News and Blog

Posts Tagged ‘dr satya prasad koneru’

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.”

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Fundraising, Heal india, Heal Paradise Village, News from the Village | No Comments »

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.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in AGM, Heal india, Heal Paradise Village, Heal UK, paradise vocational centre, phanendra chunduri institute for the blind | 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.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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.

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

Srinivas success story rewards sponsors’ generosity

Monday, August 6th, 2012

HEAL’s mission to offer hope and support to orphaned and poverty-stricken children in India has always been based upon the need for education.

At the core of HEAL’s work with under-privileged children in Andhra Pradesh is the belief that education is the key to emancipate those people struggling at the bottom of the social order.

So what better way to celebrate 20 years as a charity than to hear reports of a string of success stories from students at the HEAL Children’s Village in Guntur?

Veena Agarwal meets up with her family's sponsor child Srinivas Mande, acompanied by her friend Charlotte and HEAL administrator Mrs Marudwathi

Senior administrator at the Village, Mrs Marudwathi, has already delivered the excellent news that all HEAL children
passed the 10th public board examinations with good grades – music to the ears of Dr Satya Prasad Koneru, who founded the charity back in 1992.

But the real reward for long-term child sponsors has been to see children who arrived into HEAL’s care years ago, often from extremely distressing backgrounds, developing into strong, independant young adults with bright futures ahead of them.

Veena Agarwal, a medical student in the UK and the daughter of child sponsors Rita and Arun, recently spent five days visiting the HEAL Children’s Village along with her friend Charlotte, and got to meet up with Srinivas Mande, who has matured into a fine young man with the help of her family’s support.

“It’s amazing to see the difference this community can make to transform the lives of these underprivileged children and especially how many of them are going on to higher education,” said Veena.

“The children are fun, loving, enthusiastic and hard-working and we had so much fun playing with them and teaching. Ms Manga Devi, Mrs Marudwathi and Dr Satya Prasad are an inspiration to us all.

“They and all the staff volunteers show us what kindness, dedication and sacrifices have been made for the children. The beautiful gardens and playground and inspiring quotes create a lovely environment to live in. It’s exciting, too, to see the progress at HEAL Paradise and how many more children will benefit.

“I had the exciting opportunity to finally meet my family’s sponsor child Srinivas and to hear his success story and big ambitions for the future which I have no doubt he will achieve!”

Successful HEAL student Srinivas Mande

Srinivas Mande was taken under HEAL’s wing when his parents, who worked in a stone quarry, were no longer able to send him to school after his father became ill.

“I faced a lot of problems in childhood, but at the same time God had blessed me with people to encourage me in the tough times,” says Srinivas.

“I was admitted into Nandana, a free Telugu Medium school, run by Sri Venkateswara Bala Kuteer. By that time my father’s health was spoiled and he could not even feed the family.

“Then I was taken into the lap of Heal, and after that I found no need to look back for anything. Our teachers encouraged me in every aspect.

“I stood 1st in the school in the 10th Board Examination and I got admission into one of the best government junior residential colleges at Nagarjuna Sagar where I completed my Intermediate (+2) with good marks.

“I have since completed a three years Commerce Bachelor Degree in Sattenapalli, a place 25kms away from Guntur. I have written an entrance test into M.B.A. and now want to do a part-time job to continue my further education.”

Veena and Srinivas at the HEAL Children's Village

Expressing his gratitude for the support he has received over the years, Srinivas added that he plans to put something back into his community in the future.

“When my school gave me strength to stand firmly with good foundation, HEAL helped me to build a strong, career-orientated future.

“Now I am in a self-reliant position and I strongly hope I can help some of the needy children who are struggling hard in life. Thanks to my school, HEAL and my kind sponsors Aunt Rita and Uncle Arun.”

To read more recent success stories from the HEAL Children’s Village, visit our Child Poverty page at www.heal.co.uk/child-poverty and click on the Case Studies button. For more information on sponsoring a child, please go to www.heal.co.uk/sponsor-a-child and find out how you can make a difference.

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