Igniting curiosity with information centers

Study Center & Library at Kilamangi village - Built by community - Aug, 2020

Kilamangi is a small tribal village at the foothills of the Eastern Ghats and far end of the Andhra border to the state of Orissa, 150 kilometers north west of Visakhapatnam up in the hills. Sankar and Fourteen families live together peacefully away from the busy life of the city.

Sankar and his friends came together to build the library building, shown above , by hand all by themselves with a monetary support from Siri foundation. Impressive commitment from Sankar and his team, and they proudly opened it on Aug 15, 2020. They have started conducting classes for young children during the pandemic.

Playscape at Koduru Elementary School - Mar 2019

Siri Foundation spearheaded the transformational playscape project in March 2019. The design of all-weather, eco friendly playground has been drawn up by Anthill Creations, a not for profit organization which mobilizes communities to build all-inclusive and sustainable playscapes. We have used recyclable material like scrap tires, cable & oil drums etc. to create these beautiful playscapes. The adaptive reuse of scrap is both economical and sustainable with a start to end construction timeline of less than 4 weeks and cost under Rs.2.5 Lakhs . Read more ...

Elementary School transformation at Koduru Village

School building in 2016

Restored in 2016-2017

School Building in 2017

Established in 1933, the Koduru Elementary school had fallen into a dilapidated condition by 2016. Pigs and animals made it their home after years of neglect, and the school even attracted thugs and alcoholics at night. A young teacher, Mr. Basava Raju, who had joined in late 2015 decided to restore the government-run school, and called for action, reaching out to the local community leaders and various charitable organizations. The transformation journey kicked-off in early 2016 and completed in Aug 2017. The direct impact was a 140% increase in enrollments, from 29 students in 2015-16 academic year to 70 students in 2017-18.

First Library at Vechalam Village

Rundown school building 2011

Transformed in Jan 2012

First Library in the village

The transformation of Vechalam school has been an important part of the Siri’s success story in that region. A small community of 800 farmers reached out to Siri in 2011 for help, and we answered with partnerships with the village community and teachers to transform the school in only two years. The abandoned school facility was turned around in January 2012 —a library with 2000+ books, a reading room, restored playground, built a stage for community gatherings, installed drinking water and even built toilets for girls.

Library and Smart Classroom at Koduru High School

Kick off in Jan 2014

Library building July 2014

Library room July 2014

Koduru High School is a relatively big school with over 450 students who come from 30+ villages. Established in 1947, the school never had a library until old students collaborated with Siri Foundation in 2014. The project was initiated in January 2014 and Siri provided a standalone solar power supply, Internet, a fully equipped library, and a smart class with a computer and speakers. Over 2000+ hours of online classes have been delivered through this smart class.

Smart class with solar power

Solar Power

Vaddadi High School's Library and a Smart Classroom

“Please donate English dictionaries”, was the only ask during a quick visit in July 2014 to the Vaddadi school. The collaboration grew over the years, and not only we have donated a dozen English dictionaries, but established a full-fledged library with 1500 books, accelerated other academic enrichment programs like online English lessons utilizing smart class equipment and internet facilities, and adopted 5 underprivileged students from Vaddadi school for their academic success. It is a remote place, but we are fortunate to be part of this journey.

Neighborhood Library and information center at Koduru Village

Funded by Siri, this neighborhood library opened its doors in Summer 2016. Centrally located in the Koduru village, it serves as an information center for adults and after-school education center for many children. We keep it open very late in the night to serve the community. Mr.Sreenivas Emandi maintains this library and uses Whatsapp to communicate to all members on new books and latest employment news etc. This was a dream project for the village president Mr.Malleswara Rao Lekkala.

Lingapuram village Library

The first Library project that Siri Foundation initiated back in Dec 2011 now serving as information center for all age groups. When young adults received books from Siri on Oct 2, 2018 they were ecstatic, and started devouring the study material to prepare for various employment opportunities.

Lingapuram Library 2011

Lingapuram Library opened in 2011

Santaha Palem village Library

Santha Palem Library

Mr. Bojanki and his friends vowed to transform their village public school at Santha Palem. They spent countless hours during the summer of 2015 to convince many parents to send their kids to the public school. This was a difficult task because, historically government schools were never equipped with right resources nor teaching staff. First, they fixed the school building and cleaned up the place, then enrolled their own children in the same school, raised funds for part-time teachers and established a library. Siri partnered with Mr.Bojanki and provided funding for the school, library and play equipment.

Other Infrastructure projects

Solar panels at Koduru High school

Toilets at Vechalam school

Drinking Water at Vechalam School

Lingapuram School 2011

Vechalam Playground Transformation