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Archive for the ‘Heal Paradise Village’ Category

Child sponsorship rewarded by exam success

Thursday, June 6th, 2013

THE value of sponsoring a child’s education in India through HEAL (Health and Education for All) has once again been highlighted by the latest set of exam results to come out of the HEAL Children’s Village in Guntur.

Following on from the success of 13 HEAL children who all recently passed their Junior Inter public examinations with flying colours – including one student, a former child labourer, with a stunning 98 per cent pass mark – Village administrator Mrs Marudwathu was delighted to share more success stories with the HEAL UK trustees.

“After our Inter results were announced, we had more happy news when the 10th class results came out,” she reported. “All HEAL children passed the exam with good grades.

“Miss Ramya Pamulapati and Anusha Chakka secured 9.8 grade points out of 10 – these are grades on a par with children at paid-for English Medium schools here.

Ramya Pamulapati

“We have already started searching for the right colleges and courses in which to enrol the children so that they can build on these excellent results.”

Many children are taken under HEAL’s wing when their parents are no longer able to look after them due to extreme poverty. Often these youngsters have been forced to work from a very young age simply to help their family make ends meet.

Anusha Chakka

Thanks to the generosity of child sponsors across the UK and elsewhere, HEAL is able to offer shelter, health care and education to many hundreds of severely disadvantaged children, helping them to unlock their true potential.

Living together in a nurturing environment at the HEAL Village, these children are able to develop and grow into fine, well-educated young people, many of whom go on to further education, still supported by HEAL.

HEAL founder Dr Satya Prasad Koneru has expressed his delight at more news of exam success coming out of the Children’s Village in Guntur.

“This is great news,” he said. “I would like to convey my congratulations to all our students who passed their recent exams.

“Thanks to all the teachers and staff who are looking after the children. You all make us feel proud and very happy.

“It is particularly heart-warming to see 98% scores by Ramya and Anusha. HEAL will continue to support them to pursue higher or vocational studies.”

Dr Prasad will visit HEAL’s latest and most ambitious project, Paradise Village, in the coming weeks to oversee on-going construction work ahead of the school’s first intake of children later this year.

An artist's impression of the primary school at Paradise Village

You can sponsor one of these residential children for just £16 per month, which pays for everything they need. To learn more please visit our website here: http://www.heal.co.uk/sponsor-a-child.html

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Posted in bala kuteer school, Child Sponsorship India, children poverty india, Children's Stories, Childrens Achievements, Further Education, Heal Children's Village, Heal Paradise Village, Heal UK, News from the Village, Sponsor-A-Child India | No Comments »

Adventure-seeking Aussies sign up for Cycle India 2014

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

AN adventure-loving family from Australia admitted they simply couldn’t resist the challenge when they became the latest recruits for UK-based charity HEAL’s major international fundraiser, Cycle India 2014.

HEAL (Health and Education for All) has raised £220,000 from three previous Cycle India events in 2008, 2010 and 2012 and already has cyclists from India, Great Britain, Germany, United States and Australia signed up for 2014.

All monies raised go to help HEAL’s projects in rural Andhra Pradesh, southern India, where the charity offers many hundreds of impoverished, abandoned and orphaned children education and health care, as well as a roof over their heads. The charity, set up by UK medical practitioner Dr Satya Prasad Koneru 20 years ago, will shortly open the doors to its most ambitious project yet, HEAL Paradise Village, which will become home to one thousand needy children over the coming years.

Participants in Cycle India 2014 will stay at Paradise Village, near Vijayawada, and meet with the first intake of children, as well as visiting existing projects such as HEAL Children’s Village at Guntur.

When Australian Ben Pratt, 27, was looking for a new challenge after taking part in a 200km charity cycle ride in Perth, he came across Cycle India and quickly signed up, along with friend and work colleague Prateek Dua.

Excited by the prospect of a 400km bike ride along a stunning coastal route from Mumbai to the popular tourist destination of Goa in west India, Ben soon shared the details with mum and dad Stuart and Shirley … and they were hooked!

