Many described the 10-day adventure in India as “life-changing” and are determined to repeat the experience in two years’ time.

HEAL founder Dr Koneru Prasad announced during the trip that a new coastal cycling route, from Mumbai to Goa, was being considered for the fourth Cycle India event.

After five days pedalling through the beautiful hills and backwaters of Kerala, the intrepid team of 23 cyclists from the UK, India and USA developed a strong bond and cameraderie, which has been reflected by a buzz on social network websites ever since.

Cycle India 2012, which is expected to raise more than £40k when all UK fund-raising is complete, was closely monitored in the Indian media along the way.

Since returning home, many of the cyclists have had more news of their exploits published on blogs and in the press, while much of the chat between the new-found friends on sites such as Facebook and Twitter has been all about the countdown to 2014.

“I am definitely keen to be part of Cycle India 2014,” says 38-year-old nurse, wife and mother-of-two Zoe Smith.

“What an amazing trip that was, honestly unlike any other trip I have ever had. The camaraderie was incredible, the people inspirational and the feeling of euphoria impossible to describe.

“My emotion after the big hill-climb on day three was incredible and made all the better by being able to share it with such wonderful people. It was amazing to step out of the ordinary to do something extraordinary.

“Looking back, I did nowhere near enough training but the team spirit, the feeling of doing something worthwhile and the inspiration of HEAL pulled me through.

“I now plan to sponsor a child in India and hope to see that child grow and flourish under the nurturing umbrella of HEAL. I’m already looking forward to visiting the Children’s Village in Guntur again.”

Grace Shephard, a 53-year-old PA, along with husband Adrian raised money for HEAL by holding Indian dinners at their home in Warminster, Wiltshire.

“Not until the cycle ride was over and we arrived in Andhra Pradesh did I feel the full impact of our challenge,” admitted Grace.

“We visited the site of Paradise Village, seeing the plans for the whole complex and witnessing the early stages of the school building rising from the ground with the unrelenting work from happy local workers.

“We also went to the Heal Village in Guntur where we were greeted by hundreds of beautiful children full of life and ambition, and made a brief visit to the slums where many of the HEAL children would still be breaking stone in the quarry if not for the charity.

“This experience was truly life-changing, full of every emotion. It made every push on the pedals and fund-raising event worth the time and effort a million times over. Bring on 2014 to see those children again!”

Husband Ady, a 54-year-old events manager, agreed, adding: “We were looking for a special holiday to mark our 20th wedding anniversary and we certainly found it!

“For me personally, the ride was transformative on many levels. It was a great team-building experience, with cameraderie and mutual affection between us from the word go. We Brits aren’t always as stuffy and cold as our reputation!

“What a wonderful adventure and what a feast for the senses – warmth, colours, countryside, vibrancy and great food!

“It was my first time in India. Receiving the garlanded welcomes from the children was humbling and it all came as a big jolt to my moral compass. I’ll just say that I’m not quite the same as I used to be since the ride.”

Ann Cripps, who prepared for Cycle India by biking in the Yorkshire Dales near her home, is another planning another fund-raising trip in two years’ time.

“What will remain with me a long time is the visit to the HEAL Village – turning the corner and seeing all the children waiting to greet us was overwhelming and then being shown around so spontaneously by different children and realising the warmth and closeness of their life together.

“It was a magical couple of days that I feel privileged to have shared. Needless to say I plan to return in 2014 and my sister is keen to come as well!”

Led by Heal founder Dr Satya Prasad, 23 cyclists from England, Scotland, Wales, India and the USA pedalled 280kms in five days through the plains, hills and backwaters of Kerala, south of Mumbai, mostly in temperatures in the low 30s Centigrade.

During their 10-day trip the group also visited schools, a hospital and Heal projects, including the Children’s Village in Guntur and the ambitious new Paradise Village site in Andhra Pradesh.

Along the way they received welcome donations from local businesses, with most of the funds raised going towards new buildings at the Paradise project, which will become home to 1,000 orphaned, abandoned and needy children.

Heal’s head of fundraising in the UK, Matthew Glover, gave the event a big thumbs-up and said that organisers Kalypso Adventures had already been retained as partners for Cycle India 2014.

“Our first Cycle India in 2008 was a great success and we built upon that two years later, but 2012 was the best Cycle India yet and that was thanks in large part to Kalypso who did a great job,” he said.

