In a country like Bangladesh where digitization is still an alien to the majority of the population, entrepreneurs don’t accept defeat. Over the few recent years, Bangladeshis have been witnessing the execution of an array of unconventional ideas.
Despite the risk that will follow, there’s no stopping the entrepreneurs and thinkers from following their passion and working for the societal development of their community. What separates this bunch from the rest of the crowd is their willingness to think out of the box. Maya, a Bangladesh based technology company, is the brainchild of the likes.
Ivy Huq Russell, Founder of Maya, and her team of enthusiasts set down to revolutionize women’s healthcare and legal system, in Bangladesh. Even though the country has made great strides towards women empowerment, women are still bound within the conservative convictions of an orthodox society. Women restrict themselves to seek for solutions to their issues, be it related to health, society or law. Not that it is just self-reservation, associates and relatives frown upon the boldness of speaking out loud about female issues.
Maya came up with just the solution. www.maya.com.bd is a comprehensive website that has a pretty rich blog, covering a wide spectrum of common and overseen problems that suffocate the Bangladeshi women.The 2 self-explanatory tabs, titled health and society respectively, contains enumerable articles on relevant criteria that are sub-divided in further classifications. From guides to solutions, the write-ups have it all.
To enable interaction with the users, the website has an additional provision- the Maya Apa section. This feature is also available in a distinct application, ‘Maya App’ which was launched by Maya, in partnership with the groundbreaking Bangladeshi development organization, BRAC, as the first mobile app in the country for women. Maya Apa refers to as the virtual problem solver.
Although the articles can be enjoyed by any visitor however, the queries can be placed after registration. The simple 3 step procedure for registration and the user-friendly interface call out to its users. The app as well as the website page, runs on the basis of question and answers and, stating the obvious, the questions are asked by the users and the answers to them are sent within 48 hrs by experts acting as medical specialists, legal specialists and community managers.
Previously asked questions are available for public display in the Maya Apa tab, thus circumventing repetitions. Users appear as serial numbers when their questions are viewed by public, thereby concealing the identity- taking into consideration the sensitive issues that are dealt with, this feature was the sugar on the top. Anyone, male or female, can register and solve their queries regarding the health, legal and social concerns of women. Rest assured, they can actually ask anything that centers the mentioned categories.
With innovations there is always the tail of challenges and cutting it off is the true success. Startups, like Maya, are the source of advancement of the community. Health, legal and social complications are crucial to the community and they need to be addressed all the time. Bangladesh has implemented many commendable projects for the benefit of the society, Maya being one of them.
You can find the Maya Apa App here.
