HELPING SENIORS PLUG INTO TECHNOLOGY

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Ovee Dharwadkar. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light. 

Ovee Dharwadkar is breaking the digital divide, one senior at a time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ovee saw her grandmother struggling to stay connected with others without sufficient technology skills. While Ovee and her sister were at home with their grandmother, they were busy during the day with online classes. When their grandma would ask questions about things like sending a picture to a friend, Ovee realized that actions that were second nature to a digital-first teen were entirely foreign to seniors. It was then that she decided to channel her personal challenge into global impact. 

Ovee founded Tech Me Kid, a student-led organization empowering seniors to become confident digital citizens. By organizing and leading in-person and online sessions to teach seniors how to use basic technology, Ovee and the TMK team are directly connecting seniors with young people for whom technology skills are second nature. Whether it’s learning how to send a text message or how to log onto Zoom for a virtual event, the Tech Me Kid team’s 8 to 12 monthly events are helping seniors feel less disconnected in an increasingly digital society. 

So far, Tech Me Kid has taught more than 10,000 people. The organization also partnered with more than 20 organizations, as well as a team of more than 200 volunteers in 15 cities across the world. They also help seniors stay safe online in an environment that often preys on them. Tech Me Kid launched the #1MSecureTogether campaign to educate one million people on online safety. In just four months, it reached more than 300,000 people through education sessions and scam alerts. 

While Tech Me Kid is a huge success already, Ovee isn’t stopping just yet. Currently a rising senior in high school, Ovee is preparing to head out into the world, where she’s interested in pursuing a career in technology. In addition to helping thousands of seniors connect with others, her robust volunteer experience has served as a launchpad for her future career. Her story is a testament to how much influence young people can have when they choose to help others. 

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?  

During COVID, all of us were quarantined at home. I saw my grandma being affected and struggling with this the most because she lacked basic technology skills and was struggling to use her phone to stay connected with friends and family. Luckily, I was there at home, and my sister and I could help her. However, I realized that all of her friends and other seniors across the world didn’t have someone to go to when they needed help. That was the main reason that prompted me to start this initiative.  

What inspires you to volunteer? 

Seeing the impact that it’s made in my local community, and that feeling of wanting to bring that to more people across the country and the world. After I hosted my very first technology class in my local community center, it was just so amazing to see these seniors. They were so happy that they learned a new skill, and I really just wanted to take this love and grow the connection outside of my own community and on a broader scale, which is what I’m so grateful that we have achieved here at Tech Me Kid.  

Tell us about your volunteer role with Tech Me Kid. 

We have private one-on-one sessions, but our main focus is going to be on group events. We host four to eight in-person sessions across the world. Usually, this time is spent doing presentations on a basic technology concept. For example, how to use Google or how to send an image in messages. We also have personalized, almost one-on-one support. After we finish our presentations, we have all of our volunteers sit down with each senior so that they can answer any questions. They go over the instructions again and make sure to take it nice and slow, so that they completely understand the concept and can answer any other technology questions. 

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization? 

I’ve set up the organization so there’s a structure, and there are also promotions after every year, so the organization will definitely continue beyond me. I have a lot of people who are younger than me who will take on my role in the future as I graduate. That’s how I’m keeping this organization running, while making sure there are people ready to fill in positions to continue that cycle.  

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work? 

Seeing the smiles on all of the seniors’ faces after they finally understand how to send a message, or learn how to use their phones, is so rewarding. Seeing them be so satisfied is what really has been pushing me. I have seniors that come to me after classes, and they are just so grateful and appreciative that they are finally able to learn new things after being scared and apprehensive about using their phones. Because all of our volunteers are younger, like students in middle or high school, a lot of these seniors tell me it’s like talking to their grandchild. That’s that next level of intergenerational connection.  

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer? 

The main thing that I’ve learned is how to try to get other people to believe in this message. On the surface, teaching seniors technology isn’t a very prevalent issue in comparison to a lot of other issues, so the main thing that I’ve learned is really trying to get people to understand the message. The way that I’ve done that is I get real seniors to come and share their frustrations, and we show the impact on a local scale. We show how it’s possible to teach all these seniors nationwide by connecting them with these younger individuals. What I’ve learned is getting people to understand the goal that was really driving me throughout this entire period, and how exactly they can see that and scale it to a national level.  

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about? 

Volunteering and helping out your community is such an amazing cause. Not only because it helps the community and the people, but personally I get a lot of self-satisfaction from it. I feel like I’m taking part in helping people. I feel good knowing that I helped someone and they feel happy about it. That little act of teaching someone or just getting involved in volunteering for like an hour can pile up and compound. 

What do you want people to learn from your story? 

If I have to pick one thing from my story, it would be never stop trying. As cliché as it sounds, that is really the message that’s been driving me. No matter the obstacles that I’ve faced throughout this entire period, helping my grandma and scaling it to a national level was the main thing that was keeping me pushing. I always knew that it was something that had to be addressed, so no matter how much pushback I faced, I always kept that in mind. That was the main thing that really pushed me to grow it as big as it is. 

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Ovee? Find local volunteer opportunities.