It was also revealed by Dr Prasad during the trip that plans are afoot for a new biannual Cycle India event for Indian participants to run on alternative years, while plans are already in the pipeline for the UK to host its own Lands End to John O’Groats ride later this year.

The cyclists were warmly welcomed throughout the duration of the challenge from Kochi to Kumarakom and took every opportunity to interact with local children at towns, villages and schools along the way.

But nothing could prepare them for the tumultuous greeting they received at the Heal Children’s Village where hundreds waited in hot sun to celebrate their arrival before entertaining their guests with a spectacular stage show filled with song, dance and colour.

Some members of the group were even able to meet face-to-face with the youngsters they sponsor at the village, while others, such as Cycle India first-timers Emily Young and Stephen Garrett, were moved to sponsor children for the first time.

Upon leaving Guntur, Stephen and fiance Emily were heading straight to Mumbai for their own traditional Indian wedding.

A number of the cyclists have already put their names forward for Cycle India 2014, with a route provisionally planned to run down the western coastline from Mumbai to the popular tourist destination of Goa.

Please sign up to the Heal newsletter to receive more Cycle India reports and stories and the latest fundraising news, as well as regular updates of progress from the Paradise Village project.

“I believe that education is the best tool to get out of poverty,” says Dr Prasad in the book, where he is featured under the section entitled Doctors Who Make A Difference.
Fittingly, he now finds himself part of the school curriculum in the latest of a series of books aimed at budding young scientists, mentioned alongside some of the greatest names in the history of medical science such as Marie Curie, Paul Ehrlich, Christiaan Barnard, Joseph Lister, Alexander Fleming and Louis Pasteur.
The book, written by Eve Hartman and Wendy Meshbesher, looks at scientists who have made major advances and affected the way we live – men and women, historical and modern, and from a range of cultures.
As the book explains, some of those featured are household names, some deserve much greater recognition and credit than they currently receive, and others have discovered and invented ground-breaking medical treatments.

Dr Prasad is pictured with some of the children from the Heal Village in Guntur under a description of how, 20 years ago, the charity was formed when he donated his family’s house in India to be a home for orphaned children.
Published by Raintree, the 48-page book also focuses on many aspects of medical science, including new drugs, vaccines, surgery, public health, sports medicine and the future of medicine.

ACS raised thousands of pounds for Heal last year after agreeing to sponsor new computer labs at the new Paradise Village project in Thotapally, Andhra Pradesh.

Chariman Chris Leach, who formed ACS in his basement in 1990 and has turned it into a global company spanning five continents with revenue in excess of US$450m, and Tina, company secretary and treasurer, were due to visit Mumbai where ACS were opening a new office.

While in India, they decided to take the opportunity to visit the Heal Children’s Village in Guntur to see how their donations would help – and were genuinely overwhelmed by what they found.

Tina takes up the story: “I head up the ACS charity committee and each year we ask staff to help us choose three charities to support – one international, one national and one local.

“However, last year, the committee decided to choose one charity themselves which would be more ‘hands-on’, something staff could get involved with personally if they wished.

“I found Heal after doing an initial internet search for ‘sponsor a child’. It seemed to tick all the boxes – for example, a sponsored cycle ride, the ability to volunteer and the chance to raise funds for an actual building in the new Paradise village. Thankfully, it captured everyone’s imagination.

“Chris and myself were then due to visit Mumbai as ACS are opening an office there. We decided to take the opportunity while we were in India to visit the Guntur Village to see what could be achieved and also see the new site for ourselves.

“I remember I was very concerned about bothering the people in charge there in order to show us around. We were therefore absolutely overwhelmed, astonished and extremely grateful for the reception we received.

“We were literally treated like royalty. We were initially very embarrassed, but once we realised what a special day it was for the children to receive visitors, that feeling soon subsided.

“We found the visit to the Guntur village and the school extremely interesting and moving. The basic layout for the Heal village was particularly inspiring with the housemother system.

“The children seemed genuinely loved and cared for and it was an absolute pleasure to talk to them and see their work and, more importantly, their smiling faces.

“Meeting the children had a real impact on both Chris and me and we will never forget the experience for the rest of our lives. Meeting children face to face who had experienced such hardship somehow brought the problem much much closer to home.

“The new site was very exciting also and the project manager there Steve, Doctor Prasad’s sister Lakshmi and another local benefactor, Dahna Prakash, described the vision for the new Heal Paradise Village.

“It truly was one which made sense, especially due to the plans for the children to learn vocational skills as well as academic subjects.

