Some more good news from the Heal Village which give an idea of the activities our children are involved with at school.
Firstly, a Heal Village team won the State Level karate tournament and demonstrates the hard work they have been putting in.
Also, two of our children were winners in a painting competition held on the occasion of World Water Day with the topic ‘Water For Life’.
Hamanth:
Venkata Rao:
Well done children!
The new academic year started for us after the summer break.
The summer was very severe with the temperatures rising to almost 45 Celsius and when the rains came in the last week of June we heaved a sigh of relief!
In India the rains are special. They come after scorching heat and bring cool showers. We love to run out to play in the rain and get thoroughly wet!
But first of all the news about the tenth class students who passed High school in first class! Fourteen of them joined Junior College. So this year there are 35 Heal Children who are studying different courses in the local colleges.
We had a lovely surprise when Dr. Sathya Prasad the founder of Heal UK, Carl Brodie, the chairman and Matthew, one of the Directors visited us in June. We spent two delightful days with them.
They are organizing a tour Cycle India which is a unique opportunity to cycle 220 miles from Hyderabad to Guntur to raise funds to build schools for poor children, from 2nd January to 11 January
We are eagerly waiting to receive 25 of these brave cyclists from UK who promised to spend at least three days with us!
We are sending you some of the news clips covering their visit
An Old Age Home was built by Dr. Manga Devi, Secretary to Heal India with the concept that the young and the old living together find solace in each other’s company.
Dr. Sathya Prasad, Carl Brodie and Mathew inaugurated the Old Age Home.
A medical camp was conducted when Heal UK Directors were visiting Heal village.
We are signing off for the present.
We will have even more exciting things to talk about in the next news letter since a number of volunteers from UK are visiting us at various times the next six months!
Bye!
Children from Heal Village
Archive 2006
VACCINATION CAMP AT HEAL
We come to India every year for our summer vacation. This year we wanted to do something for the needy instead of spending our time enjoying with our family and having fun. To do this voluntary work we needed some kind of base, i.e. an orphanage, old age home, schools for the disabled, etc.
Srikirti then came into contact with Dr. Satya Prasad, a U.K. based doctor – the founder of HEAL (Health and Education for All). Hence we came together as a group of five, consisting of – Srikirti (As level), Prathyusha (A2), Komal (10th grade in U.S.), Abhishikth (6th grade U.K.) and Monica (B. Pharmacy 1st year Madras).
Initially we thought of volunteering in HEAL for two weeks, i.e. helping the children and management there in their day to day activities. Then as we thought about the idea, we felt that instead of lending a temporary helping hand for two weeks we wished to make a lasting impression that would help the orphans’ lives on a long-term basis.
Whilst in a train to Imperial College London, Prathyusha who does a lot of fund raising activities had the idea of raising funds for a vaccination camp for the orphans.
The five decided to implement this idea. Pratyusha and Komal went to a vaccination camp in Tadepalli Goodem (in India), which gave them an insight as to how these camps are run. Prathyusha’s mother, Dr. Madhavi a U.K. based paediatrician suggested that we give MMR vaccination to all HEAL children. The advantage of this vaccination is:
• it is a preventive measure for three deadly diseases – Measles, Mumps and Rubella
• it can be given to all age groups
• Rubella vaccine is especially important to females at the time of pregnancy as it will protect their offsprings from deformities.
To fund this project we had to raise some money. We then made an estimation of Rs.20000 which would cover the costs of vaccinations for 183 orphans. Instead of asking our parents and relatives for financial help we felt it would be a new experience if we put our effort to raise that money ourselves. Within a week we managed to collect Rs. 4000 more than our initial target making a grand total of Rs. 24000. The fundraising activity was an extraordinary experience of its own. While collecting we met people with different views towards fund raising. We were surprised when a student emptied his wallet and were startled when an auto driver had something to offer.
