The Inspiration Behind Manu’s Helping Hands for Orphan Children (MANU’S HHOC)
The driving force behind the creation of this platform is the life journey of its founder, Maheshwaram Lakesh, who personally experienced the hardships of poverty, lack of guidance, and limited access to education from a very young age.
Born into a humble family, Lakesh’s father worked as a textile mechanic, while his mother was a beedi worker and agricultural daily laborer. His two elder sisters had to discontinue their education after completing 10th standard in a government school due to financial constraints. The family endured many struggles, worsened by his father’s drinking habits. Lakesh and his sisters often worked as agricultural laborers—even while attending school—to support the household.
Despite these challenges, Lakesh studied in a government school until 10th standard and emerged as the school topper. He aspired to join a government junior college located 6 km from his village. However, a private junior college visited his school for canvassing and offered him admission in the BiPC stream, waiving the first-year fee and covering the second-year fee through a scholarship of ₹4,000. He accepted the offer and went on to become the college topper in the first year and division topper in the second year.
Without any formal coaching, Lakesh secured a 12,000 rank in EAMCET, aspiring to pursue MBBS and enter medical research. Unfortunately, he lacked guidance and financial support from relatives. A faculty member advised him to take long-term coaching, which cost around ₹50,000—an amount his family could not afford. As a result, he had to seek admission in an Arts & Science Degree College in Hanmakonda. Meanwhile, he attended EAMCET counseling but had to compromise, as he couldn’t afford to study in a distant location. So, he chose Care College of Pharmacy that allowed him to commute from home.
Throughout his academic journey, Lakesh worked part-time every Sunday at a hospital—from 9th standard until the completion of his B.Pharmacy degree. After graduation, he hoped to pursue a master’s degree at NIPER and eventually a PhD. However, family responsibilities forced him to seek employment immediately. He visited multiple pharmaceutical companies in person, submitting resumes, and finally secured a training opportunity at Aurobindo Pharma with a monthly stipend of ₹7,000. Even after two years, his salary was only ₹12,000.
It was during this time that Lakesh had a profound realization:
One helping hand at the right time to the right person can change a life.
This thought became the foundation of Manu’s Helping Hands for Orphan Children—a platform created to support the truly deserving.
We began our activities in September 2017 and got officially registered as a Charitable Trust in October 2019.
Today, MANU’S HHOC has extended its helping hand to over 8,000 individuals and transformed several people lives, providing support across various areas including:
“Today, MANU’S HHOC has extended its helping hand to over 8,000 individuals and transformed several lives, providing support across various areas including…”
- Orphan and semi-orphan care
- Elderly support
- Educational Support
- Medical aid
- Basic survival needs
- Blood donations
- Eradication of child begging.
- Promotion of the importance of education within underprivileged communities
Lakesh is now working as a Senior Manager in the Regulatory Affairs department at a pharmaceutical MNC in Hyderabad and continues to run this charitable trust along with his friends, relatives, and professional network.
This journey stands as a testament to how personal struggle can be transformed into collective impact—and how empathy, when turned into action, can uplift entire communities.
Our intention is to reach out to the areas, where people are in need of help, who don’t even know that kind-hearted people are there to help them. By doing this, people who have the ability to help others in those areas may get a thought to help the needy nearby them. We hope this will bridge the gap between the givers and receivers of help bring them together through our platform and generate a ripple effect of givers out of receivers eventually.
Everyone definitely has a thought to help the needy at a certain point of time, but most of us are not aware of the right platform to help the needy. Few might also think a single hand may not significantly fulfill anyone’s requirement. We believe that MANU’S HHOC will become the right platform for all kind and generous people
interested in service
Hope to see you join us in this inspirational and rewarding journey.
