Though Sahithya Chowdary Gollanapalli is pursuing her Masters from Midwestern State University, California, her act of adopting a woman from an old age home in Alwal, Secunderabad, goes to prove that charity, indeed, begins at home.
It was a post on Good Samaritan’s India Facebook page that spurned the 23-year-old to take action from across borders.
The post read: “Mallamma lost her husband at a very young age and was abandoned in the later years of her life. More than three months ago, she was found washing utensils in a tiffin centre. But the work was proving to be unbearable because of her physical weakness and blurred vision as she suffers from an eye problem...”
Sahithya, who graduated from Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology before moving to the US in 2013, admits that “her heart is still back home”.
About helping Mallamma, she says, “I have known the founder of the old age home, George, for sometime now and through him I came to know about Mallamma; before her, I have adopted another lady from the same old age home. I felt she (Mallamma) needed help and I believe that old people must be taken care of. Tomorrow, my mom is going to be of the same age and will depend on people around her for help.”
Apart from the two adoptions, Sahithya has been helping 21 teenage students with their academics and 15 cancer patients with their chemo treatment for the past four years.
It comes as a huge surprise that she manages to do so much in spite of being just a student with no stable source of income.
“The money spent per month comes up to Rs 36,000. My father is from the real estate sector and also works in the field of cinema as a production executive. He does help me out financially and I am also working part-time in a firm here (US). There are also a few donors who regularly help me with money for the cancer patients,” she says.
And it looks like there is no stopping this enthusiastic 23-year-old who also works at Make A Wish Foundation and Help Drivers for Survivors, where they give free rides to cancer patients in the US.
Back to the city in May, Sahithya hopes to kick-start her projects, one that will work towards eradication of child labour, and the other that will provide a house for every homeless person.
“It doesn’t matter whe-ther it’s Rs 1 or Rs 1,000; all one needs is the willingness to help. Sometimes I ask my friends, they do help but everybody is busy with their jobs or studies. It does get difficult to keep track of things, but I try to manage.”