Then we went to HEAL to have a look and plan every thing for the camp. We were very much impressed by the hospitality we received from Mrs. Marudvathi, the headmistress of Chetana and her team. Then our ideas started to evolve. We decided to make a health database for the orphans, as this would be very useful for records and future use.
Instead of just giving the vaccination we felt that it would be useful to educate the children in HEAL and Sri Venkateswara Balakuteer about vaccinations and MMR. So we gave a Power point presentation talking about the uses of vaccinations and the risks. We planned to have the vaccination camp on Thursday 10th of August from 9a.m to 1p.m with a team of doctors lead by Dr. Madhavi, Dr. Nagesh (parents of Prathyusha and Abhishikth), Dr. Shiva Prasad (from Katuri medical college), Dr. Srikanth, Dr. Vikram and nurses.
We give our sincere thanks to Ms. Manga Devi the director of HEAL for giving us this opportunity and Mrs K. Sita (mother of Srikirti) for doing the ground work.
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this.
Prathyusha
Srikirti
Komal
Monica
Dr. Madhavi
Mrs. Sita
Abhishikh
Report on the boys hostel opening ceremony by Kathleen Bardell Director/Secretary HEAL UK
The Boys Hostel, our latest project was completed in December 2005.
Opening Ceremony Saturday 3rd December 2005
This was a great opportunity for me to visit the Village, a dream that I had held for many years.
Together with Dr Prasad and two more Directors of HEAL UK we flew out from Heathrow Airport on the 1st December 2005, eventually arriving in Guntur on Saturday the 3rd December early in the morning following an extremely long train journey from Bangalore to Guntur.
Waiting to greet us on the platform in Guntur were Dr Manga Devi HEAL India Secretary, Vijayalakshmi Sponsor Secretary, Marudhwathi, Co-ordinating Officer and a few of the young girls from the village, looking beautiful in their colourful saris. It was a wonderful welcome and soon we were on our way to the Village.
Having never been to India before it was an amazing experience for me, heat and dust everywhere, I found the traffic quite frightening but had every confidence in our driver on the 15 kilms. drive to the village.
Andhra Pradesh is a vast State, tucked away in 3 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, with magnificent trees and an abundance of flowers, is The Children’s Village. I can only describe as “a little bit of heaven.”
Making a tour of the grounds and the cottages, meeting all the children, housemothers, teachers, and staff took up quite some time. I was overwhelmed with the kindness of everyone; eventually making our way to the newly built Boy’s Hostel which will house at least 50 boys.
A team of drummers and a brass band, young Army Cadets (made up from the children from the School) lined the route for this special occasion, giving it a carnival atmosphere; nothing had been spared to make this a memorable day…
The official Opening of the Boy’s Hostel took place, Dr Manga Devi gave a warm welcome to the Directors of HEAL UK and invited Dr K S Prasad, Matthew Glover and myself to unveil the Plaque.
The Hostel which was quite impressive, two rooms on the first floor complete with beds, lockers etc. ready to receive the new visitors.
After a short respite for a welcome fresh fruit drink we progressed to the arena and stage for the official welcome to us by Manga Devi and her team of Directors. The children then entertained us with dancing, a Karate demonstrations, singing and readings.
It truly was a delightful day, very moving to actually be with these children who all looked so well and happy and certainly very well cared for. One just had to look at the faces of the children – it said it all.
I felt as though I had come full circle…
Twenty five years ago I met Dr Prasad when he first came to Practice in Peterborough, England, where he used to tell me about this “dream” he had of building a village somewhere in India to make a home for destitute children. As a founder member of HEAL, I feel very privileged to be part of this dream, which is now a blue print for perhaps more villages to be built in the future
This is a credit to Dr Prasad, Manga Devi and all who look after their welfare and all the supporters and sponsors everywhere, without whom, these children would have no future.
Kathleen Bardell Director/Secretary HEAL UK
Archive 2005
These children all grew up in the HEAL Village in Guntur, India, finished High School and are now in College.
Something to be proud of!