Stuart and Shirley Pratt, from New South Wales

“What can I say,” says Shirley, “we’re Aussies, and we love challenges. Stu and myself are both in our 50s and live in a little country town in New South Wales called Quirindi. We moved here about 18 months ago, as we now have a beautiful granddaughter to care for.

“Ben, however, lives in a remote area of the Kimberleys in western Australia, about 5,000km from us, so we are unable to catch up with each other all that often.

“We went to visit Ben in February and one afternoon we started to talk travel. He told us all about Cycle India and we just thought we could combine everything – travel, give to a charity, meet wonderful people, and have some family time as well … there were only positives as far as we were concerned. So for us from that point on it was ‘let the challenge begin!’.

“Stu and I have always loved travelling and have already done a few challenges along the way – trekking Fox Glacier in New Zealand, jumping out of a plane, trekking with the gorillas in Rwanda – all these exciting adventures were done with our daughter and son-in-law, so it’s going to be wonderful to be doing something with Ben.

“He competed in a bike ride last year to raise money for a cancer charity. At the time, he was living in Ayers Rock in central Australia, so training in 45-degree heat was very challenging, to say the least. It was extremely testing at times but when you have the reward at the end it, it is all worthwhile.

Ben Pratt, who signed up for Cycle India 2014, along with friend Prateek Dua

“The bike ride of over 200km in two days was held in Perth and it was a huge success. He enjoyed the challenge so much, he started looking further afield for another one to do, this time overseas, and that’s how Cycle India became his next challenge. His friend Prateek worked with Ben at the time and, coming from India, he also became very keen to do the bike ride.

“Ben loves riding, as does Stu, although he hasn’t ridden for many years. I never had a bike as a child, so I will definitely have my ‘learner plates’ on, but I’m ready to give it a go for the kids, or maybe walk some stages and help out at feeding stations along the way.”

HEAL founder and president Dr Prasad said: “I was very excited to learn that we will be welcoming a group of cyclists from Australia to Cycle India 2014 as this comes at a time when we are close to finalising the creation of a new arm of our charity, HEAL Australia.

“This event will be a chance to bring together not only supporters from HEAL USA, HEAL India and HEAL UK, but now HEAL Australia and other countries too.

“It promises to be a truly multi-national event and those who will benefit are the children in India, who will be given a chance of a brighter future by receiving an education which will allow them to stand on their own two feet.”

Cycle India 2014 volunteer organiser Jem King is already in talks with another group of potential cyclists from Hong Kong and is delighted to see the fundraising event attracting so much global interest this year.

“We are thrilled to have our friends from Down Under on board for 2014 and I’m hoping other like-minded Aussie cyclists might consider signing up as well,” said Welsh journalist Jem. “We’re aiming to assemble a group of around 30 cyclists for the ride from Mumbai to Goa. After all, the more participants, the more money HEAL can raise to get kids off the streets, out of the rubbish dumps and slums and into school where they belong.”

To learn more about Cycle India 2014, next year’s itinerary and how to register, go to www.heal.co.uk/about-cycle-india.html or get in touch via our contact page at www.heal.co.uk/contact-us.html

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Posted in Charity Events, children poverty india, Cycle India 2014, Fundraising, Heal Paradise Village, Heal USA | No Comments »

HEAL Paradise Village taking shape

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

HEAL founder and president Dr Satya Prasad Koneru recently returned home to the UK after spending time overseeing the Paradise Village development and remains confident that the school will be ready for its first intake of children later this year.

“I am satisfied with the rate things are taking shape,” says Dr Prasad. “I had two days of meetings with the architects and the rest of the team in Hyderabad and Vijayawada. I am more happy now and everybody is content with the new designs.

Building work progresses on the primary school

“There has been some redesign work, such as changing the main roof to a flat roof to allow us to install the panels for solar power. It is a big financial layout, but all part of our commitment to an eco-friendly environment at Paradise Village.”

HEAL hopes to attract support from a specialist solar power company interested in funding or part-funding the cost of installation, estimated to be in the region of 2.7crore (£325,000).

“Our vision for HEAL Paradise Village is that it will be fully self-sustaining and embrace green technology wherever possible,” says Dr Prasad.

