How A UK-based Doctor Couple From Hyderabad Transformed Lives Through Their Educational Ventures

Not many people would consider taking time off from a lucrative medical practice in the United Kingdom and travel to their native land in a bid to transform the lives of poor students by giving them world-class education and allied infrastructure at their own cost.

There are many examples of such heroes as we call them who want to give back to society, and there is one such couple from London who have been doing exemplary work in the field of education for a decade!

Meet the doctor couple - Dr Madhavi Reddy and Dr Srikanth Mandumula who were born and raised in Hyderabad, Telangana. Both of them completed their MBBS from Osmania Medical College and went to the UK for higher education and settled there. Dr Madhavi is a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist and Dr Srikanth is a consultant radiologist.

The seeds of starting an educational venture to help the poor first started in 2012  when they started Dr Suguna Ram Mohan Educational Society in 2012 in memory of Dr Srikanth’s mother, Dr Suguna. Also from the medical profession, Dr Suguna was Professor of Pathology and Principal of Osmania Medical College and also served as the  Director of Medical Education and the intent of starting the charity trust in her name was because she herself was a champion of education.

Dr Madhavi’s grandfather Bhoj Reddy, was  Zilla Parishad Chairman and also Chairman of Libraries in Hyderabad. A champion of girls education he set up an orphanage for girls and subsequently developed educational institutions dedicated to girls. Inspired by the elders in the family they decided to do their bit in their own way to promote education especially for those from economically poor families. This led to the establishment of a registered charity Trust in UK called Empowerment through Education (ETE).

Apart from support from family and friends and organisations including Lions Club Enfield, they embarked on their charitable educational ventures starting with Dr Srikanth’s village – Talakondapally from where his family hails. They adopted the  Talakondapally Village Zilla Parishad School. Dr Srikanth’s grandfather donated 5.5 acres of land in the village, on which the government built the Zilla Parishad school. Taking baby steps over the years they improved the school infrastructure incrementally.

2012:

They first started with basic infrastructure development which included providing safe drinking water, toilets with water facilities for girls in the school. They also employed a helper to clean the toilets.

2013:

The next year, benches and desks for all the classrooms were provided along with an electricity connection and fans installed in every classroom.  With this, the strength of the school especially the attendance of girl students increased and gave the much-needed encouragement to do more. Subsequently, in 2014, a library and fully equipped science laboratory were built. They approached the  Mahbubnagar District Educational Board and obtained permission for library and science lab classes to be included in the weekly timetable for students of 6th standard to 10th standard which was a huge effort from their end.

Retired professors from Hyderabad were appointed to go to the village and train the teachers to conduct science experiments in the science lab every two weeks. This is the only school in the district to have a dedicated library and science lab thanks to their efforts.

Going further in 2016,  they set up financial bursaries to provide tuition fees and hostel fees for one or two children per year. Students were selected for this financial assistance based on their academic performance in the 10th standard board exams. As of now, they are financially supporting 30 students through their intermediate and degree college education through their trust. Out of these 30 students, 27 of these children are from Talakondapalli village school and two children are from an orphanage, and one is from Hyderabad.

After touching the lives of these students they started mentoring and providing career guidance both in-person and online. Apart from spoken English classes, Dr Madhavi also educated the girls about menstrual hygiene and sex education.

2016:

The charity trust provided benches and chairs for the primary school in Talakondapalli village.

2017:

With the support of the Lions Club of Enfield, a building for setting up a computer classroom and audiovisual digital classroom to further enhance the educational experience of the children of the village was constructed in the school. They also engaged computer teachers to train the students. In the same year, a sheltered dining area for the students to sit down and eat their mid-day meals was also built. In 2017, the whole school building was painted.

2018:

Taking another major leap in their charitable activities, they adopted the Zilla Parishad School at Masaipet Village in Medak District. Initially, benches and chairs for the primary school and high school in Masaipet’s govt school were provided.

2019:

After the education field, the doctor couple trained their focus on health services. They started construction of a 12-bedded medical ward in the Primary Health Centre in Burgula Village, Mahboobnagar district, which was Dr Srikanth’s maternal village. It was completed in the year 2021 with the help of Lions Club International while overcoming the COVID pandemic issues plaguing the construction.  The medical ward will aid in increasing institutional deliveries thereby increasing safety and accessibility for mothers and babies and also providing for in-patient post-operative care. The necessary infrastructure to increase the staffing hours from the current 12 hours to 24 hours was also part of these efforts.

2021:

After this, they completed the refurbishment of primary school in Masaipet’s village school including painting of the walls with various educational tools and aids to boost memory and learning.

In a proud moment for the Doctor couple, one of their students, Sireesha, who studied in Talakondapally village school was educated through the trust and completed her college education, and secured a job in Tata Consultancy Services. Sireesha’s achievement was also a  great inspiration to other students from the village. Her achievement gave a further stimulus to continue with their charitable ventures and take it further.

In all humility,  Dr Srikanth and Dr Madhavi acknowledge the support of their family members, friends, and the Lions Club organization in their charitable endeavors. The dedication with which the principals and teachers of primary and high schools of Talakondapally Village and Masaipet Village work and motivate and provide support for their students was truly commendable, they stated.

“ Our hope and wish are that every child we support is able to achieve to their full potential and be in a position to not only support themselves independently but also be in a position to provide support to their families and friends and other students,” Dr Srikanth and Dr Madhavi stated in conclusion while sharing their accomplishments with Sakhi Post.

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