‘Education is the most important thing for us’

Students from the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science work on projects in Churchill Hall with the computers donated by Literacy Movement 4 More. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

For the past four years, Seema and Suraj Korumilli have created libraries and donated school supplies to children around the world as part of their pledge to improve literacy.

Now the two Northeastern students have donated 30 computers to a high school in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood.

The donation marked the most recent contribution they have made through their nonprofit Literacy Movement 4 More, which they co-founded in 2013.

Students at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science who participate in Northeastern’s summer program to prepare rising seniors for calculus will use the computers to complete engineering and coding projects at school and at home.

Suraj and Seema Korumilli co-founded Literacy Movement 4 More in 2013. Photo courtesy of Seema Korumilli.

“We want to do our best for the community,” said Seema, a first-year business student.

The Korumillis, who are twins, have donated more than 3,000 books, three-dozen computers, and scores of other educational tools to seven libraries around the world since 2013, including libraries in India, Greece, and the Bahamas. In July, they signed a pledge with an elected official in Mandapeta, India, to open libraries at all 17 schools in the district.

“Education is the most important thing to us,” said Seema, whose family emigrated from India.

Northeastern’s Bridge to Calculus program primarily serves underrepresented minorities who often lack the technology to complete their homework assignments, said Rajini Jesudason, a part-time lecturer who organizes the program.

Students from the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science work on projects in Churchill Hall with the computers donated by Literacy Movement 4 More. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Suraj, a first-year business and computer science student, refurbished 15 desktops and 15 laptops to help make it easier for students at the John D. O’Bryant school to do their work.

“If you’re learning to code and you don’t have access at home, you’re at a real deficit,” said Jesudason.

The Korumillis are working hard to solidify their connections with the Boston community. Since enrolling at Northeastern in fall 2017, they have struck up a working relationship with City-Wide Friends of the Boston Public Library, a volunteer organization that seeks to enhance public awareness, recognition, and financial support of the BPL system through advocacy and education.

“This is where we will be living, growing, and learning for the next five years,” said Seema, “and we want to get involved with the community here.”