San Ramon Teen Helps Elders Enjoy Technology
SAN RAMON, CA — Shanay Champaneri’s grandfather suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, which leaves him with limited mobility. He had read every book in the family’s library, and often sat around with nothing to do.
Champaneri, a freshman student at Diablo Valley College and Dougherty Valley High School graduate, opted to go to a local school so he could care for his grandfather during the day while his parents worked. Champaneri noticed that his grandfather lit up whenever he taught him new ways that his phone could keep him entertained.
“The one thing that he never got bored of was his phone, and some people might think of that as an unhealthy addiction, but whenever he’s bored or sad or hasn’t taken his medicine yet or something’s wrong, he can always find some sort of entertainment on his phone, whether it’s watching videos or surfing the internet,” Champaneri said. “But he never knew what to do to keep himself busy, so it was often me teaching him the things he could do, the people he could call, how to call people, and that started my inspiration for going to the first elder home and trying to teach people there.”
Since then, Champaneri has led 30-minute technology trainings at a number of elder care homes in the area, and trained other young people how to give similar trainings near where they live. He started off at Elder Ashram in Oakland, where he had previously volunteered, and then worked at the Reutlinger Community in Danville.
He teaches elderly residents everything from how to turn on their laptop, to how to play games, to how to watch videos they enjoy on YouTube. When working in homes with a large international community, he shows them how they can access news from their home country.
“My style is showing the many fun and intellectually stimulating things that they can do on their own,” he said. “It was always such a big hit, partly because I’m younger and the elders love interacting with me so much, but they also learn so much and they get so many personal questions answered.”
The programs were such a success that he began recruiting students his age to do similar trainings. So far, he has helped organize trainings in San Francisco, San Jose, and even Orange County. He now hopes to expand to every major region in California before summer 2023.
Anyone interested in leading these trainings can contact shanay.champaneri@gmail.com.
Gloss