MAKE A DIFFERENCE: EMPOWERING OUR TEAM : SHREYAA
My Story
My journey as a developer has always been fueled by a desire to solve real problems and make a tangible difference in communities. When I took on the challenge of building Yewer Abeba, I knew it would be more than a technical project — it was an opportunity to create something significant for girls in Ethiopia, providing them with access to menstrual health education that is often out of reach.
As a young woman building this app for girls, this project carried a special weight for me. I was fortunate to have guidance during my own changes, and Yewer Abeba became my chance to pass that support forward — creating something that could offer the same reassurance to others. I hope that girls who might otherwise feel alone or without answers could instead find clarity, encouragement, and safe, culturally sensitive guidance in their own language.
The app was developed in collaboration with Studio Samuel Girls Academy and Makeadifference.tech, and I led the design and development of the Android application. From the start, I needed to ensure the app was not only functional but also reliable, culturally sensitive, and easy to use for girls with varying levels of literacy. I used Jetpack Compose and Kotlin to create a clear and approachable interface, built for full offline functionality with local data storage. I added support for Amharic, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, and English so the app could reach as many users as possible in their native language. For this, I am grateful to the Studio Samuel team, whose guidance with translations helped the app speak more authentically.
The process taught me far more than just development. I learned how to prepare a real product for release, navigating the Google Play Console testing process, handling multilingual resources, and ensuring compliance with safety and privacy standards. It was my first experience managing both the technical and product sides of getting an app into the hands of real users.
Looking back, Yewer Abeba has become a milestone in my growth as a developer and as a problem solver. It showed me how every technical decision — whether it’s interface design, language switching, or data storage — is ultimately about people and making their experience simpler, safer, and more empowering.
I am deeply grateful to Studio Samuel for entrusting me with this project, and to Makeadifference.tech for their invaluable support. I am also thankful to everyone on the broader team whose work contributed to Yewer Abeba, even though I didn’t get the chance to collaborate with all of them directly. And most importantly, I thank the girls of Studio Samuel Girls Academy, who shared their stories, voices, and experiences, helping shape this app into something that truly reflects their needs and perspectives.
Building Yewer Abeba solidified my belief that technology can be more than tools and features — it can be a bridge between knowledge and the people who need it most. There are, of course, many menstrual education apps already in the world, but what makes Yewer Abeba different is who it was built for — and why. It was created so that education is not limited by geography, the internet, or stigma. Everything created means