“We felt this would very much be needed to help build an infrastructure to support the rapidly expanding Indian economy. They explained that Dr Prasad also aimed for high standards of care and education, meaning that the project had exceptional goals.”

Last September ACS’s London staff took part in the Great River race which, thanks to ACS matching the monies raised, brought in over £6,000. Glorying in the name of ‘No Plane No Gain!’, the crew of 17 braved dreadful weather as they paddled a dragon boat 21 miles from Grenwich to Ham on the River Thames.

Not content with that, ACS’s European offices Christmas party, ‘The Aviator Ball’, raised an amazing £14,000.

“We decided, for the first time, to ask a few of our suppliers (airline operators) to sponsor a raffle prize at our staff Christmas party when we planned to hold a raffle for our three chosen charities,” said Tina.

“We did not expect very much, but they seemed to be so interested in Heal particularly and their support was very generous, enabling us to provide some magnificent prizes.”

But, inspired by what they saw in India, ACS, who employ more than 250 staff worldwide, have no intention of forgetting about the children they met in Andhra Pradesh.

“We very much hope that we can meet Dr Prasad one day soon to discuss further plans and will be continuing our support for Heal,” added Tina.

“We also look forward to visiting the site again to see the progress and bring back more photos for our staff to see.”

As ever, the children, who are always excited to have visitors, had prepared as special welcome for their guests.

The trip was a particularly emotional one for Jag, who was returning home to the place where he spent his childhood.

“We took our whole family, nine of them, for Christmas to India to see Jag’s family,” explained Celia, whose cycling skills are the stuff of legend to the 2010 Cycle India team.

“We went to see his school in Tenali and his Village, which is near Guntur. Our sons, both rising 40 years, had never been to India to see where Jag spent the first 27 years of his life.

“And we visited Heal Village where they gave us an overwhelming greeting. The children put on a Christmas nativity play which was marvellous and represented a lot of hard work by teachers and pupils.

“Our grandchildren were amazed at the children’s achievement.”

Please follow us on @healvillage so that you have updates on our progress at your fingertips.

Among the latest ‘tweets’ is a picture posted from Kanuru School in Vijayawada, a Heal-funded school, showing the children in their smart new uniforms.

There will also be future updates from the Heal Children’s Village in Guntur and from the site of the new Paradise Village project where a ceremonial Puja ritual will be held during November prior to the long-awaited commencement of building work.

The Puja is performed to bless the building and the project and has importance in ensuring its success.
Amanda Smith is currently in India to keep an eye on progress before taking up her new role as vice-principal of the Heal Paradise Village in Thotapally and is also spending time visiting with the children in Guntur.

She will be tweeting updates direct from India, and her Indian adventure can also be followed through her personal blog online at amandainindia.edublogs.org.

Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year in Andhra Pradesh and is widely celebrated by families, who perform traditional activities together in their homes.

Celebrations include decorating homes with lights, sharing sweets and gifts, as well as worship and religious rituals, but undoubtedly setting off festive fireworks is what the Heal children look forward to most of all!

The story behind Diwali and the manner of celebration varies from region to region, but the essence is the same – to rejoice in the awareness of the ‘inner light’, the uplifting of spiritual darkness and the celebration of the victory of good over evil.

In Andhra Pradesh, festivities start out at the crack of dawn and carry on well into the night. Most people make a trip to the local temple along with their families to seek the blessings of their respective gods before the night sky is lit up with a dazzling array of noisy fireworks.

The children of the Heal Village in Guntur may not have family homes where they can enjoy these celebrations, but there is nevertheless the feeling of great joy and excitement as their faces are lit up by sparklers under the watchful eye of their teachers and house mothers, safe in the knowledge that they are all part of the Heal extended family.

The improvements brought about not only by the dedication and hard work of the children, their teachers and house mothers, but through continued support from HEAL sponsors, are there for all to see.

No fewer than 16 senior children at the Village have recently won Polytechnic placements to engineering courses, double the number achieved last year, and four times the number in 2009!

Eleven of the placements were in electronics & communication, another in electrical & electronics engineering and two each in computers and mechanical engineering.

In addition to those 16, another 22 children successfully qualified in Intermediate, IT, nursing and other vocational courses, demonstrating the wide range of skills being developed.

These are just the latest positive results to come out of the school following excellent academic performances by the children in science, mathematics and languages, all of which pays tribute to the
educators within the Village.