“As for the construction work, we aim to complete the whole primary school building by the end of June 2013 and are hoping to start the academic year with 100 children.

“Dorms should be ready by the end of this year and until that time some of the classrooms will be used for accommodation and offices.

“We will have 16 classrooms, an arts room, a computer lab, staff room, library and a laboratory. In addition, there will be a lobby/gallery, head teachers office, as well as three outdoor classrooms. It is a very large building which will also house stores and laundry on the lower ground level.”

Site manager Mastan Ann reports that work on the dorms has been started and landscaping is going ahead with bougainvillea plants and 150 coconut trees providing a green-wall boundary.

“Each coconut tree will produce hundreds of fruit and each fruit contains a litre of coconut water which contains sugar & minerals, so the children will be able to have a healthy glass of coconut water every day,” says Mastan.

Meantime, while the construction is being carried out, HEAL India’s educational committee will be responsible for buying furniture and stationary and recruiting well-qualified teachers in the coming months.”

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Students form fruitful partnership with HEAL

Monday, January 28th, 2013

A GROUP of international students are on the verge of creating a social enterprise scheme aimed at helping impoverished young people in rural India to grow their own food on a commercial scale.

The London-based students, who are drawn from far and wide across Europe, South America and Asia, came up with a proposal to enter into partnership with HEAL (Health and Education for All) after they heard about the charity’s ambitious plans to create a new self-sustaining village, near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

Construction is already under way on Paradise Village, which will become home to hundreds of severely disadvantaged and orphaned children, giving them shelter, healthcare and an all-important education as part of the ever-growing HEAL family.

The £3million project will comprise of a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly complex of buildings, including – in addition to the main school – health facilities, a vocational training centre, a school for the blind, a care home for the elderly and edible plantations and gardens.

The village, according to HEAL founder/president Dr Satya Prasad Koneru, is designed to create “a safe haven where children can be nurtured and realise their full potential, creating a self-sustaining and mutually beneficial community based on the pursuit of happiness through the common good”.

Dr Prasad, a Peterborough-based GP who founded the charity 20 years ago by donating his former family home in Guntur to create a school for needy children, said he was impressed with the students’ proposal to grow food on a commercial scale as a volunteer pilot project at Paradise.

“The village is leading the way in construction, using recyclable materials and ‘green’ technologies for electricity, water, sewage and edible plantations, so I felt that their idea fitted in perfectly with the Paradise project,” he said.

An artist's impression of the school block at the HEAL Paradise Village

“Such a social enterprise, which will involve using grow bags to produce natural, wholesome food such as mushrooms, tomatoes and aubergines will help our children become self-sufficient, as well as involving the local villages.

“I was delighted to meet with such an energetic, bright and enthusiastic group of young people and look forward to developing a fruitful partnership with them. The added benefit of their scheme is that profits will be re-invested back into the project.”

Hult International Business School student Raiana Chowdhury explains how the scheme was born: “Myself and Max von Luttichau initiated the idea of mobile farming a year before we made this group.

“The aim of the enterprise is to educate children and young people how to grow their own food in an alternative way, provide them with essential material needed and see them grow together with the project.

“The food grown through our ‘bag farming’ method may then be used by the local people for trading amongst each other, which we hope will lead to community formation and an additional sense of belonging.

“Vegetables will be grown in recyclable bags, using a minimum amount of soil, water and solar energy and can then be sold in the market or traded within the local community and surrounding villages. Unsold produce will not be wasted, being used as the primary element to grow more new and fresh vegetables.

“We went along with fellow Hult students Maria Camilla Sierra, from Colombia, and AnaMaria Meshkurti, from Albania, to meet with Dr Prasad to discuss our collaboration. It was an honour to meet the founder of such a wonderful charity and we were highly interested to learn more about the HEAL village and the Paradise project. We look forward to working closely with him in the future.”

For more information on the HEAL Paradise project visit www.healparadise.org

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HEAL Paradise reaches out to community

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

HEAL founder/president Dr Satya Prasad Koneru paid a visit to the Paradise site to check on recent progress and attend a foundation stone-laying ceremony at the Institute for Visually Challenged, Vocational Training Centre and school dormitories.

