East and Central Africa
At present we are in West Tanzania, where maternal mortality and morbidity are high, while Tanzania is a stable country whose economy is steadily improving. It is a functioning democracy, internet coverage and access to ICT are advancing at a fast pace. The application as well as the project to develop and implement it can become self-sustained once the revised edition is properly tested and adjusted.
We also have users in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the East, in the capital Kinshasa and in the Interior, in Kwilu province. There Internet is very unevenly distributed and hybrid solutions are needed with an app that is entirely accessible offline, except for registration. It must synchronize immediately when it picks up a signal. Such smartphones are more expensive, so they must be budgeted for.
In Kenya we have new users of the app and the training materials mainly in Transnzoia county. Community Health Promotors are very active in the Primary Health Care system in Kenya and they really want this app for their maternal health promotion work. Most health workers have a smartphone for their work and most women, even rural, have a touch phone while a rapidly growing number has a smartphone. Cheaper models with less RAM and storage can therefore be used.
West Africa
At present we have a programmer building a version for Nigeria of his own volition while the core universal version will be rebuilt for international purpose with licensing for national or regional versions. The Tanzanian version was meant to become the core one, but this proved overambitious. The building of this app is a major challenge requiring mature developers in a supportive environment. Creating the required conditions is a process that takes years if it must come from the bottom up and low budget for in-country sustainability, which was our vision, which we now slightly adjusting as the health facilities and the women pay the price for this policy.
All over Africa
While working at these technical challenges, we make the materials available online for group sessions about maternal health for the community and the mothers, but also for entry level health care providers as well as materials (mostly slide shows).