Their names are:
Bhavani
Thurlapati Suneetha
Radhika
Gopi
Bhukya Bujji
Rama
Haritha
Archive 2005
Kolli Rajyalakshmi, an orphan was admitted to HEAL in 1993.
She and her sister both grew up here in the Village. She finished High School but did not show any interest in continuing her studies.
She was given odd jobs to do in Chethana but councillors were wondering how to settle her. Luckily one boy who joined as a physical education teacher in Chethana was willing to marry her and her marriage took place on the 18th February 2005.
Arranging a marriage to an orphan is not very easy, the councillor did a commendable job with all the arrangements.
As an orphan there would be no marriage dowry but the parents of the boy were very understanding and did not demand any dowry
The couple will be settled in in a new home and we wish them the Very Best of Good Wishes for the future.
Dr K S Prasad, Usha and Manga Devi have agreed to finance the wedding for which we are all very grateful.
Archive 2003
Letter from Vijaya to Abbott Hall School
Hello!
Greetings from HEAL India!
I am Vijaya, sponsorship Secretary of HEAL in India. I write to the sponsors sending them reports about the children they are sponsoring.
Last Saturday I went to HEAL Village and took some photos of the boys learning to play on the keyboard instruments. I am sending them to you. You donated the amount with which we bought the instruments! The boys are enjoying themselves learning the notes. Thank you very much.
We went through a severe summer this year. The temperature rose to 49 celsius! Can you imagine it? The children in HEAL were able to have cool water to drink thanks to the water cooler which we bought with the money donated by you!
The children in HEAL come from families which are very poor. Most of them have no parents. Some of the circumstances in which they come to Heal are very tragic. Recently three girls, the eldest one is hardly ten years old joined Heal. Their father, a farm hand died after eating food contaminated by some pesticide which he was spraying in a field an hour earlier. The mother also died last year while working in the fields due to snakebite. The girls were left orphaned and some of the villagers took pity on them and brought them to HEAL.
Now the girls are secure and go to school. There are many such tragic stories in HEAL but I don’t want you to feel sad. Heal children are proof of the fact that there is always hope – even in the worst circumstances.
You children are doing wonderful work. Thank you once again.
Have a wonderful Harvest Festival!
Vijaya
November 2003
Preparation
Having visited India in 2001 I was so impressed with such a vibrant and culturally varied country that I was keen to do some voluntary work there. Most of the projects that were available were either politically/ religiously affiliated or charged huge administration expenses, where the money would never reach those who need it most. I heard about HEAL through some friends at Oxford (Manu and Hiten).
The project appealed to me straight away because it was a completely voluntary project which genuinely seemed to have the childrens’ interests at heart. We immediately started getting a group together including my sister, and friends of Manu and Hiten. We had a few meetings before our trip to brainstorm ideas, what each of us would need to bring etc. Although most of us didn’t know most of the others in the group, by the time we had left for India, we had all spoken to each other. I can honestly say that the 6 of us got along very well and worked well together, since we all had the same objective-to spend quality time with the children at HEAL (not forgetting to have some fun too!)
Arrival in India
A few initial visits to the orphanage helped us to decide what equipment would be needed, how much time we would have with the children and hence what activities would be most appropriate. It also gave us an idea as to where we would be staying for the next 6 weeks. I was really not sure what to expect but I, for one, was pleasantly surprised. The Village is set in very idyllic surroundings. It is well looked after (covered with Mange Devi auntie’s wonderful plants) and is surrounded by mountains, which makes the whole environment very calm and relaxing. It is like a sanctuary!!
A few early morning jogs gave us some beautiful views of the area too! The first thing that struck me was how well the children were looked after-the housemothers and other staff were very caring and treated everyone with the same love and respect. The children were very friendly and had a lot respect for everything and everyone around them. They were always smiling which made the whole experience so much more pleasant. Everyone was so welcoming, refusing to let us do any chores and constantly feeding us with delicious food. We could not have asked for a better welcome!
