THE TIMES OF INDIA
Published On: February 23, 2014
MADURAI: When 11-year-old N Archana was asked to help someone as part of her after-school activity, she chose to help Periyandi, an elderly woman neighbour. What started as an occasional activity in November involving a neighbour, turned out to be a regular affair with more elderly woman coming to her fold. On Saturday, the resident of Idayapatti was honoured with the Hope Hero Award for 2013 at a function held here.
B Yadeesh, trustee of the Tripura Foundation which has picked up Archana for the award, said she had won the maximum number of votes in an online poll conducted among its donors in December 2013. Archana was chosen from among three children nominated for their inspiring acts of kindness within their communities, he said.
Archana attends the after-school activity centre run by the Tripura Foundation. The volunteers at its Hope Centres were asked to do a compassionate act last Diwali. Archana suggested Periyandi’s name for offering sweet and dress. “After that, she started helping regularly elderly woman who is said to be even 100 years old,” Yadeesh said.
“Periyandi was old and helpless without anyone to take care of her. So I started helping her,” Archana said. She fetches coffee and breakfast to the centenarian before she leaves for school. Once she returns, she gets her tea and tiffin prepared at her home. Her father Nagaraj is a catering worker in Palani, while her mother is labourer.
Archana is a class 6 student at the Panchayat Union School in Idayapatti. “My mother and granny support me in the charity work,” the little girl said. She plans to buy some gifts for Periyandi using the cash received as part of the award.
“We wanted to honour her as hers will be an inspiring story for many children,” Yadeesh noted.
Ten visitors from Singapore who attended the award function lauded the awardees and the work of Tripura Foundation. They had come down here to learn about the Hope Centres run by it. The Foundation runs 90 centres across the country.
