every year.

However, it is said that Assam is facing the worst-flood scenario in the last decade.

With hundreds of deaths and lakhs of affected people, the situation seems grimmer by the day. Thousands of them have become homeless and are staying in relief camps battling hunger, shortage of essential supplies and recurring landslides.

Indians from all walks of life have come forward to lend their support to the flood victims.

I was devastated seeing the water levels when we were on the way to provide food as a part of the Assam flood relief works. I freaked out when I realised that almost half of the tractor wheels were submerged; it was like we were floating. We were all geared to brace for the rain and floods, but the local people were not equipped.

Men braved through the waters even though it was waist-deep.

So many questions popped into my mind.

What if they slip and fall?
How and where will they sleep?
Where will they stay?
How will they fight water-borne diseases?
How will they recover from their losses?
How will they remark their land?
If their house is submerged, what about their means of food?...

I had to stop my mind from thinking further.

As I got off the tractor, I figured that ours was not the only NGO in India who has arrived for support, there were so many others.

As one positive aspect, I was happy to see that there are so many generous people who donate to feed the needy during times of disaster. When we have each other, we can face and battle any disaster.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that provides food assistance to flood victims. I am glad I was able to reach out to people in distress by being associated with this Foundation. With the generosity of many individuals, corporate donors and partnerships with various Governments, we were able to serve freshly cooked meals to these victims.

What we provided as meals

In these flood-affected areas of Kamrup district (Rukminigaon and Hatigaon areas), we served any one of the following options:

• Rice, dal & subzi
• Vegetable pulav & subzi
•  Plain/ vegetable khichdi

Today’s scenario

As the water levels have started to recede, flood victims have started to rebuild their lives and homes. They have been trying to cope with their lives and food should be the last thing on their mind.

Along with other organisations that provide relief materials, Akshaya Patra has been distributing Flood Relief Kits to help flood victims sustain the harsh situations. Donate to feed the needy people with your contribution to provide kits that contain:

Rice, Wheat Flour, Toor Dal, Desi Chana, Peanuts, Oil, Spices, Sugar, Salt, Biscuits, Sanitary Pads, Notebooks

 

Assam needs us!

All our support can help each and every one of them to be a survivor.

Be a food warrior to a flood warrior!

Donate online towards the Assam flood relief works to give food assistance to all the people in need. 

Akshaya Patra reach 2022

 

Supporting a Cause Is Always the Right Choice

 

The bell rang after a few hours of classes and the children joyfully rushed out, excited to have the best time of their day – lunchtime. The corridors were filled with the sounds of their chatter and laughter. That was the moment I realized….

…true joy is when you are the reason that someone else is happy.

 

My association with Akshaya Patra has only been for months. But ever since my first day with the Foundation, I have felt less anxious every day. 

Working for the benefit of those from low socio-economic backgrounds seems to align with the ultimate purpose of any human life. Seeing the smiling faces of children relishing their mid-day meals as an outcome of my work fills me with a sense of accomplishment that I had not experienced anywhere else.  

Gone are the days when people could support underprivileged communities only by being on the ground. Today, people can contribute towards a social cause even with their busy schedules through online donations!

Happiness beyond material success

Everyone seeks happiness. And often, even a hoard of material wealth does not seem to provide the contentment we seek. From my experience, it was clear that true bliss lays in the act of giving.

As Horace Jackson Brown Jr., an American author, said, “The happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”

It is as simple as sharing your small successes with underprivileged individuals. And you can do so in multiple ways. These include:

• Distributing clothes, books and stationery
• Donating money
• Funding their ration
• Sponsoring children’s education 

Clothes, books and stationery can benefit the underprivileged for a short term. But supporting financially challenged children’s education and school meals can fight the root cause of their distress – illiteracy and malnourishment. 

Free education is incomplete without the proper nutrition that aids effective learning. 

Although education for children ensures that poverty doesn’t persist beyond the current generation, nutritious food fuels the physical and mental strength of children to efficiently learn, participate in events outside of school and pave a path for their growth in fields of their choice.

Food will help children fight both diseases and illiteracy that hinder their long-term progress. As a result, sponsoring school meals for children of government schools will eventually enable marginalized communities to become independent, progress locally and overcome their current limitations. 