Working at the HEAL Village
We were able to spend time with the children between school and dinner time, as well as on weekends. We split activities up into music & drama, literacy games and sports. We also thought it would be easier to split up the children according to age. This made the task a bit more manageable because all the children seemed to have an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm! Deepti and I took charge of the music and drama.
The children absolutely loved musical chairs. During these activities was when the children came out of their shell and were at their most confident. They would always ask lots of questions about England, as we would about Hyderabad. The elder girls learned a Justin Timberlake routine and Steps was another favourite too! At the same time, we also managed to learn some Telegu dancing, which the girls were very eager to teach us. The sports also proved popular, including rounders and badminton.
It was good to see so many of them getting the hang of frisby too! It became obvious to us that each child had a special talent in something or other. Therefore, we planned a Cultural show for the last week of our visit in order to end on a memorable note and to give the children the chance to display their talent. The actual day was excellent and for me, could not have turned out better. There were initial worries about the weather but the sun came out just as we started the show.
All the children were very excited and all had big smiles on their faces as they finished performing! Performances included Telegu dancing and singing, the Justin Timberlake routine, a ‘comedy’ version of Cyclops, a dance from Lagaan which we choreographed (till the early hours of the morning!) and a hit from one of the summer’s biggest Tollywood film-Johnny. They had worked very hard for this show and were very dedicated. No show would be complete without some dancing and we ended with a disco, making the most of the Village’s new sound system. Everyone, from the teachers and the children, to the house mums, danced to all sorts including Lagaan, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake.
Leaving the HEAL Village / Afterthoughts
The few weeks we spent at the HEAL Village were absolutely amazing. It went so quickly and towards the end I had started realising how much I would miss everyone. The children were so friendly and warm (they had started calling us aka and ana – sister and brother). I felt I had so much to learn from them, the way they enjoyed life, whatever it threw at them. They always had a smile on their face.
They are very brave children, considering what some of them had been through. I was glad that we were able to spend time with the children in such a way that they were able to open up and just be themselves around us. They joked around, played pranks on us-it felt like we were all the same age! Parting was very emotional and the few days after leaving the Village were very sad. I came away thinking how great it is to see so many people working to make HEAL such a caring and inviting place.
Recommendations
Is there anything I would change for next time? Exercises that help to improve the children’s self confidence are very useful-encouraging them to have an opinion and to think about how they feel, how they act. Planning the free time you have with the children is important because otherwise the kids have so much energy that you will find that the whole 2 hours you had with them was spent running around the field playing chase! As fun as that is, games that make them think and improve their language skills will also help to improve self-confidence.
But the most important thing is to just get to know them and have fun with them. That will be easy, by just spending time with them.
Archive from 2002
Water Cooler is Installed After Money is Raised
Water Cooler was Installed this year thanks to the efforts of Abbotts Primary School.
During the Autumn of last year, children from Abbots Hall Primary School, Stowmarket, Suffolk, raised a tidy sum of £175.00 for the purchase of a Water Cooler for the Children’s Village. To exhibit their involvement with HEAL, the pupils displayed within the school the latest photographs of the children and the Village. We would like to extend our thanks to all those who took part and gave.
Archive from 2002
Report by Mrs Vijayalakshmi
Sponsorship Secretary HEAL India
Ladies and gentlemen,
I bring you greetings from India on behalf of Dr Manga Devi, Secretary, HEAL India, all members of the executive committee, and especially from the children of HEAL Village.
“It is said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.”
Ten years ago, the history of HEAL started with one inspired thought….in the mind of a young man, Dr Satya Prasad, a native of Guntur, who had settled in England as a Doctor. Satya Prasad always possessed a zeal to do something for the disadvantaged children in society. He specially wanted to be of help to the orphaned children by providing them, with two basic facilities…. namely, Health and Education.