Many pupils point to the 10th class as being a pivotal time in their lives and HEAL supporters can feel proud that no fewer than 38 children at the Village passed their 10th class examinations this year. And the message coming out of the Village is that it is the support of HEAL and its generous sponsors which inspires the school to set, and continually achieve, higher and higher goals. A growing number of children in HEAL’s care are now going on to become promising young students, some entering further education to help secure their future.

Teachers within the Children’s Village school assess those pupils who they believe are capable of going on to successfully further their education. And through its further education budget, HEAL is committed to helping these bright young adults, who it is hoped will be able to not only go on to achieve their ambitions in life, but to one day be able to put something back into their local communities. This is vitally important for the future development of the region and is seen as an important and expanding area of the charity’s work in Andhra Pradesh.

In addition to HEAL residential and poverty trap sponsors, we are therefore seeking vital financial backing for these higher education students. For £48 per month, it is possible to sponsor a student’s
education for between one and three years at a higher educational facility.

It is crucial that the children who grow up in the HEAL Village are not forgotten once they head out into the world. They need our support more than ever at a time when they are just beginning
to engage successfully with the future. HEAL aims to gradually increase its funding for those leaving the school to ensure these children can go on to fulfill their true potential.

An exciting news to share with! Today the 10th results are announced. CENT percent! All the 36 children have passed the exam.

Makkena Swetha who has been with us since her early childhood got 92% and stands 1st in the school.

Yasaswini got 100% in Mathematics and 5 more children 99%.

The top mark in Telugu is 94%,
Hindi – 92%,
English – 86%,
Science – 96%
Social – 96%.

The least is the 1st class i.e. 60%.

A couple of days back the results of Polytechnic entrance are announced. 28 children got qualified. All the Children, Teachers and House mothers worked so hard day and night to achieve this. Our grateful thanks to HEAL and specially to you for inspiring all of us to reach the set goal.

Having worked over previous months with my colleagues at PLMR to support HEAL UK gain local Peterborough press coverage for its latest fundraising efforts and to launch the new Paradise Village initiative, I was very excited about seeing it all in action. Gabriella, having recently completed a Masters Degree in Human Rights at the University of London, was also keen to visit the project – sharing a deep passion for supporting projects that improve the health and education of children from deprived backgrounds abroad.

From the moment we arrived we were struck by HEAL’s caring and loving atmosphere, and how welcoming and happy all the children and staff were to see us. Throughout our visit, Gabbi and I were continually overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of our hosts – an ethos which clearly emanates from the core of HEAL’s approach as an entirely volunteer-run charity.

The first activity that we had the pleasure of experiencing was an aerobics and dance session, led by Ann Garrett, HEAL UK’s Sponsorship Secretary. Alongside 200 beautifully dressed women in sarees, who had come to HEAL from surrounding local villages to learn grassroots skills to take back to their communities (including maternal and infant healthcare, hygiene and basic education), we all embarrassed ourselves doing squats and star-jumps in time to the music – causing much amusement. The class soon turned into a massive dance session with all the children, who energetically taught us a few traditional and Bollywood-style dance moves – skills that we could never pull off with quite so much style!

Over the next few days, between more dance classes and being fed absolutely delicious South Indian food, Gabbi and I also managed to spend time singing and playing with the children, visiting the local town and going on a tour of some beautiful Hindu and Buddhist temples and shrines in the region. We were delighted to meet so many members of the HEAL team during our stay, including CEO Mrs Laxmi Tatineni, HEAL India Sponsorship Secretary Mrs O Vijayalaxmi, Mr Dhana Prakash, Managing Director of Model Dairy and major benefactor of the new Paradise Village, and Varma, on-site HEAL coordinator. Everyone was endlessly generous and hospitable – we ran out of ways to say thank you.

One memory that will always stay with us was the experience of watching Dr N Manga Devi, General Secretary and HEAL visionary, reading a bedtime story one evening to 15 absolutely captivated children. Her compassionate approach was deeply inspiring and a wider reflection of the loving environment that the HEAL children are surrounded by every day, and which they clearly absorb. Never was this more apparent than at the moment of our leaving, when many of the young girls tried to give us the little jewellery they owned. We were so moved by their generosity and made to feel very hopeful for their futures, which, through the atmosphere HEAL has created, will certainly be bright.

Gabbi and I are excited about jointly sponsoring a ‘Poverty Trap’ child through their education over the coming months and years.

February 2011
Rebecca Newsom
Account Executive, PLMR