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Dubai student recognised with Diana Award for empowering girls through coding education
Narrating her story, Kyra said that she observed that not many girls around her shared the same passion, which is when she decided to try and spread the love
A Dubai student who has served as an inspiration for girls in both the UAE and India to pursue coding, has been honoured with the esteemed Diana Award.
Kyra Anand, a 13-year-old student, was recognised along with 19 other pupils in the UAE for her exceptional humanitarian contributions to the society.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Kyra, who was elated on having won the award, remained oblivious for a long time about her nomination. In India, a non-government organisation recognised her outstanding contributions to society as she taught children there coding, resulting in her nomination.
“I was nominated for this award by Harmony House. I have a huge passion for technology.”
Narrating the backstory, Kyra said that she observed that not many girls around her shared the same passion. That’s when she felt that she should try and spread her love for technology among her friends and society.
“I realised it was only them, but it was almost all the girls in my grade in school that really weren't interested in technology, and I was shocked because I love technology so much,” said the student at Jumeirah College.
She launched Girls Do Code (GDC) as an endeavour to provide coding education to girls in her community while even teaching relatives.
Over time, this initiative expanded its reach and she collaborated with organisations to educate the underprivileged and street children in India.
“I thought why not share this passion with a lot more girls and maybe help them gain interest? So, then I started teaching my community, taught my cousin and then my mother told me about an organisation called Harmony House in India. They didn’t have a computer programme, so I thought I should teach them.”
Bridging the distance between India and the UAE, using technology, Kyra started taking classes “through Zoom" while she taught her community in-person.
She starts with the computer language Scratch that helps build a logical thinking process, and then moves to Python.
“I have taught around 36 children today including Code to Care volunteers who are the volunteers in my school who want to help GDC.”
Despite Covid-19 being a source of distress, it also presented opportunities, particularly for analytical minds like Kyra.
Currently, she is working on an inventive project that involves the development of a system capable of identifying whether someone is wearing a mask or not using their webcam.
“It will take your webcam and detect if you're wearing a mask or not. So, it will indicate if your mask is on your chin and will tell you how to wear it properly,” she adds.
Providing meals to less privileged
Aryan Agarwal, a resident of Abu Dhabi, is another pupil who has received the Diana Award. He is a diligent student who has made a noteworthy contribution to his community by implementing creative concepts.
He is the co-founder of 'Parivarthan Foundation', which provides meals to those in need and works towards sustainable initiatives.
“I was inspired by other non-profit organisations that my cousins have been associated with. So, I also decided to help change the world. My companions and I have done eight food drives by now. We have distributed over 2000 meals in various areas around the emirate and have partnered with restaurants in Abu Dhabi, where we procure food for one fifth of its original price and distribute it to different labour camps across the capital,” says the 17-year pupil of The Cambridge High School, Abu Dhabi.
Aryan has also served as the 'Sustainability Ambassador of CHS', started the ‘CHS Eco-Club’, and launched various campaigns to reduce waste.
With 12 members under him and 100+ volunteers they have inspired others through their leadership and have learned valuable skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking.
“We have also different kinds of work for sustainability in collaboration with my school. I have also done paper drives and books drives along with other sustainability initiatives. I feel through Parivarthan we can make a bigger impact every day and can also expand internationally to solve real-world problems. Ending world hunger is one of our main visions… to create a world where person goes to bed fully nutritional and everyone makes ends meet,” adds the young adult.
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