Menstrual Education App Fills a Critical Gap

Breaking Myths. Keeping Girls in School.

Yewer Abeba — Putting Menstrual Education in Her Hands

While countless menstrual and women’s health apps exist today, few are designed specifically for girls in communities where menstruation is surrounded in silence and lack of financial resources is a barrier to menstrual supplies. Shame and embarrassment often prevent girls from discussing it with their families. Out of necessity, many resort to using mattress stuffing, newspaper, cornhusks or even leaves (where cloth is scarce), according to WHO, UNICEF, and NGOs like ActionAid.

Yewer Abeba, meaning “Monthly Flower” in Amharic, was created precisely for them — with the guidance of the very girls it serves.

Developed by Studio Samuel Girls Academy and powered by MakeADifference.tech, Yewer Abeba stands among the first menstrual health education apps of its kind in Ethiopia. It was born from a simple but profound goal: to break taboos, replace myths with knowledge, and ensure every girl can access life-changing information safely, privately, for free and in her own language.

Designed for Her Reality

In our communities, girls miss school each month simply because they don’t have access to clear, reliable information. Without someone to ask or a place to learn, they’re left to manage uncertainty on their own. What should be a natural part of growing up becomes a source of confusion—one that holds them back from showing up confidently in school and in their daily lives.

Through Yewer Abeba, girls can now open an app and find clear, accurate, and compassionate answers — all written in a tone that respects culture and experience.

From the start, our students and our female-led medical team guided the research that shaped the app—identifying the questions girls were too shy to ask, the myths that still circulate, and the topics that needed clarity. Working alongside them, undergraduates from Hamline University’s Global Health program, guided by Professor Kathryn Geurts, helped build the initial framework and early research approach. Together, this collaboration created a strong, culturally grounded foundation for Yewer Abeba.

What Makes Yewer Abeba Different

• Four Languages, One Mission: Yewer Abeba is available in Amharic, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, and English. During one download session, a student became emotional when she saw her own language represented, explaining how rare it was to feel seen in a digital space.

• Free and Offline: The app is completely free, and once downloaded, it works offline. This

  is vital in areas where internet access is unreliable or unaffordable.

• Private by Design: Yewer Abeba collects no personal data—a direct response to concerns from families who wanted assurance that their daughters’ privacy would be protected. Their voice helped shape our model.

These features, while technical, are profoundly personal. They represent trust, safety, and accessibility—cornerstones of the Studio Samuel Girls Academy mission.

Myth-Breaking Moments

It was during our first download session, with a small group of girls gathered around smartphones, exploring the app’s Q&A section with curious eyes and quiet giggles.

One girl looked up and said softly, “I didn’t know we could take a shower during our menses.” A wave of realization swept through the group. None of the girls around her had known this. That single, quiet confession revealed what silence had cost generations—and what knowledge could now restore.

It wasn’t just about hygiene. It was about giving girls the awareness and confidence to understand their bodies, to break free from the taboos and fears that had silenced them for years. In that moment, they saw that their bodies were not to be hidden, feared, or shamed—and that asking questions was not only okay but also powerful. Moments like this remind us that even small conversations can ignite change, giving girls agency over their bodies and reclaiming the knowledge that has been denied to them for far too long.

Shortly after we launched our app, a young woman walked up to the gate of our center in Addis Ababa, holding her phone. She approached our guard and asked, “Is this where I can download the free menstrual education app?”

In that moment, we saw what mattered most: girls looking for answers without fear or shame.

The Path Ahead

Yewer Abeba is the foundation of a scalable digital platform. Our long-term vision is to reach one million girls by 2035 with menstrual health education, employable skills, and digital literacy. The app’s free, offline, and multilingual framework positions us to expand efficiently across Ethiopia and into key East African markets—creating a pathway for broad, sustainable impact at scale.

Yewer Abeba is available on Google Play, designed for Android as it aligns with the tech landscape in our region. In Ethiopia, 93.9% of mobile devices run the Android operating system. Oct 2024–Oct 2025 ~ GS Statcounter

Every download represents one more girl learning that menstruation is natural - and when knowledge is placed in her hands, her path forward becomes her own.