The first step was to find a home to give shelter to the helpless children. What better place than to house them in his own place in Guntur!! He turned his house into the orphanage. It was a noble gesture and a good start for HEAL charity.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”
” A time to every purpose”….that time seemed to have come when Dr Satya Prasad met his good friend Dr Manga Devi who was at that moment making plans to start an orphanage. She had already set up a free school for the children of stonecutters in a place called Chetana. There was an instant agreement between the two to construct cottages close to Chethana, because of the availability of land and its close proximity to the school, for the children of HEAL charity.
Today, HEAL Children’s Village stands witness to the steady pursuit of the goal of giving succour to needy children, by two inspired persons – Dr Satya Prasad and Dr Manga Devi.
There is also a team of dedicated persons in HEAL India.
Mrs Jayasri the principal of Bala Kuteer has been with HEAL ever since it was started. Simple and unassuming and a silent worker, she is entirely devoted to HEAL.
The senior House Mother, Padma, has been with HEAL since the day it was started. She lives with the children and is totally involved with there welfare.
Mrs Marudhwathi is the Administrative Officer in Chatena supervising all aspects of the workaday routine in HEAL Village.
Children who are orphans or who come from broken homes tend to have frequent bouts of depression but they are too young to understand their feelings. Their vague fears dominate all their reactions.
We have two counsellors, Padmaja and Annamani, who try to soothe their agitated minds at such times. Even the teachers in the school, Bala Kuteer, keep an eye on HEAL children and give them counselling at all times.
There are many people involved in the running of HEAL who are totally dedicated – asking for little or nothing in return.
Dr Manga Devi and I were in University together but we worked in different fields and didn’t come across each other for quite a number of years. It was only after my retirement in 1999 that I renewed my contact with Dr Manga Devi.She took me to Chetana once. I was enchanted by what I saw, and very happily agreed to help if there was any need.
In the beginning, I was going occasionally to visit HEAL and spending some time with the children, But the children have a way of stealing your heart just by being themselves!! They will give shy smiles, stand close, wave their hands when you come away and very soon you are hooked! You want to do something for them
Dr Satya Prasad visited HEAL in December 1999. He explained the necessity to set up a regular office, to send information to the U.K., be it to the general Secretary or the sponsors, and also to keep records of the bios of the children and update them at regular intervals.
Raina Parmar visited us and was a great help in setting up things right in the office
It is my good fortune to have come to know lovable people through my involvement with HEAL. Kath Bardell and I have worked out a comfortable working relationship. She is very patient with me while asking for information telling me gently what has to be done. OI feel no pressure.
My greatest happiness is corresponding with the sponsors. They form a vital group whose generosity breathes life into the whole organisation, specially the care of the children. Living thousands of miles away from Guntur, not satisfied merely with paying for the sponsorship amount, the manner in which they show their affection for the children never ceases to amaze me. They want to establish a close contact with their wards, writing letters, sending photos of their family members and some gifts too, though we in Guntur insist that they should be small inexpensive things.
I must make special mention of Abbotts Hall Primary School in Stowmarket, Suffolk, who donated a handsome amount with which we bought a Water Cooler a dire necessity in a hot place like Guntur. While I was coming away HEAL children told me that I should thank them again on their behalf.
The Scottish Group of HEAL organisation donated a princely sum with which we bought games equipment exclusively for the use of HEAL children.
The Sunday school based in Burton Latimer, Northants, and controlled by a parochial council, sponsored a little boy in HEAL. All the children in the Sunday school wrote sweet letters to our children in HEAL Village. We also received a book of such letters from the children of Abbotts Hall Primary School, much earlier, and our children reciprocated by sending them letters about themselves.
I have added an Annexure to this presentation on the achievements of some of our children. I am sure you would be interested to go through it. It gives an idea how a little bit of kindness can do so much good in this world.
Finally let me express my happiness in sharing this moment with you, participating in the 10th Anniversary of HEAL.
May the Almighty bless this organisation so that it would continue to grow, and help more children in the years to come!
Viyayalakshmi
Director of Sponsorship HEAL (India)