The cots that will be used in Wayanad are currently being made in a furniture unit owned by KA Abdul Azeez (left) at Pathanapuram in Kollam.
Villages were washed away by the landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad, which has since caused massive deaths. The people of this area have been receiving assistance and donations from well-wishers around the world.
Amongst them is 70-year-old KA Abdul Azeez who used to work for the government and hails from Pathanapuram within Kollam district. He has decided to spend part of his savings on 100 beds that will go to the houses meant for those who have lost everything they had.
While attending a felicitation meeting organized by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) held in Thiruvananthapuram, he said, “This is my contribution.”
Azeez did not buy the cots from one of the shops but rather went to a furniture unit close to his home. “We know him for years and when he shared this thought with us we all agreed with him. It’s such a large-hearted initiative and this is our way of contributing towards it. The work has begun and it would take less than two months for the beds to be ready,” says Brijith KV or Binu as people call him, who heads up the furniture unit mentioned above.
The cost of making one cot (6*4 feet) is about ₹8 500 including labour charges. Acacia wood is commonly used while there are six laborers working on them.
Azeez retired from Department of Health ten years ago and he says that giving away these cots was just an impulse decision. “Assistance comes from different sides and I too wanted to do something helpful. When Rahul Gandhi promised that constructed 100 houses in Wayanad I felt like providing them with cots. I needed to buy anything and that is why I called Binu.”
They wait for new houses to be constructed before the cots are transported there. “After a few news channels and online media published this, someone from Saudi Arabia called me and said that his trucks would transport the beds to Wayanad free of charge. Before we move the cots, we will go there to know how many families actually need them,” he explains.
Azeez revealed that his gesture saw some of his neighbours as well as friends come up to offer support. “I did not ask anybody for help because they too wanted to join the event and some told me they are going furnish it with woods.”
This is not the first time Azeez has reached out to those in need; he donated clothes at the Mental Health Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, and also 20 cots for bystanders at Regional Cancer Centre a few years ago. He was also involved in providing vegetables during tsunami relief work and bulk supplies of relief materials across Alappuzha during Kerala floods of 2018.
“Since my mother suffered from tuberculosis, I always craved to work at a hospital. The moment I completed my lab technician training, I joined the civil service. In my thirty years of public service, I have witnessed suffering and misfortune firsthand; hence maybe I just want to help people in any way possible.”
Besides that, Azeez says his relatives (wife with three grown up children) have been quite supportive. “They understand what it means for me when I say ‘I will do it’ – even my daughter asked me how I would do this. Well, she and the rest of them can be sure that it is going to happen.”
