Gaza Strip, GAZA CITY — Nour al-Khodari came up with the idea for her award-winning app Momy Helper after she gave birth to a son in 2014 while living in Chicago far from her family. The child-rearing advice she found online was mostly written in English.

“I was surprised to see that there was a great deal of research on child rearing published on social media and in magazines. Most of it was in-depth, well-documented and scientific — a sharp contrast to the Arabic content I found, which was mostly limited and from sources unverifiable" and often based on old wives' tales, Khodari, the founder and CEO of Momy Helper, told Al-Monitor.

Upon returning to the Gaza Strip in 2015, Khodari first started a blog on child rearing. In February 2017, she launched Momy Helper, a website and app that offer advice to mothers through Arabic articles, videos and blogs. The site contains tips, advice and research from educators, dieticians and psychologists on how to ensure your child eats what is put on the table to what to do when a child is jealous of siblings. Mothers who have further questions can also book consultancy sessions.

In October, the Momy Helper app won the second prize at Startup Istanbul, an annual fair that brings together tech companies, executives, startups and investors from 65 countries.