SFC1 (Year 12) student Annika founded social enterprise www.glutenfreejio.com which she wrote an article about a year ago. Here, she gives an update on her latest work and experiences outside the classroom, which will undoubtedly contribute to her becoming a real change-maker of tomorrow.
I was given an early diagnosis of coeliac disease at age nine, which motivated me to enable change to the broader community.
In the past few years, I have set up blood testing camps to detect coeliac disease, raised awareness among students like myself, provided gluten-free resources and tips in the rural areas of India, and tried to effect policy change in food labelling in government schools.
As a result of this work, I have been selected as the first ambassador of Beyond Celiac outside of the United States of America. For more than 15 years, Beyond Celiac has been the leading patient advocacy and research-driven coeliac disease organisation working to drive diagnosis, advance research, and accelerate the discovery of new treatments and a cure.
Beyond Celiac Ambassadors empower the coeliac community by providing outlets to share experiences, spread positivity and focus on inclusion, while establishing personal connections and building supportive networks for those with coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity at every stage of life. I have been given a substantial grant to further this cause, which I am using to create free hospital kits for newly diagnosed patients.
In addition to this work, I have been invited to Josh Talks, an online platform of over 50 million users, to empower the rural population of India, particularly encouraging housewives to set up small start-up ventures with minimal investment. I have also been approached for a TED talk later in the year.
I have also had the amazing opportunity to shadow the Executive Director of the World Bank Group, Mr Rajesh Khullar. It has helped me understand the economic landscape of rural India in better detail.
Annika, SFC1 (Year 12)
Read more about how Annika founded Gluten Free Jio here.
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