Jeevarathni – Our worries are “Little Ones"

Our worries are “Little Ones"

“Jeevarathni” was a simple woman. The majority of the people in this world are simple people without any claim to fame or fortune and so was Jeevarathni. Most loving and kind, Jeevarathni left such indelible marks on the lives of all those who she came in contact with. Wherever she went, she was always referred to as “Mummy” [Mother]. She always had the desire to give, but not being financially well off, she could give only what she had – Love, Affection and Care.

This Foundation is a tribute to all those simple people of the World who had lofty ideals, but went through life, totally unnoticed. Yet, they are the ones who have many times touched our lives, and made deep impressions. In memory of Jeevarathni and her ilk, this Foundation hopes to serve the needy, by offering what they crave for LOVE, AFFECTION and DIGNITY..

HISTORY

A few like minded individuals came together, people who wondered how they could “Give something back to Society“.

The idea took root on seeing children begging on the roads, most probably having been comman-deered by touts who handled them. The idea bloomed over a period of time, till it crystallised into a question of why not build a facility to help rehabilitate such helpless children.

The enormity of this decision hit us only later when we went down to see how we could legally help such children. However, instead of being discouraged, this motivated us to do our bit to give some-thing back to society. Jeevarathni Foundation was born and registered in February 2008, in Bangalore.

WHAT DRIVES US

The areas we desire to work on already have solutions & other similar groups have been working towards it. Our focus is on getting these solutions to the people who need them most, by going to where the root of the problem lies. We believe focused efforts can lead to amazing results. The challenges we face are great, but so are the opportunities to improve people’s lives.

OUR ACCOUNTABILITY

As an expression of our core values and commitment to the people we serve, and those who support us, we pursue the highest standards of accountability with regard to the management of our finan-cial and non-financial resources, programme quality and people.

We welcome anyone to see for themselves the quality of our programmes and campuses, and make their own judgements on our deliverables.

PHILOSOPHY

Most of us have received enough and more in this life time, and hence we wish to give something back. Driven by this philosophy, we decided to make a beginning by focusing on economically deprived children, who cannot afford the basic necessities in life.

Such children need to be given a holistic upbringing, encompassing love, affection, discipline, good education and the basic wherewithal to face life as an adult. Therefore the deprived children are our prime concerns.

MISSION

Our aim is to build an organisation over a period of time, which can effectively tackle the extreme suffering of underprivileged young children, and help them to grow up to be responsible and contributing citizens. We thought that this was a utopian task, but we did not let it deter us. Knowing that we needed to make a beginning somewhere, we began with a home for destitute children. And so was born our motto – Our Worries Are “Little Ones”. We also understand that long term changes in society are possible only if we engage the local communities, and therefore we work with them to bring about sustainable development by focussing on issues of Environment, Healthcare and Education.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

We believe that “to whom much is given, much is expected”. We benefited from good education, health care and great values. That is why we feel a tremendous responsibility to give back to society. Our guiding principles reflect the purpose and beliefs about the role of philanthropy and the impact that we want this foundation to have. These principles guide what we do, and why and how we do it.

While many of them are fundamental to the way we operate, we will remain open to amending them as grow and learn more about our work.

Our Team

KJ Samuel

He took premature retirement as a Lt Col from the Army in 1992, and is popularly known in avia-tion circles as Capt Sam. After a brief stint in civvy street, he launched a helicopter company in 1997, named Deccan Aviation, as a promoter. By 2004 the company had its presence in most parts of India with 14 helicopters. The same company, in 2003, launched its scheduled operations under the brand name of Air Dec-can, where he was the Executive Director who looked after all operations and maintenance. This was India’s first low Cost carrier without frills, which was a revolution in air travel. Seeing the pathetic condition of children in the slums of Bangalore, he registered Jeevarathni Foundation, an NGO, in 2008, to try and resurrect such economically deprived and psychologically harmed children. The Foundation received its first children in 2010, and currently looks after 43 such children. He was the Founding Trustee, but resigned in 2015 to allow younger blood to handle the Trust, but continues in an advisory capacity.

Vinod Mathews

Vinod Mathews, our managing trustee is the Director, Global Real Estate & Facilities, Amazon Asia, started with managing Amazon offices in India, when the footprint was 3MM sq ft. across 6 cities and 11 sites. Today he is responsible for office portfolio across Asia with over 13MM sq. ft spread over 14 countries, 50 cities and 95 sites.

Bhagya Rangachar

The Founder CEO of CLT India and President of the CLT International Foundation Inc. She lived in the U.S. and worked as a Software Professional for more than 15 years. Her academic background is in STEM. She has completed Social Impact Leadership Program – a Dasra and Harvard Cohort.

Meena Prochaska

Meena is a professional with years of experience in the Hospitality sector. She has worked in leading hotels starting her journey in India, followed by the middle East and finally the US. She has a love for children and hence gave up her career and joined Jeevarathni 10 years ago to look after the main campus and the children

Merly Cherian

Merly Cherian is a much travelled Army wife, who had the opportunity to view people of different cultures and languages at very close quarters. From the tribal belts of the North East to the Himalayas in the North West, she imbibed the flavor of India. A Montessori school teacher by profession, she is adept at handling children, and brings in rich experience that is needed in a venture like our Foundation. Blessed with a green thumb, Merly is an excellent Advisor for our Horticultural aspirations. As the Treasurer of the Trust, she brings in the required discipline and attitude

Mathew Cherian

Mathew Cherian is an MBA and has been with Titan Industries for the past 33 years han-dling different functions including international operations, Hong Kong office, and, Design functions with an emphasis on sustainable ideas. An avid reader, sportsperson and cyclist, he spends every spare minute working for many charitable Organizations, and Jeevarathni in particular. Mathew was instrumental in the formation of the Foundation, and works with Meena on a day to day basis to ensure that Jeevarathni functions smoothly. He is the go getter for Jeevarathni , and takes great effort to be with the children and guide them in their growing stages.

Jahanara Asim Ali

Jahanara Asim Ali is a graduate in Psychology and Education from Sophia college Mumbai. Having taken a break to raise her family, she is now keen to utilise her expertise in her field, to help raise the children of Jeevarathni and impart the necessary guidance to benefit the children.

Mary Madhura Rajaratnam

Mary MadhuraRajaratnam, was educated in various places across the country, following her bureaucrat father, and imbibed a wealth of culture from across India. She also gained scientific knowledge from her husband who was a senior scientist in ISRO. Mary is also passionate about arts and crafts, and has been a source of inspiration to the children

C. K. Babu

Wing Commander Babu is a veteran, who opted for pre-mature retirement from the Indian Air Force. He graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA) of India. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Bangalore based dWise Healthcare IT Solutions, a company that builds innovative IT Solutions and Platforms for global Healthcare Providers, that enable them to deliver safer and quality Healthcare. Babu is one of the founding Trustees of our foundation.