Omani girls develop app to encourage volunteering

Muscat: Three Omani girl students at the Higher College of Technology have developed a mobile application (app) to encourage volunteering in Oman.
The app, developed by Sara Al Mahrizi, Ithar Said and Mutha Al Wahaibi, will help those who are interested in volunteering or joining the Al Rahma Association for Motherhood and Childhood through the app.
The Al Rahma Association strives to help less fortunate families in the Omani society by providing them with the necessary financial or non–financial support through donations from the private sector or other people in society.
“Through our hybrid app, which works on all platforms, people can register their names and express an interest in volunteering. The association will get in touch with them when they need volunteers,” Al Mahrizi said.
According to her, if the association is going to organise a fund raising event or an awareness programme in an area, they can use the app to alert the volunteers who have registered in the app from that area.
“When the volunteers get the alert, they can join the event. This will help the organisation save money and resources,” Al Mahrizi added.
Currently, the app is available for the Al Rahma Association, but the developers are trying to expand it to other organisations too.
The three Omani girls are planning to graduate as software engineers, who can bring a change in society.
“We want to build our career in software development with a human touch,” Al Mahrizi added. The group had also put up a stall at COMEX 2017 to display and promote the app.