Reverse the cons

When you donate to feed the children, you not only support them but also their parents since it assures them that their little ones are getting essential nutrients and that they will lead better lives in the future.

Also, when children eat together in school, it improves socialization among castes and also empowers women through employment in kitchens.

Funding children’s mid-day meal programme at schools will ensure lasting changes, a sustainable future and equal rights for all. Furthermore, when children receive the generosity of others, they will also learn to work for the betterment of people around them.

Hence, today many NGOs have come forward to feed children and enhance the benefits of education.

Additionally, the pandemic had forced children to stay behind doors, and those without access to digital education experienced further difficulties in retaining and practising concepts taught at school before the lockdown.

Which is precisely why they need our support, NOW MORE THAN EVER.

The Mid-day meal Programme saves the day

You can aid the complete development of school children by supporting us and our various causes through online donations. Your support to Akshaya Patra will ensure the nourishment of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers to eliminate malnutrition at its early stages.

We are an NGO in India whose mission and vision revolve around an optimistic dream that no child should ever be deprived of education or healthy growth due to a lack of food. The seeds of the thought of feeding children came from a visual outside a window where children fought with stray dogs for scraps of food.

We have always believed that there is no future without educated children and thus, children’s place should be inside classrooms – learning, participating in discussions and planning for an inclusive future that benefits people from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Hence, since our inception in 2000, we have only grown in terms of quality and quantity. And currently, we provide school meals to over 1.8 million underprivileged children in India. With your kind donations, we not only feed them every day for an entire academic year but also maintain strict hygiene standards during the cooking process.

So, let’s join hands to nourish children and their priceless dreams. Extend your support to Akshaya Patra for a bright future of India’s youth and underserved communities.

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Support Assam Flood Relief Initiative

 We, at Akshaya Patra — an NGO in India, are providing food to flood-affected people in Assam from our kitchen in Guwahati. Donate to feed the needy.

3 predictors of child malnutrition in India

Child malnutrition is a chronic problem - a difficult malaise to tackle. Substantial progress has been made in child mortality rate; it has reduced from 5.2% in 2012 to 3.4% in 2021. (Global Hunger Index 2021)

However, the causes of death for children under five remain pre-term birth complications, trauma, birth asphyxia, and infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. Tackling child malnourishment requires a multi-faceted approach which includes improving the quality and quantity of dietary intake, maternal health and education, etc.

The Government of India initiated programmes like the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) that nourish pregnant and lactating mothers and their children below the age of six and midday meals (MDM) to school-going children. Many NGOs in India have also implemented these schemes to ensure that children do not sleep on an empty stomach.

Factors that could predict malnutrition of children

Child malnutrition is divided into undernutrition (insufficient calorie consumption) and overnutrition (excess consumption of calories).

Lack of the right nutrients and macronutrients in a child results in the prevalence of undernourishment in children which could lead to underweightedness, stunting and wasting.

• ·         Poor quality diet
• ·         Poor maternal health
• ·         Socio-economic status 

1.   1) Malnutrition due to poor quality diet

A child of any age can suffer from malnutrition, specifically, young children are more prone. According to the World Health Organisation, malnutrition is the underlying cause of approximately 3.1 million children’s deaths each year.

In India, a child who comes from an average underprivileged household does not get the adequate nutrients in the form of food as their food does not comprise vegetables, lentils and legumes. Including these in the diet gives the right amount of proteins required for children to stay active.

Rising prices of vegetables and other essentials leave no option for parents coming from marginalised sections of society to feed their children with what is cheaply available. NGOs support the children of such parents who run the PM-POSHAN programme (earlier known as the MDM scheme).

2.  2) Malnutrition due to poor maternal health

The Government has made excessive promotions to make people aware that breastfeeding for the first six months is beneficial to a baby. And these benefits extend into adulthood as well.

It goes without saying that a malnourished mother will not be able to pass on the required nutrition to her child in the form of milk. And ultimately, this child will become malnourished and have many deficiencies and complications in the long run.

It is crucial that a woman should be nourished well during all the stages of her pregnancy. A child develops organs right from the mother’s womb. What this means is that the cognitive and physical growth of a child takes place even before it opens its eyes in this world.

