A Public health practitioner for 14 years—on a quest for sustained impact in remote, vulnerable areas through maternal-child health, Comprehensive primary health care and WASH interventions across Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Northeast.
Soliga children in BR Hills suffered massive facial swellings from tooth infections. During Internship posting in public health dentistry, that sight changed everything for Dr. Tejaswi Balasundaram. The need exceeded clinical skills—the system was broken. She chose public health as her calling.
A gold medallist in public health (MPH) and Dental Surgeon (BDS). She partnered with PHFI, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, WaterAid, BSR-Village Ways Charitable Trust, and SELCO Foundation. These organizations gave her opportunities to work closely with vulnerable, last-mile communities towards sustainable menstruation, WASH, pilot innovative health tech such as telemedicine, portable lab kits, MCH kits, and solar powered active vaccine carriers. She, also, championed positive labour room experiences in resource-limited PHCs. Yet impacts faded after two to three years.
Himalayan talks—with women facing stillbirths and postpartum isolation—taught her more than any text book could offer.
A Kumaon trek with a new mother revealed: healing thrives when communities know who to call.
Dr. Tejaswi co-founded Alilu. Its Resource Centres empower vulnerable communities to author health, education, livelihood, and forest priorities from Day 1. They write their own bucket lists. They know who to call. They own their futures. Healing systems, not symptoms.