When a Friendly Stranger Reaches Out to Help

Where can you find a positive online community of friendly strangers interested in supporting your mental health journey? When Ronald Noronha concluded that the answer was “nowhere,” he set out to create one. The result is a social media app called Sprinkler which offers a peer-to-peer online support system plus information about professional clinics and healthcare centres.

“The strength of Sprinkler is that immediately, in the short term, anyone can talk to a peer while awaiting access to professional services, if needed. The focus is on listening and sharing personal experiences, not offering professional advice. There is very little out there for instant peer connection, at any time of day or night. Sprinkler provides it.”

With a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai, Ronald has big plans for his app.

“Growing up in the UAE, I thought this country had all aspects of mental health covered. That isn’t the case. There are gaps in the system when it comes to getting help with daily stress, depressive periods, general anxiety – day-to-day mental wellness. For me, the MEIE program provides the bridge from need to solution.”

Ronald’s ultimate goal is to have Sprinkler pre-installed on all phones, with biometric data fed into the app that could trigger a call out from a real person, not an AI interface. 

“You’ll get a message from a kind and caring person checking in. How amazing would that be?”

Ronald Noronha has won a Stage 1 Norman Esch Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award.