A Morning at Africa Amini Momela Health Centre.
Today, with our two new team members, we set off early to drive to the Africa Amini Momela Health Centre. We had the opportunity to meet with the staff after their morning meeting to talk briefly about Mwandamo and educate them on our USSD app for menstrual cycle tracking.
Following the feedback we received from the app's pilot in Esilalei, we made many changes and resolved technical issues. The team here and in Uganda have worked tirelessly to make the app as user-friendly, smooth, and easy as possible for women to register and input their details. Our visit was a chance to continue our pilot programme with the staff at the health centre in the hope that they can assist their patients in registering and using the service.
Of course, nothing ever goes as perfectly as you hope, and we ran into some further technical problems. We encountered issues with individual network providers, data input errors, and some backlog snags. However, this is precisely the reason we run pilot programmes - these honest user experiences are invaluable stepping stones toward making the app even better.
The staff members raised two main points of feedback. First, they asked that the app's timeout window be extended, which would allow them to walk patients through its usage at a slower pace. Their second question was how the app would work for women with irregular cycles. We explained that while the app initially uses a standard 28-day cycle for its predictions, it becomes more accurate over time as women log their own personal data.
After our session, we were given a tour of the Polyclinic. We found the natural remedies area particularly interesting and got to meet the team who made the herbal tinctures from scratch. Meeting the people behind this was a humbling reminder of just how much care and creativity goes into holistic healthcare.
We were welcomed warmly by the staff and enjoyed chai, ndizi, and kaimati with them before heading back. We left inspired by the beautiful location and amazing services on offer, giving us ideas for our own women's health clinic one day…