“That was a good day for us,” reported site manager Mastan Ann. “We were pleased also to show that the primary school building has been raising up and up, while locations have been marked up for the dorms ready for piling work to start.

“In addition to that, HEAL has been conducting activities to develop a good local relationship, including a free health camp and the distribution of school equipment to local children.”

Dr Prasad was pleased to report back to this month’s HEAL AGM on the progress being made with the Paradise project and announced his intention to return early in the new year.

He said that despite delays caused by a shortage of raw materials and poor weather conditions, Paradise remained on course to take in its first batch of students in the summer of 2013.

During his stay, Dr Prasad joined members of HEAL India and other guests in planting more than 40 fruit-bearing plants in the Paradise grounds. Plans are also in hand for the plantation of a banana garden.

Dr Prasad was also delighted to present equipment, including free books, bags and geometry sets, to impoverished government schoolchildren as HEAL continues to forge strong links with the local community.

He also dropped in at a free HEAL paradise health camp, held in association with Ayush Hospitals, Sankara Eye Care and Partha Dental Hospital, and utilized by around 200 patients from surroundng villages.

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Posted in AGM, Heal india, Heal Paradise Village, Heal UK, paradise vocational centre, phanendra chunduri institute for the blind | No Comments »

Donate a tree for HEAL Paradise Village

Monday, October 15th, 2012

WORK is well under way on the first phase of construction of HEAL’s eco-friendly
children’s village, named ‘Paradise’, which will provide a home for 1,000 orphaned
and underprivileged children from Andhra Pradesh and other parts of India.

The village, which is located in a beautiful rural setting at Thotophalli in the
Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh, will be a safe haven where children can be
nurtured in a self-sustaining and mutually beneficial community.

Using recyclable materials and ‘green’ technologies, Paradise will be made up not
only of a school and accommodation, but a health centre, a care home for the
elderly, an institute for the blind and facilities for sports and art.

But the village is not just about bricks and mortar. Those fortunate enough to
have visited the site nestled between the stunning expanse of Lake Brahmalingam, a
haven for wildlife, and canals providing irrigation for the local farming
communities, quickly realise where Paradise found its name.

Entirely self-contained and secluded from the busy highway that connects the
village to the city of Vijayawada, the site provides a perfect setting for the
harmonious growth and development of the children who will come to call it home.

An array of sustainable techniques and systems like solar and wind power,
Hydroponic vegetables gardens and solar cooking are incorporated within the site’s
design proposals, including the recycling of waste materials to create energy.

The village will have extensive green cover and planting of fruit bearing and
shady trees has already been started, increasing the scope for self-sustainability.

During a recent visit to the site, HEAL volunteers Becky Curbishley and Charlotte
Boardman were delighted to be asked to assist with the planting operation.

Volunteers Becky and Charlotte plant coconut trees during their visit to HEAL Paradise Village

“We were among the first volunteers to visit the developing Heal Paradise site –
and what a paradise it is, a perfect location in which to expand the Heal family,”
said UK medical student Charlotte.

“We felt extremely privileged to be asked to plant some of the first trees on the
site. Of course, we will now have to return in the future to see our flourishing
coconut trees!”

HEAL will build fruit and vegetable gardens on the Paradise grounds. This produce
will be used to sustain not only the village, but any surplus can be taken to a
daily market and sold to the locals as both fair and organic.

Keen to encourage local wildlife and offer shade from the hot sun, HEAL will also
be planting hundreds of trees around the site and this gives an opportunity for
donors to come forward and help cover the cost of this operation.

Anyone wishing to donate £100 towards the cost of planting and maintaining a tree
will have a plaque with their name on it placed alongside the tree.

The vision for Paradise Village is that it will be fully self-sustaining,
embracing green technology wherever possible. Therefore, HEAL is also looking for
donors to help purchase 40 solar street lights at a cost of £350, or $600, each.
Every street light will have a plaque mounted on it thanking the donor.

If you are interested in further information, please click on the ‘Donate Online’
button at the top of the website www.healparadise.org and one of the trustees of
HEAL UK will contact you to discuss your donation to the HEAL Paradise Village.

