Day 1: Starting ReliefLink
Today I finally started turning my idea for ReliefLink into an actual app.
I decided to build it using Flutter. I honestly spent a good amount of time just getting the development setup working, especially the Android emulator and SDK. At one point I kept getting errors because I was running Flutter commands from the wrong folder. 😭
Once I got past that, I started working on the actual app.
I built the main ReliefLink screen with three sections: Request Help, Relief Camps, and Official Portal.
The part I’m happiest about today is the Relief Camp system.
I wanted the Official Portal to be able to create a relief camp and have that camp actually show up for users, instead of just displaying a “camp created” message.
So I created a camp data model and connected it to the Relief Camps screen. Now an official can enter the camp name, location, capacity, and available services like food, water and medical support. After creating it, the camp appears in the Relief Camps section.
I tested it by creating a Wayanad Emergency Relief Camp in Kalpetta, and seeing it actually appear in the camp list was probably my favourite part of today’s progress.
There were definitely some small problems along the way like missing imports, files in the wrong folders, and figuring out why my newly created camp wasn’t appearing. But fixing those problems also helped me understand how the different parts of a Flutter app connect.
The app is still very much a prototype, but it finally feels like I’m building something real rather than just designing screens.
Next, I want to work on the Request Help system so that people can actually submit emergencies and officials can see those requests.