September – a month dedicated to fight against hunger crisis is also known as
‘Hunger Action Month.’ All September long, Akshaya Patra runs an annual campaign
focusing on awareness and encouraging people to end classroom hunger
by donating mid-day meals for children in India.

Life can’t be full on an empty stomach! This Hunger Action Month, we wish that all children in India could have a fulfilling life – studying, playing, and enjoying healthy meals with their friends at school.

Let’s hear from Jinal, a Standard III student from Ambaypura Primary School, Pratapura, Gujarat and one of the Akshaya Patra beneficiaries, to know how one mid-day meal on every school day helps her to pursue education and strengthens her aspiration to become a teacher.

Little Jinal is a lively girl who always has the brightest smile on her face. It’s difficult for one to know that Jinal lost her parents and is staying with 2 younger siblings at their extended family. Facing obstacles at such a young age, Jinal still tries her best at school and is inspired to become a teacher in the future. Every day, Jinal enjoys Akshaya Patra’s school lunch with her friends. She especially likes rice and dal a lot! This wholesome mid-day meal is the only one she has and it motivates Jinal to study and continue to work towards making her dream come true.

Akshaya Patra’s efforts:
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an Indian NGO based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The NGO has been the implementing partner of the Government of India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme since 2000. It provides free, nutritious, wholesome mid-day meals to schoolchildren. Present in 12 states of India, The Akshaya Patra Foundation feeds 1.76 million children in 16,788 Government and Government-aided schools on every school day.

We understand that with an empty stomach, children cannot concentrate on their studies and school activities, which hinders their ability to learn, grow, and develop. Thus, every September Akshaya Patra holds its annual Hunger Action Month campaign to raise awareness and encourage participation of the society to help eliminate classroom hunger.

You can help us:
You can help millions of children like Jinal from challenging backgrounds to follow their dreams by sponsoring their mid-day meals in the Hunger Action Month. One wholesome and freshly-cooked meal can provide children with nutrition and energy to study and take part in school activities. Parents will also be more confident to send their children to schools.

Your donations will not only fill children’s plate but also their hopes and dreams

Akshaya Patra believes that exploring is a significant part of college education, and internships are a great way for students to get hands on experience of the field they are interested in. Keeping this in view, we encourage internship for students from across the globe. In addition to coaching interns in a particular field, Akshaya Patra, a charity for children focuses on enhancing their skills in communication and teamwork too.

The end of June also marked the end of Akshaya Patra’s internship programme for the students from Hong Kong University. This sequel – Part 2 is about a lively young girl named Chau. Here is how she narrates her experience.

My internship at The Akshaya Patra Foundation
“Two-and-a-half-week is such a short time to do something” was my worry on the first day interning for the Digital Marketing Team at The Akshaya Patra Foundation. Little had I known about the learning opportunities, the joy, the meaningful conversations, and the unforgettable memories waiting for me ahead. When it’s about time for me to leave, I realise that we learn more from an experience because of the process we’ve been through, the people we’ve met and worked with, the knowledge we’ve gathered, and the feelings and emotions we’ve experienced along the way.

My internship with Akshaya Patra, a non-profit organisation had been in the field of ‘Communications,’ with the focus on creating and improving the overall content for web pages and campaigns. Since this was my first experience to work in the area of online marketing and communication, I was quite worried at the beginning. However, my team mates and I were encouraged to learn, try, improve, and create our work by two dedicated supervisors. For every task given, not only did they provide us with clear and detailed instruction but also willingly listened to our opinions, gave us spaces to be creative, and provided their support when we needed.

My tasks involved writing blogs and benchmark research, both of which I had no previous experience. Yet through blogging, I learned so much about organising my ideas and how to put them down into words to deliver my thoughts to communicate with the readers. During the benchmark research, to my surprise was how our supervisors were very welcoming and listening to our comments, thoughts, and opinions. I know that what we have done is no more than just a helping hand, but the appreciation we received is such an encouragement for us.

Besides working in the Central Office, I also had opportunities to see one of the Akshaya Patra kitchens in Bengaluru and visit two beneficiary schools. These opportunities are those that touched my heart and left me with delightful memories of my time with Akshaya Patra.

It was an early morning visit to the kitchen where we learnt about the food processing and cooking. We saw how everything was carefully prepared since 4:30 a.m. and the dedication of all the workers in the kitchen to make sure that wholesome, nutritious meals are provided to students on time every school day. Our kitchen visit was followed by a school visit. It was the sound of the bell ringing during lunch time, and the children ran out of the classrooms to line up in the meal serving area, waiting for the warm, freshly prepared meals by Akshaya Patra that not only fills their empty stomach for a productive afternoon class but also their dreams in the future. The conversation that we had with the students about their dreams and hopes, despite the fact that we don’t speak the same language had been very exciting. These vivid and unforgettable memories made my internship time even more meaningful. I am sure I will carry them all with me in the future.

I felt that time passed by really quick in the past 20 days. But I saw myself learning and growing from this opportunity. And more importantly, I have seen and now truly believe, that with the efforts, actions, and dedication, we can do much more than we can think of.