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Posted in Charity Donations, Charity Sponsors, children poverty india, Heal Paradise Village, Heal UK, News from the Village, Volunteers | No Comments »

Taking up the challenge for HEAL

Friday, October 12th, 2012

HEAL would like to thank and congratulate some of its intrepid supporters who have
recently completed challenging events to raise well over £4,000 to help hundreds
of disadvantaged children in India.

Our charity relies heavily on the support of people who invite family, friends and
work colleagues to donate to HEAL by way of sponsorship for an event or challenge.

Most do this by creating a fund-raising page online at justgiving.com, where the
addition of gift aid can greatly increase the value of donations to charities like
HEAL.

HEAL is gearing up again for Cycle India 2014

Of course, fund-raising can come in all shapes and sizes, and HEAL has benefitted
through everything from bedroom clear-out sales to biking across India over the
past 20 years.

Car washes and cake sales are great ways for young people to get involved, while
planning is already going ahead for HEAL’s next major Cycle India event early in
2014.

People do the most amazing things to raise money for the causes they love and
among the more adventurous over the summer months have been challenges undertaken
for HEAL by the likes of Yashu Shah, who embarked on a tracking adventure in
Nepal, and another trio of travellers who have incredible tales to tell of their
journey across northern India.

Back home in the UK, Karen Rhandawa successsfuly completed the Ealing Half
Marathon, while our good friends at private jet charter firm Air Charter Service
have once again been pushing themselves to the limit by competing in the Great
River Race on the Thames.

No Plane, No Gain - the ACS Great River Race team

“HEAL is in its 20th year of helping underprivileged children in Andhra Pradesh by
providing them with shelter, healthcare and an education and we are marking this
anniversary with our biggest project to date for which we are urgently seeking
funding,” says HEAL founder Dr Satya Prasad Koneru.

“HEAL already looks after hundreds of children in Guntur and elsewhere through our
poverty trap projects, but now work is already well under way on Paradise Village,
which will become home to another 1,000 severely disadvantaged children very
soon.

“So the efforts of our supporters who who help to raise money in whatever way they
can are more important to HEAL than ever.”

Yashu Shah, a patient at Dr Prasad’s clinic in Peterborough, said: “I have just
come back from my trip of a lifetime. I managed to climb up to 5,200 metres and
although it was very tough, the whole thing was a fantastic experience. Raising
money for HEAL along the way made it even more special.”

Tracking through Nepal

Karen Rhandawa admitted that the many donations to her justgiving page had kept
her going as she trained for her first half-marathon. “It was one of my most
challenging achievements. I was proud to run the Ealing Half marathon for HEAL
because they do such wonderful work in taking children out of poverty. And I made
it round in a good time of 2:13:27 too!”

And there is still time to sponsor medical student Amrit Dhadda, who this weekend
will run the Cardiff Half Marathon on behalf of HEAL. His justgiving page can be
found at www.justgiving/amrit-dhadda0

Thirteen of Air Charter Service’s fittest athletes, glorying in the name No Plane,
No Gain, took to the Thames to row a staggering 21 miles. Last year they managed
to raise £3,168 towards an IT classroom at the new HEAL Paradise Village. And they
are hoping to better that figure this year to pay for a library, with ACS
promising to match what their staff raise.

Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to the ACS Great River Race team of Christine
Echeverria, Nakita Ogugua, Nicklas Danko, Oli Stravrakakis, Brendan Toomey, Joe
Gallimore, Joel Fenn, Chris Mansell, Ben Dinsdale, James Clark, Ella Melhuish, Amy
Irwin and Thea Goalen.

Last, but not least, well done to Chatty, Jamie and Olivia, whose attempts to
travel across India in a second-hand auto rickshaw may not quite have gone to
plan, but still benefitted their chosen charity, HEAL.

