Ana-Vation #FutureInTheirHands: The Power of Innovation, Robotics, and STEAM Education to Raise Awareness of Childhood Cancer in The Emirates

Amount raised: $50,000 (180,000 AED). Background and context: Ana, an Arabic word which means 'I' in English, is a childhood cancer initiative under Friends of Cancer Patients. Ana seeks to raise awareness about the 7 common warning signs of childhood cancer and highlight the importance of early detection, in the United Arab Emirates. In 2018, the Ana initiative launched a 3-year undertaking aimed at using S.T.E.A.M. education to roll out an annual school championship titled “Ana-vation”, a play on words between “Ana” and “innovation”. Ana-vation strategically launched in February during national innovation month, at the Sharjah Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences Planetarium. During the launch, media was invited to observe and 15 participating schools from around the country were briefed on the 4-month championship, electronic components, timeline and expected deliverables. The Ana initiative partnered with a start-up of young engineers to form the Ana-vation team. Students were preselected by their science teachers, to represent their school. Aim: Ana-vation aims to inspire young students to become future researchers, doctors, scientist and engineers, through using innovation and S.T.E.A.M education. The program also offers a bridge to aware parents and teachers, by sending home pamphlets. Strategy/Tactics: Ana-vation is a 4-month campaign (February to May) that rolls out with 15 schools across the Emirates. The program involves the science teacher at each school, who selects 10 students to participate in teams of two (5 teams per school, totaling 75 teams). They have to use the electronic components in the Ana-vation robotic kits and recyclable materials found around their homes, to create a robot to answer in the challenge: “Create an innovative solution to raise awareness about childhood cancer signs and symptoms”. Throughout the 4 months, Ana-vation will conduct workshops at each of the 15 schools to mentor and engage with the students and teach them to code, using basic programing language. Program process: Championship launch - February Training and evaluation roadshows - March Debugging workshops - April Championship and awarding ceremony - May Costs and returns: To cover the cost of the kits + launch event + 15 road show school visits + workshop + award ceremony = $50,000 (180,000 AED) total or $3300 (12,000 AED) per school. FOCP approached corporates to adopt and sponsor a school at $3300. What was learned: Ana-vation was well received by participating schools and sponsoring corporates. It received high media coverage on TV interviews and print media. Offered corporates CSR opportunities, publically associate with a good cause and offered employees volunteer opportunities, plus chance to mentor and engage with young students. FOCP partnered with Manipal University film students and faculty to produce a short documentary on Ana-vation, to be submitted to the Sharjah Children Film Festival in September, to further highlight awareness.