It all came up in the winter of 2005, when Raquel Mason Palomeque (founder and Director) visited Bodhgaya, in the state of Bihar. On that trip he learned in depth the reality of rural India, the inequality between castes and the needs of the population, especially those of children.
In the village of Amwan, in the area where the Dalits or “untouchables” settle, Raquel met a sick child named Akshay. The little one was sad, helpless and surrounded by misery. Rachel was impressed, she looked for a doctor and she paid for the medicines, all this meant little more than one euro. Akshay regained vision and smile. Raquel realized that it was impossible to look the other way, that one had to act and understood that the only way to improve the living conditions of the little ones was through education in all its breadth, offering them an opportunity to become in worthy people.
She began to send financial aid to cover the first needs of school supplies and so in the summer of 2006 a small school in Amwan began to operate for these children.
In January 2007 the Akshy Association was registered and little by little more interested people were joining to contribute their droplet of water together to create what is now the Association Akshy. With the trust of sponsors, godmothers and collaborators, the team was little by little developing different programs.
Although the Association has grown and new projects have emerged, always the principles on which it was founded have not changed, making Akshy a human Association, direct and accessible for all those who want to be part of it.
In conformity with present legislation, AKSHY is an NGO registered on 21 of January 2007 as a nonlucrative Association in the National Register of Associations at the Spanish Home Office, number 588315, CIF V84965912, and recognized by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) having its seat in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Akshy respects the multiplicity of traditions, cultures and religions of India, as well as its spirituality and customs.