An Auto Rickshaw Across India

You can read about some of their adventures on their unusual 12-day trip,
including entries such as Stowaways on a Train and Sleeping on the Streets of
Pushkar, in their blog at www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AnAutoRickshawAcrossIndia/

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Posted in Charity Bike Rides, Charity Donations, Charity Events, Charity Sponsors, Child Sponsorship India, children poverty india, Cycle India 2014, Fundraising, Heal Paradise Village, Heal UK, Sponsor-A-Child India | No Comments »

Becky and Charlotte’s joy at volunteer visit

Wednesday, October 10th, 2012

TWO medical students who spent 10 days volunteering at the HEAL Children’s Village in Guntur have spoken of the “cherished memories” of their time in India – and have vowed to return to see the children again next year.

Becky Curbishley and Charlotte Boardman, who are halfway through their university medical degree courses, recently returned to the UK and were thrilled to be asked to make a presentation of their trip to hundreds of HEAL supporters at last weekend’s annual HEAL India Night, held to celebrate 20 years of transforming disadvantaged children’s lives through education.

Charlotte and Becky spent their summer break from university travelling to India, and focused their trip on a 10-day stay at the HEAL Village, with the added bonus of being able to take in the new developments of the HEAL Paradise Site.

“As former Guide leaders and medical students at the halfway mark of our degree, we had particular interest in child development and a visit to the HEAL village provided the opportunity to see this and healthcare through the eyes of a different culture,” said Charlotte.

“During our stay we were lucky enough to be fully immersed in the village, taking advantage of the new accommodation situated directly above the children’s cottages.

“This meant that from the moment we stepped out of our door in the morning until we went back to sleep at night, we were immediately involved in all aspects of the daily routine of the children and their house mothers.

Charlotte & Becky pose for a photograph the children at the Heal Village

“With our musical theatre interest we especially enjoyed teaching the children all the songs and dances from our childhood, a lot of which they had never heard before but can now recite on their own.

“A moment we will never forget was the sound of our own voices being played across the school grounds singing all the songs we recorded for the children to continue to learn after our departure.

“As a special treat we took a bag of goodies for the children to enjoy while we were there with them. This included colouring books and pencils, bubbles and yoyos. The excitement we saw from them when we introduced these surprises will never be forgotten.

“We were able to participate in everything from morning grooming to evenings of singing, game playing and storytelling, our favourite time of day.

“However, we feel it was our time spent and the relationships built with them that the children cherished the most.”

The girls were keen to use their medical knowledge for the benefit of the children through basic health checks, through which the children’s development will continue to be monitored.

“We assessed the children’s height, weight, dentition and vision. With limited supplies and experience we could only provide an overview. However, with the results we found it will now be possible to identify any problems at an early stage.

“On the whole we were pleased and encouraged by the health status of the children, but the positive ethos that the village exudes could have told us the children would all be happy and healthy from the outset.

“Our fantastic experience was enhanced by the fact that we were so well looked after. From the moment we stepped off the plane at Vijayawada to our heart-wrenching farewell, we constantly had people around us ensuring our comfort. They even removed all the chillies from the food for us!

“We could not have been made more welcome. The children’s enthusiasm was infectious and meant that from the first minute we gained as much as possible from our time with them. And not only did we help with their skills in English, they also managed to teach us some very basic Telegu.”

Refelcting on their “wonderful experience”, the girls admitted that they cannot wait to go back.

“We made a connection with the children, such that our tearful goodbye was actually just a ‘See you later’,” said Charlotte. “From as little as a few days into our trip we had decided to return and we are currently organising our trip for next summer.”

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Posted in Heal Children's Village, HEAL India Night, Heal Paradise Village, News from the Village, Volunteers | No Comments »

India Night marks HEAL’s 20th anniversary

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

HEAL will celebrate two decades of transforming young lives through education when it holds its annual India Night get-together at The Cressett in Peterborough on October 6.

Dr Satya Prasad Koneru founded the charity Health and Education for All (HEAL) in 1992 with a mission to offer hope to needy children in his native India by equipping them with the tools to become masters of their own destiny.

Determined to break the seemingly constant cycle of poverty in his former home state of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Prasad has used HEAL to provide shelter, health care and an all-important education to hundreds of orphaned, abandoned and destitute children, knowing that this was the only way to make a lasting change in their lives.

And judging by recent success stories coming out of the Children’s Village in Guntur, HEAL’s supporters and sponsors are already seeing the fruits of their labour.

