"Applika is a club where you can learn a lot and help a lot", says Juan Francisco Carias Álvarez, PhD student and one of the coordinators of this new project of volunteer activities launched by Tantaka-Tecnun. "The goal is that students learn to program and develop web applications, and put this technical knowledge at the service of NGOs such as the Telephone of Hope or Palliatives Without Borders", gives as examples the engineer of the department of Industrial Organization.

Jesús Muñoz, coordinator of volunteer activities of Palliative Care Without Borders, explains that "the NGO needs to reach out better to its public, to spread the word about palliative care at Philosophy , so that everyone who has a loved one who is in a terminal phase can turn to them". Muñoz continues: "We want people to turn to us, to know about the palliative care units or residential centers we have or to know what to do if a loved one dies. Death is a taboo topic , but it is there, and we have experts who can help you deal with the grief of losing someone you love," he adds.

As highlighted by coordinator Juan Francisco Carias, "the way of communicating has changed, and it is very nice to know that we can help by doing what we like or know how to do". In the case of PSF, "we will start designing the database, to digitize its resources and upload them to the web, and then it will be translated into a mobile application," explains the young engineer.  

On the other hand, the association International Telephone of Hope, wants to create a chat to establish a first contact with people who are considering ending their lives and need psychological financial aid . "Alfonso Echavarri, the technical director of the Navarra branch of this association, explained to me that they need to reach out to young people, because there are many people in a very bad way, suffering a lot, who do not call to ask for financial aid. The chat would help to break this barrier, encouraging them to establish a first contact with contact. The chat could help save lives," Carias continues.

Applika, which at the moment has about fifteen interested parties, can be extrapolated to other social entities. The students, coordinated by professors Nicolás Serrano, Héctor Solar and Juan Francisco Carias, will be able to participate as volunteers, as interns or developing their project of End of Degree or Master's Degree. They will also have the collaboration of professors Enrique Reina and Josune Hernantes, as well as PhD student Desmond Moru .

If you are interested, please write to jfcarias@tecnun.es.