Seven year old Guru Madhav is studying in grade 1, at Sarada Vidyalayam, the free school run by Sankurathri Foundation. He lives with his family in the village of Kothuru, in coastal Andhra Pradesh. He has an older sister studying in grade 3, in the same school as him. His father, Rambabu, is a cook by profession and earns up to Rs.4000 ($ 90), each month which does not suffice to meet the needs of the family.

In families such as his, education is never a priority, because families feel that if the child is put to work, even the little he earns can be used to supplement the family income. Many children from rural families, therefore become unskilled child laborers. It is often not enough to provide free education. Families like those of Guru Madhav’s need to be incentivized to send their children to school. Sarada Vidhyalayam does that by providing a mid-day meal, and two sets of uniforms.

Your donation of two sets of school uniforms, Laurent, are much appreciated by Guru Madhav. He knows these are his “best” clothes, and he will always keep them clean and neat. Thank you.

Lately, Guru Madhav’s teachers had noticed that he was finding it difficult to copy notes from the black board to his slate and was making many mistakes. When they asked him what the problem is, he confessed not being able to see the board clearly. The teachers realized that it might be poor vision that is causing this problem and referred him for an eye-examination.

After a complete test, it was established that Guru Madhav needed corrective glasses. His father was called to the eye-hospital and was given the prescription to buy Guru Madhav a pair of glasses. His father who was struggling to make ends meet, confessed that he had not saved up enough money to buy his son glasses.

Your generous donation, Kowsilliya, enabled Sankurathri Foundation to provide a pair of glasses for Guru Madhav.

Thank you Laurent and Kowsilliya for making such a big difference in the life of Guru Madhav.

Ten year old Ajay is studying in the 4th grade at Sarada Vidyalayam. He lives with his family in the village of Thammavaram, in coastal Andhra Pradesh. His father is an agricultural laborer working on daily-wages and earns up to $3 a day, on days that he finds work. On other days, the entire family goes hungry for days on end. Under such circumstances education is never a priority for them and parents believe that sending a child to work would at least ensure a supplementary income.

Sankurathri Foundation provides free education to children like Ajay to encourage them to attend school. Lately, Ajay’s teachers had noticed a drop in his performance. A bright child otherwise, the teachers were concerned about his grades and referred him for an eye-examination. It was established that Ajay had poor eye-sight and needed corrective glasses to be able to see clearly.

When his father was asked to come to the Hospital, he was told about his son’s eye examination and was handed a prescription for glasses for Ajay. With no steady source of income, he was finding it difficult to even meet their basic needs and this was an additional expense for which he had no money saved.

Your generous donation, Gary, enabled Sankurathri Foundation to buy Ajay a pair of glasses. He can now make up for lost time and work on improving his grades again.

Thank you Gary for donating a pair of glasses for Ajay!

Seventy year old Komaram Narayana, hails from the village of Bhimvaram. He is a daily laborer earning about $3 a day and supporting his wife.

But since the last one year, his vision in left eye started diminishing and he could not work efficiently. He was very upset that he could not earn enough and didn’t know who to turn to for help.

When he heard about th eye-camp organized by Sankurathri Foundation, he decided to get his eyes checked. After a complete examination, Narayana was diagnosed as having developed mature cataract and was asked to undergo surgery.

With not much work, he had run out of his savings and could not afford the cost for surgery. Your generous donation enabled Sankurathri Foundation to bear the cost of Narayana’s cataract surgery. Your donation also covered the transportation costs and the cost of two post-operative visits to the Hospital.

Thank you so much Rajashree for this very generous donation. You have helped Narayana see better in his old age.

Seventy-five year old Mandala Ramudu, lives alone in the village of Bhimavaram.

He has five children, all of whom have abandoned him because he had developed a cataract problem and was almost blind. In spite of having operated one eye two years ago, he was still dependent on others for his basic needs. Over time, he soon developed a cataract in the second eye too which needed to be operated.

In one of the village outreach camps organized by Sankurathri Foundation, he was identified as having cataract and was asked to undergo surgery to correct his vision.

With no one to care for him and no source of income of his own, he had no one to turn to and knew he could not afford to pay for his surgery. Understanding his poor financial condition, Sankurathri Foundation decided to take his case on.

