Community Service
Vanaprastha Elderly Care: Technical Lead, Scaling Manager and Partner
Vanaprastha Care is a home-based eldercare initiative designed to provide dignified, compassionate support for seniors while keeping families meaningfully connected, even from afar. It was founded by Dr. Rani Koppula, a personal acquaintance.
I was drawn to Vanaprastha through lived experience. After my mother’s recovery from Guillain-Barré Syndrome, I witnessed how care does not end at hospital discharge, and how deeply seniors need companionship, continuity, and humane support at home.
I restructured access and operations to make care more affordable and scalable: building a digital booking system, expanding a localized caregiver network, and forming partnerships with 4 hospitals and clinics to reduce costs while improving quality and trust.
These efforts contributed to Vanaprastha being recognized among the Top 15 Startups at IIT Delhi’s Funding Frenzy 2025, reflecting the national potential of a community-centered eldercare model.
Through Vanaprastha, I hope to build a sustainable care ecosystem where families feel supported, and eldercare becomes a shared responsibility rather than a silent burden.
To learn more about Vanaprastha
My Red Cross Journey
I joined the Naparima Girls’ High School Red Cross Club in Grade 6, prior to the pandemic, and remained active for years, contributing to disaster relief initiatives addressing the Haiti earthquake, St. Vincent and the Grenadines volcanic eruptions, major flooding across Trinidad, and humanitarian outreach to Venezuelan refugee camps. These formative years grounded my understanding of service as sustained, coordinated action rather than isolated volunteering.
Naparima Girls' High School Red Cross Club member
Club Revitalization, Junior executive in-charge
Upon returning to in-person school in Grade 8, I found the Red Cross club at a standstill. With senior leadership graduated and participation minimal, I stepped forward to lead revitalization efforts despite not being a senior.
As Junior Executive Lead, I rebranded the club’s image, redesigned meetings into interactive, hands-on experiences, and targeted early-form students to rebuild engagement.
Within one month, membership scaled to over 100 students, making Red Cross the largest and fastest-growing club on campus, and necessitating a move from a conference room to the school auditorium.
In Grade 9, I was elected Secretary and expanded the club’s impact beyond campus.
I produced and submitted three climate advocacy videos on behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society to Climate Red TV, a global platform of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
One video ranked among the Top 5 most-viewed submissions internationally in Solferino Voices, earning me official recognition as a Climate Red TV Reporter and selection as an IFRC Solferino Academy Alumna for international humanitarian contribution.
IFRC Solferino Academy Alumni & Official Climate Red TV Reporter
Vice President of Red Cross Club
In Grade 10, I became the youngest Vice President of the Naparima Girls' High School Red Cross club.
My focus shifted toward community-level inclusion and access. I led outreach to a Blind Welfare Centre, observing how vocational training empowered visually impaired individuals, an experience that later inspired my Braille e-reader innovation project.
That same year, I independently organized a Christmas crowdfunding initiative, culminating in a visit to an underfunded primary school where I introduced education through gamification, combining resource support with interactive learning.
Together, these initiatives reinforced my belief that effective humanitarian work lies at the intersection of empathy, design, and sustainable community engagement.
