Sharjah: The third edition of the Ana-vation competition, which aims to educate the youth and stimulate their participation in the global fight against cancer, will have the participation of more than 150 students from six schools across Sharjah.
The competition, organised by Sharjah-based civil society organisation Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), seeks to integrate students’ efforts through the use of futuristic technologies by building innovative solutions that raise awareness and help patients.
Ana, an Arabic word that means “I” in English, is a project dedicated to childhood cancer that falls under FOCP’s initiative, “Kashf,” that focuses on early detection of cancer. Ana seeks to raise awareness about the six common warning signs of childhood cancer and highlight the importance of early detection.
The Ana-vation Competition helps students in app development skills and learn how to provide innovative solutions for the modern world as well as raise awareness between them and their families on childhood cancer.
To prepare students for the comprehensive and engaging programming sessions, FOCP and Geek Express will further provide hands-on lessons about app development before dividing them into groups of three to develop an app that focuses on health, well-being, and early cancer detection.
The culmination of these preparations will be an award ceremony, where students will be given the opportunity to pitch their app to a jury of renowned judges, chosen by Geek Express and FOCP.
The Ana-vation Competition, which comes in collaboration with the Sharjah Private Educational Authority, Amazon.ae, and the Children’s Cancer Center in Lebanon, is a combination of the words “Ana” and “Innovation,” and is a four-month initiative that seeks to generate a greater degree of involvement from the community to dedicate themselves to identifying, treating, and controlling the disease.
Schools participating in the competition include the American School of Creative Science, Ambassador School, and ASPAM Indian International School from Sharjah City, in addition to Al Resalah American International School in Al Rahmaniya, East Coast English School in Khorfakkan, and Khalifah Al Hamzah American School in Al Maddam.
Over the past 23 years, the FOCP has been providing moral and financial assistance to cancer patients, raising awareness about cancer prevention, and promoting a healthy lifestyle among the UAE community.