Children who came to HEAL from all manner of deprived backgrounds years ago are emerging as fully-rounded young adults, ready to stand on their own two feet, often seeking further education and looking to put something back into their communities.

HEAL now has around 1,000 children in its ever-growing family and is marking the charity’s 20th anniversary by embarking on its most ambitious scheme yet, the creation of HEAL Paradise Village.

Work has already begun on the £3m project, which will not only become a focal point for the local community in Thotaphalli, near Vijayawada, but home to 1,000 more severely under-privileged children, saving them from a life of poverty, ill health and deprivation.

All the monies raised from the HEAL India Night will go directly to the Paradise Village project and those attending will hear details of the progress already being made in Thotaphalli.

Tickets for the event are £20 (£15 for under-16s) and Dr Prasad is hoping to raise even more than the £6,700 that was made by last year’s Autumn Ball.

“The Autumn Ball was a change to the HEAL India Nights of previous years and it was good to see some new faces among our many regular attendees,” said Dr Prasad.

“This year’s event will be slightly less formal, but equally important in raising money which will make such a difference to hundreds of children’s lives.

“Fund-raising is obviously one of our main objectives, especially with work already well under way on Paradise Village, but we thoroughly enjoy getting together as part of the fellowship of HEAL.”

As well as authentic Indian food and musical entertainment, guests will hear the experiences of volunteers, including a child sponsor, who recently spent time visiting the Children’s Village in Guntur.

For ticket enquiries please call Helen Rome on 07863 178679.

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Posted in Charity Balls, Charity Events, Child Sponsorship India, children poverty india, Childrens Achievements, Fundraising, Heal Children's Village, Heal Finances, HEAL India Night, Heal Paradise Village, Heal UK, Volunteers | No Comments »

Family tragedy sparks charitable act

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

A BIRMINGHAM doctor will dedicate a new institute for the blind to his son when he travels to his native India to lay a foundation stone at HEAL Paradise Village later this year.

Dr Dhanum Chunduri, a GP at the Sparkbrook Community Health Centre, where his wife Vijaya and daughter Jyothi also work, has donated £71,000 towards the building of the Phanendra Chunduri Institute for the Blind at the village, being constructed by the UK-based charity HEAL (Health and Education for All).

Dr Chunduri’s 22-year-old son Phanendra died in 2000 after contracting fulminant viral hepatitis while studying medicine in Debrecen, Hungary.

Daughter Jyothi suffered from glaucoma since childhood and lost her eyesight eight years ago, and the family were inspired to create an institute for the blind in India after visiting a rehabilitation centre in Peterborough, the city where HEAL founder Dr Satya Prasad Koneru works as a GP.

The Chunduri family

“I first met Prasad in 1982 when Heal was just in its infancy,” said Dr Chunduri. “He was distrbuting leaflets at a function and we were very impressed with his charitable activities and used to help wherever we could.

“My family originally supported an educational college in India and set up the Phanendra Chunduri Memorial Trust in my son’s name. We donated nearly £100,000 for the construction of lecture halls, and a science laboratory at Noble College in our native Machilipatnam, where one room was allocated as a museum for the Trust.

“My daughter has been blind since contracting glaucoma in 2004, so we thought of setting up an institute for the blind, something Indian people are desperately in need of.

“When Prasad came to me and told me about HEAL Paradise we decided to fund an institute for the blind there. We wanted to do something for the public, as there is very little help from the government for blind people.”

Phanendra Chunduri

Paradise Village, at Thotapally in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is the brainchild of Dr Prasad and will become home to 1,000 orphaned and destitute children when it is completed next year.

Dr Chunduri, who has four brothers and three sisters, will be accompanied by younger brother Krishna Babu when he revisits Paradise in November. Krishna Babu, a neurologist based in Dallas, Texas, has donated funds for the building of a vocational centre at the Village and will also lay a foundation stone on the same day.

For more information on HEAL Paradise Village and how to make a donation, please visit www.healparadise.org.

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Posted in Charity Donations, Charity Sponsors, children poverty india, Heal Paradise Village, phanendra chunduri institute for the blind | No Comments »

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