Your generous donation, Niranjan enabled Sankurathri Foundation to bear the cost of Ramudu’s surgery. Your donation also covered the cost of two  post-operative visits to the Hospital. He is now very happy that he can see again and can take care of himself. He does not have to turn to his children who have abandoned him.

Thank you so much Niranjan for your timely help and support. You are instrumental in restoring Ramudu’s dignity and self confidence.

Eighty year old Machu Mallaiah, is a carpenter by profession. He has a wife and two children. He is the sole bread-winner of his family and earns about $5 per day when he works. On days when he doesn’t find work, he doesn’t earn a penny.

He was unable to see properly because of failing eye sight. As he was unable to work he didn’t have any money to support his family for a few months. Someone in his village suggested that he get his eyes examined and he visited the nearby Hospital for a complete eye examination.

After a complete test, it was established that he needed corrective glasses to be able to see clearly. Since he was facing a financial crunch at that time, he could not afford to buy one.

Your generous donation, Ehtasham enabled Sankurathri Foundation to provide him with a pair of glasses. Thanks to that, he can now see clearly and is back to work.

Thank you Ehtasham for this wonderful gift.

Sixty year old Laveti Krishna is a laborer, living in the village of Bhimavaram.

He was suffering from frequent headaches and poor vision and went to the Hospital for a check-up. After a complete eye examination it was established that he needed a pair of corrective glasses to be able to see clearly again.

When he was given the prescription for glasses, he expressed his inability to afford one. Thanks to your generous donation, Srikanth, Krishna was provided with a much-needed pair of glasses by Sankurathri Foundation.

Thank you Srikanth for this kind gesture.

Sixty-five year old Yedida Narayudu is a poor farmer and lives in the village of Pithapuram. He is a widower and has no children. He lives alone and looks after his own needs. Lately, he has been very depressed because his vision was diminishing and he suffered from frequent headaches. He was not able to do his chores himself which upset him more.

Not wanting to become a burden on his neighbors, he decided to get his eyes checked and went to the nearby Hospital complaining of frequent headaches and poor vision.  After his complete eye examination it was established that he needed corrective glasses which would also get rid of his headaches. When he was prescribed glasses according to his test results, he confided in the doctors that he could not afford to buy one.

It was your generous donation, Russell that enabled Sankurathri Foundation to provide him with a pair of much-needed glasses. He can now see clearly and is very happy that he can do his chores himself.

Thank you Russell for this gift that has put a smile to Narayadu’s face!

Seventy-five year old Athi Padmanabham is an old bachelor and hails from the village of Tetagunta. He has been suffering from leprosy for many years and with no cure for this disease, Padmanabhan’s condition has only aggravated over the years. His legs are not functional and he cannot walk without the support of a stick.

During one of the medical camps organized by Sankurathri Foundation, Padmanabhan was found to have poor vision and needed corrective glasses to be able to see clearly. With no source of income or family to support him, Padmanabhan could not afford to buy a pair of glasses.

Your generous donation, Binny, enabled Sankurathri Foundation to provide him with a pair of glasses. With his new glasses, Padmanabhan is not dependent on anyone else anymore and is very thrilled to be able to see clearly again. As you can see in this photo, he can’t stop smiling!

Thank you so much, Binny for helping Padmanabham. Your support is much appreciated.

Fourteen year old Prasad is studying in the 9th grade in Sarada Vidyalayam. He lives with his mother and a younger brother, their father abandoned the family many years ago. Ever since, it’s his mother who has been managing the house-hold and bringing up the children, single-handedly. She works as a housemaid to support their needs and the children’s education.

Knowing his financial condition and family background, the school provides free education to Prasad and other children like him. Studious that he is, Prasad fared well in all his subjects but lately, he had started performing badly which did not go unnoticed by his teachers. They got his eye examined and noticed that he needed spectacles and was not able to perform because of his poor eye-sight.

Since his mother could not afford to buy him glasses, it’s your generous donation, J that enabled Sankurathri to bear the cost of his glasses. With his new glasses, Prasad is now determined to study harder and score good grades again.

Thank you, J for this wonderful gift!