Introducing Team The Tremors

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Nelly and Mercy

##Introducing Team The Tremors

Nelly and Mercy
Mercy and Nelly (Image: Nelly Kiboi)

Hi guys, we are Nelly and Mercy from Nairobi, Kenya. We are working on the RapidFTR project. We are supported by three coaches here at Nairobi; Paul Bombo, Hungai Kevin and Diana Wanjuhi. Paul and Hungai school with us and they are amazing developers. Diana is a software engineer at Maramoja transport. We also work with our mentors, Sri Prasanna from India and Anne Mwangi from Uganda, who are the engineers and developers behind RapidFTR. All these people are wonderful :-)

Who are we?

We are two young women who have a different background but have a common interest in programming.

Nelly:
Jambo!!(Hello)
I’m Nelly the older one :-) , I am currently doing my MSc in Information Technology at United States International University- Africa and I am a professional software developer (I create android apps). I am also the Google Developer Groups lead for United States International University-Africa.
When I joined the tech world, it was out of passion and love for technology, and how it can transform lives. I had not yet done programming before in my life. but when I encountered it in my undergraduate class, I knew that was what I wanted to do all my life. I am currently learning Ruby on Rails and it’s awesome working as a team for a common goal to change people’s lives.

Mercy:
Hi, Mercy here. I am currently studying Applied Computer Technology in United States International University- Africa. My area of interest is in Information Security and Mathematics. I like to program but coding has not always been easy for me. I have been learning html5, css3 and programming languages like C++, Python and Java. I am learning Ruby on Rails at the moment and the experience is amazing.

Why the name “Team The Tremors”?

We choose the name Tremors because we want to cause a disruption. We intend to disrupt the norm and do something new, exciting and breaking barriers.

How did you hear about the RGSoC and why did you apply?

We had a hackathon event that happened on March 14th 2015 in the University. It was during the event that one of our friends, Hungai (also our coach) mentioned to us about it.
We thought it would be great to participate in RGSoC and also work on a real open source project. By this, we would not only learn and grow but also encourage and motivate other upcoming programmers.

What are we working on?

We are working on the RapidFTR project. RapidFTR is an android and web-based application that assists in gathering and sharing of information about children in emergency situations so that they can be reunited with their families. This open source project has been developed for a long time.

We will be implementing the following issues:
Mark a child as “Not Matching” a potentially matched enquiry
Separate highlighted fields for web from mobile
Display ‘no potential matches found’ message

We chose this project because we are familiar with the emergency situations like terror attacks, refugees and displaced persons. Losing a loved one is a painful experience but this application helps in reuniting people in such situations.
We also want to learn the most about Ruby and Rails.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

We want to learn as much as possible and improve our programming skills and move to a higher level with our programming experience.
We thank our Mentors: Sri and Anne, Coaches: Paul, Hungai and Diana, Supervisor: Cathy for their positive support. Not forgetting the RGSoC Team.