3.  3) Malnutrition due to socioeconomic status

A malnourished child grows up to become an undernourished adult who cannot perform to give the best. Not performing the best in a work environment gives less salary which does not give access to good food. This further means that undernourished adults give birth to malnourished children and the cycle continues without a pause.

            Hunger and poverty are vicious cycles - endless

It is very difficult to put an end to this cycle unless a member of the family starts earning better to provide good and wholesome meals. Chronic or long-term malnourishment is concentrated in sections of society coming from challenging socio-economic backgrounds.

Nourishing children right from age zero

Supporting the Government’s initiatives to nourish children at every stage of life, The Akshaya Patra Foundation – an NGO in India provides nutritious meals. These meals are prepared by giving the topmost priorities to safety and hygiene. It is recognised for running the world’s largest NGO-run school meal programme and it has been serving locally palatable meals since 2000.

Akshaya Patra is spread across 61 locations feeding 1.8 million children across 14 states & 2 union territories.

Donate to feed the children who need your support. By serving midday meals for 1 full school year with your donation of ₹1500, you are giving them a reason to come back to school every day. Not only that, by helping them come to school daily, you also help them get educated. By getting educated, you are supporting the next set of leaders and achievers to meet their goals.

Make an online donation to support the dreams of a million children.

Embrace the spirit of a father’s love and compassion

 

Education takes children a step closer to empowerment

 

Education is empowering.

It is a force that creates knowledge, builds personalities and confidence while also making way for new opportunities.

Getting education is also a doorway to a better life.

For some of us, going to school every day is a part of normal life, however, for children coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, education is a rare and precious gift.

All children deserve the precious gift of education and so, when you make a charity in India to an NGO, you change lives.

By empowering children, it is easy to engage them in further learning, encourage them to imagine, observe, form opinions and mould their behaviour accordingly.

Children are like an empty glass

Whatever you pour in it is what they are made up of. Hence, it is of utmost importance that we nourish them and build a lot of positivity around them to grow into empowered beings. Childhood is the stage of life that moulds their behaviour and character.

Empowered children are confident children.

Children develop a grasping power at a very young age. Getting them educated helps them in their psychosocial development. Gaining education helps them in the long term.

Like Nelson Mandela said, “Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future.”

Involve them in discussions

This is a very effective way of making children feel that they are important and are of value too. Whether they contribute to these discussions is secondary. For example – Sujita is a midday meal programme (MDM) beneficiary from Daman’s CPS Primary School in Silvassa. By speaking constantly with her Grandparents, she holds strong opinions herself. Thanks to the food and education that she receives at school.

Allow children to be their decision-makers

Children should be encouraged to take decisions at a very young age. However, the risks and consequences should be discussed with them as well. Continuing Sujita’s story, it was up to her to meet her parents. However, she carefully weighed her choices and decided that she never wanted to meet them anymore because they had abandoned her when she was a small child. This decision of hers made her confident that she can take care of herself.

Support them in every stage of life

When they make a decision that is in their favour, giving compliments or praises can make a huge difference in their behaviour and personality. Using positive words uplifts their spirits and brings good feelings about themselves. Adding further to Sujita’s story. Her grandparents stood by her when she decided that she did not want to meet her parents. They supported her decision so much that today, she does not feel the need to cry over their memories anymore.

Schools give children the education that could empower them. But not all of them are privileged to afford a decent education for their child.

Hence, the Government of India has initiated various programmes, schemes and scholarships that can support them.

To help children from all walks of life benefit from these schemes, many NGOs have joined hands with the Government. One such scheme is the Midday Meal Programme (MDM Scheme) which is now called the PM-POSHAN.

One such NGO is The Akshaya Patra Foundation allows you the opportunity to help children with your online donations. Sujita is one of the million beneficiaries of the Foundation who has benefitted from generous contributors who donated towards providing unlimited meals for education.

Beginning from a small number of feeding meals to 1,500 children in Karnataka, today, Akshaya Patra serves locally palatable and nutritious meals to 1.8 million children coming from challenging backgrounds. Support many such children with your onlinedonation towards this NGO in India.