Wayanad in Kerala is still reeling from the aftermath of landslides that wiped away villages killing hundreds. Help in the form of cash and kind have been pouring in to help the people rebuild their lives.
Among them is septuagenarian KA Abdul Azeez, a former government employee from Pathanapuram in Kollam district. Azeez is using his savings to donate 100 cots to the houses that will be constructed for those who have been left homeless.
While in Thiruvananthapuram for a felicitation meeting organised by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Azeez says, “This is the least I could do for the people there.”
Instead of buying them from the market, Azeez is getting them made at a furniture unit near his home. “We have known him for years and when he shared this thought with us we were happy to help. It is such a large-hearted initiative and this is our way of contributing to the cause. The work has started and the cots are expected to be ready in under two months,” says Brijith KV or Binu as he is known, who heads the furniture unit.
The cost of a cot (six by four feet) would come to around ₹8,500, inclusive of labour charges. Acacia wood is mainly used to make them and around six labourers of the unit are at work.
Azeez, who retired from the Department of Health in 2005, says the decision to give away the cots was instinctive. “Help is coming from different quarters and I also wanted to do something. When Rahul Gandhi announced that he would construct 100 houses in Wayanad, I thought that I could provide cots for those houses. I did not want to buy them from the market and that’s why I contacted Binu,” he says.
They plan to transport the cots around the time new houses are built. “After some news channels and online media platforms carried this news, a well-wisher from Saudi Arabia called me up and said the cots would be transported in his trucks to Wayanad free of cost. Before transporting the cots, we will visit Wayanad to see how many families actually need those,” he says.
KA Abdul Azeez | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Azeez adds when news about his gesture got around, some of his neighbours and friends came forward to extend support. “I haven’t asked help from anyone. But they also wanted to be part of this and some of them have said they would provide the wood.”
KA Abdul Azeez with Binu at the latter’s furniture unit | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
It is not the first time that Azeez has extended a helping hand for the needy. Besides donating clothes to Mental Health Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, he took the initiative to provide 20 cots for bystanders at Regional Cancer Centre a few years ago. He was also active during tsunami relief work and had provided vegetables in bulk to relief camps in Alappuzha during the 2018 flood in Kerala.
“I always wanted to work in a hospital especially after seeing my mother suffering from tuberculosis. Once I finished the lab technician course, I joined government service. In my three-decade-long service I have seen misery and grief from close quarters. May be, that’s why I want to help people in whatever way I can.”
Azeez adds that his family — his wife, three children and their families — have been extremely supportive. “They understand the enormity of my decision and my daughter even asked me how I was going to fulfill my promise. I assured her that I would make it happen.”
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