GUNTUR: Having struggled throughout his childhood, Yadlavalli Sri Krishna strongly believes in education for all. He draws his inspiration from Shai Reshef, a well-known academic administrator who views higher education as a human right and once said, “When you educate one person you can change a life, when you educate many, you can change the world.”
Now an advocate after years of hard work, the 32-year-old, who is originally from Ponnekallu village in Guntur district, has been helping poor students get closer to their dreams. In 2017, Sri Krishna set up Diksitha Foundation and Charitable Trust, with the help of which he funds students facing financial problems.
“After all of my struggles, my daughter’s sickness gave me another big push to start helping elderly persons and the destitute apart from giving scholarship to students. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the trust served food to over 200 people every day,” he said. In 2021, he set up Happy Care Old Age Home on Reddypalem Road, where at present 35 destitute, including 10 homeless kids, are taking shelter.
As a kid, there were always financial hardships in his family since his parents were modest farmworkers. His interest in studies and scoring well in exams brought him to the notice of his teachers, who bought him books and stationary from time to time. He took up several odd jobs to financially sustain himself during his college education.
“I worked as a paperboy in the morning and as a watchman at an internet cafe at night. As I had access to computers during the second job, I used the time to prepare for medical entrance exams,’’ he recalled.
Despite securing 325th rank in the State in an entrance exam, he couldn’t pursue his dream to become a doctor due to lack of finances. “As a person who had to endure so many hardships to complete his education, I know how valuable it is and how difficult it is when we can’t fulfil our dreams because we don’t have money despite having talent. So I have decided to help those kids who are going through similar situation,” he said. “A few doctors have become patrons of the trust. My goal is to help more students so that they can grab all the opportunities they get without worrying about finances.”