IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022 - 33

Awinja Kifworo, a graduate biomedical
engineer, and Peres Daphny Danga,
an electrical and electronics engineering
student, both from
Kenya, submitted
t heir projec t ,
" Development of
a Mobile Application
for Menstrual
Health
Education of PriStacy
Awinja Kifworo
mary School Students
in Kakuma
and Kalobeyei Refugee Camps, " which
first came to life in May 2021 as
part of a program called the
Uvumbuzi Tech Challenge,
an initiative of the University
of Geneva.
" The aim of the challenge
was to bring together
people living in Kakuma
Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei
settlement and us, engineering
students from Kenyatta University
and IEEE, to work on tech-supported
solutions for issues faced in the living
environments of refugee students, " says
Kifworo. As a part of their research, the
team interviewed primary and secondary
school students and uncovered a
lack of knowledge around menstrual
health. " We are passionate about solving
this issue because period stigma and
misinformation affect the attendance,
performance, health, and self-esteem of
female students, " she continues.
From there, the team began designing
an app to teach best practices
for menstruation self-care as well as
debunk myths and reduce period stigmatization.
An obstacle they had to plan
around was the fact that many of the
students in the area do not have access
to smartphones; as a result, the proposed
app is instructor based so that a
single user, such as a teacher or volunteer,
can educate several students.
Currently, a basic version of the app
exists with two of the intended six modules.
Although members of the initial
challenge team have moved on to other
projects, Kifworo and Danga are committed
and hoping for support from
humanitarian organizations that have
Peres Daphny Danga
staff within the refugee camps. " Their
support would be crucial because these
staff members are potential users of the
app, serving as volunteer instructors to
the students, " explains Kifworo.
But they are not discouraged. " Being
shortlisted in the global challenge has
skyrocketed our confidence to pursue
this project, and others of the same kind
to impact society, says Danga. " Emerging
among the top projects has proved to us
that the sky can only be a lower limit. "
Another mobile app, but this time
using augmented reality and dedicated
toward providing accessible
learning materials to
students in Africa, was the
final project shortlisted
in the competition. Titled
" AR Edu, " the app was
created by Dorothy Orina
and Nancy Maina to recreate
the experience of being
in a physical learning environment
via projection of 3D models of
necessary items, such as lab equipment,
and interaction with virtual buttons as if
the student is handling the machine.
" The pandemic made it almost
impossible to train technical courses
due to the inaccessibility of lab
equipment and this brought to
light the day-to-day reality of
students in rural communities,
some of whom don't get
to interact with this equipment
up until their major
exams, " describes Orina. " We
wish to effectively narrow the
gap between the highest performing
school and the lowest performing school
by making learning resources accessible
to all students. As engineers who aim to
utilize our skills to improve the quality
of life, it is our desire that every child in
Africa gets access to quality education. "
Orina and Maina explain that they
Education to find resolution. " Kenya
recently took up a competency-based
curriculum, and in the midst of finding
ways to adopt and adjust to it fully,
our innovation serves to aid and ease
its implementation as the curriculum
involves a more practical approach to
learning, " says Orina.
As all of these recognized projects
progress, it is clear that the W-to-W competition
helped motivate
participants to
solidify and act on
their visions, and
for that, they are
grateful. " This
opportunity made
us realize that it is
possible to create
a better world as
Dorothy Orina
young women in technical fields. It also
gave us a chance to create new opportunities
for ourselves, " says Maina of AR Edu.
Although the realities of the ongoNancy
Maina
ing COVID-19 restrictions meant a plan
to celebrate together in person at this
year's ILC had to be shelved, Azimi says
no formal award was needed. " I would
like to say to IEEE Women in Engineering
that what you offered us
is worth more than an
economical award, " she
shares. " I and researchers
like me appreciate
your support and the
opportunity to be recognized
for our skills
and hard work. "
Ikshana founders and
competition winners Shah and
are currently liaising with regulatory
authorities and teachers from different
levels of education to determine which
content to include and how to best present
it. Similar to their coparticipants
Kifworo and Danga, they know mobile
phone access may be a challenge but
plan to partner with the Ministry of
DECEMBER 2022
Arora encourage others to use the W-toW
competition as a spark of inspiration
for their own work. " We would like to
urge all men and women who are part of
or support the WIE community to look
for the area where their work can have
the biggest impact, to understand that
impact, and dig in. It is very important
to work toward a purpose, no matter
how small, to enjoy and take ownership
of every step of the way, " they advise.
Although only the first time an event
like the W-to-W competition took place,
WIE hopes to run programming like
this going forward. Given the success of
IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE
33
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022
