MadiWellness

Inspiration

Many youth in Botswana, and around the world, face significant challenges related to stress, mental health struggles, bitterness, and financial instability. These challenges often lead to drug abuse, domestic violence, gambling, and, tragically suicide.

For example, some young people harm themselves, their partners, or family members due to a lack of accessible counselling and mental health support. Others turn to gambling or other risky behaviours as a coping mechanism. MadiWellness was inspired by the need to provide accessible, confidential, and supportive mental health and financial guidance online acting as a “counsellor without borders” that is available anytime, anywhere.

What it does

MadiWellness is an AI-powered assistant that helps youth:

• Manage their finances with budgeting tools, spending alerts, and safe saving suggestions.
• Monitor mental health through chat-based check-ins, mood tracking, and coping strategies.
• Receive support and referrals to professional counsellors, mentors, or community resources.
• Access job opportunities and skill-building resources to improve financial independence.

It bridges the gap between financial wellness and mental health, offering a holistic solution for youth empowerment.

How we built it

• Python for backend AI logic (budget recommendations, mental health assessment, referrals).
• Streamlit for an interactive web-based interface.
• Custom algorithms to simulate real-world scenarios, track user progress, and provide personalised guidance.
• Use of dummy datasets to ensure privacy and confidentiality during testing.

Challenges we ran into

• Matching youth with the right counsellors or mentors based on their unique situations.
• Designing an interface that is user-friendly and engaging for youth with varying technology skills.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Created a system that can potentially reduce suicides and violence by providing timely guidance;
• Helps youth manage finances, improve income opportunities, and make informed decisions;
• Provides a referral system to connect users to counselling and job resources.

Demonstrated a scalable, locally relevant solution for Botswana youth.

What we learned

• Youth constitute a majority of Botswana’s population, and many face combined financial and mental health challenges.
• There is a critical need for accessible, tech-driven solutions that can provide immediate support and guidance.
• Even a simple AI assistant can make a meaningful impact in mental wellness and financial stability.

What's next for MadiWellness

Develop a fully functional prototype based on user feedback and testing.

• Integrate real counselling networks and local job platforms.
• Expand features to include gamified learning, community support, and analytics for continuous improvement.
• Aim for a full launch in Botswana, with potential expansion across other African countries facing similar youth challenges.

Built With

• python
• streamlit