Kindness Through an App on Your Phone

‘Kindness: The Universal Language of Love’, an organisation started and run by Chandani from Grade 11, has recently launched ‘The Kindness’ app. The app is an initiative to spread information and involve more people in the endeavour to rescue animals, something that Chandani has been passionately involved in for over three years. We contacted Chandani to find out more about the development of the app and her vision of the future.

Through my experience, I have been able to understand some of the major problems faced by animals and animal lovers – Chandani, Grade 11

Being a true animal lover, Chandani has been working for the betterment of animals over the last few years with her organisation ‘Kindness: The Universal Language of Love’. The organisation has has established a rescue and rehabilitation centre for vulnerable stray and abandoned dogs andwith the latest development of the Kindness app, Chandani and her team hope to reach even more people, and save more animals across the country.

By working with animal rights and rescue, Chandani has come to understand challenges regarding animal adoption, violence against stray dogs and difficulty when promoting animal welfare events. “In addition, the current times of the pandemic have created more issues, like the increasing difficulty and apprehension in going to veterinary doctors and the abandonment of pets”, says Chandani, and explains that this is especially the case for animals that have lost their owners due to the COVID-19 virus. To address these issues she decided to develop the Kindness App.

The app is built around four main features: adoption, events, an online forum and an SOS service. In the adoption section, people can put animals up for adoption, or look for animals to adopt – sharing contacts with other people. In the events section, people post notices about events regarding animals and animal rights, reaching out to more people in their area. The online forum is a platform where users can post queries and concerns relating to animals, and get feedback and help from other users. The SOS feature allows people to reach out for immediate help, requesting for animal food, medicine and medical services, and transport in a specific area.

Developing the app has not been easy and has taken Chandani around seven months. “I taught myself how to code, and took help when needed from Mr Anuragh Chaterjee, a computer science engineer”, explains Chandani, who developed the app for both the iOS platform and the Android. The predominant challenge faced while developing the app was to get it approved for the iOS platform, due to Apple's strict guidelines. However, after exchanges with the Apple team, and changing the code, the app was finally approved for publishing on the App Store. Chandani now hopes to get detailed feedback from users, to improve the app and make it more user friendly.

Chandani says that the app has received much appreciation and positive feedback from users. “It already has 500 downloads and has facilitated many adoptions, especially in Bhopal, Mumbai and Pune, and has helped in rescuing abandoned and missing dogs and cats”, says Chandani whose team at the Kindness wants to reach an even larger audience by collaborating with other organisations and start-ups that share their vision. “In the future we hope to expand our team and create more internships and volunteering opportunities for passionate individuals”, says Chandani, who is hoping that more students at TISB will join the movement.

To download the app, visit Google Play, or the Apple Store.
For more information about Chandani’s organisation, visit Kindness: The Universal Language of Love website.