By Grace Olabode | Engineering Lead, Bloom After
Writing code is usually about solving business problems. But sometimes, you get to build something that feels like a warm hug for someone going through a tough time.
For the International Women’s Day (IWD) Sprint with the Tabi Project and TEE Foundation, our team is building Bloom After. It’s a website designed to safely support Nigerian mothers dealing with Postpartum Depression (PPD).
As the Engineering Lead for this project, my job for Week 1 (our setup week) was to build a strong foundation. I needed to make sure our coding workspace was set up so that the final website would be fast, safe, and incredibly easy to use. Here is a look at how we started.
Keeping it Fast and Simple
When a mother is tired, stressed, or overwhelmed, the last thing she needs is a slow, frustrating website. We had a strict rule from the start: the site must load in under 3 seconds on a mobile phone.
To make this happen, we kept our tools very simple. Instead of using heavy, complicated coding frameworks, we went back to the basics and built the site using plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
We also made strict rules for how our team writes and shares code on GitHub. We set up a system where nobody is allowed to push code directly to the live website. Everything must be checked and approved first, which stops the site from accidentally breaking.
My Work This Week
As the Engineering Lead, I had to make sure my team could code smoothly without stepping on each other's toes. Here is what I focused on:
I wrote the Technical Requirements Document (TRD). This is basically our rulebook. It tells the team exactly how to organize our files and how to set up our database to safely hold things like clinic locations and community stories.
I set up our JavaScript so we could build things like the top navigation bar just once, and reuse it on every page. This saves the team a massive amount of time.
I carefully checked the code my teammates wrote for our Landing Page to make sure it looked great and worked perfectly on mobile phones.
What I Learned This Week
Having a great plan doesn't matter if the team isn't talking. Constantly chatting and answering questions in Slack saved us from a lot of mistakes.
Building the website with plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript reminded me that you don't always need the newest and fanciest tools to make something beautiful and functional.
Sprints move very fast. Knowing when to step back, take a breath, and just be a "cute potato" for a little while is super important so the team doesn't burn out!
Team Shoutouts
A strong foundation is only as good as the team building on top of it. A massive thank you to the amazing people building this with me:
Nanji Lakan (Product Lead): For making sure we are building exactly what these mothers need.
Agugua Genevieve (Design Lead): For designing a website that feels safe, warm, and welcoming.
Chijioke Uzodinma (Backend Lead): For helping me plan the database perfectly.
Prisca Onyemaechi (Lead Maintainer): For keeping our GitHub files perfectly organized.
Christine Mwangi (People Manager): For keeping everyone happy, focused, and moving forward.
Adejola Esther: For working on the landing page (contributions and partners section).
Ajibola Sophia: For joining our backend team.
Week 1 is officially done and our first pages are live! Next week, we dive into building the actual resource library and the clinic finder map. Let’s build something that matters.
Link to our live landing page: https://the-bloom-after.netlify.app/
Link to our GitHub Repo: https://github.com/Tabi-Project/Bloom-After.git
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