AKA Mombasa student wins Dr Siva Kumari MYP Innovators’ Grant | Aga Khan Academies

AKA Mombasa student wins Dr Siva Kumari MYP Innovators’ Grant

09 September 2022

Diploma Programme 1 student Arya Abdul received the Dr Siva Kumari MYP Student Innovators’ Grant from the International Baccalaureate (IB)for her project “A Step Forward”, in which she built an easily accessible, environmentally friendly walker.  

When speaking about her motivation behind the environmentally friendly walker Arya said, “I have grown up in a community that is surrounded by individuals who have experienced hardship in motor skills like walking due to complicated health conditions and accidents. My grandmother has polio and uses a walker, which is quite expensive and not durable. Therefore, to address the environmental, health and financial concerns, my product goal is to create an assistive tool, such as a walker, specifically an eco-friendly one, by reusing plastic materials that could benefit the elderly in my community as well as those who suffer from physical disabilities.” 

The $1,500 grant will enable Arya to expand the reach of her project.“I look forward to meeting new people as I search for more individuals with a shared passion as well as I am eager to start producing these walkers and involve more students,” said Arya who plans to work with local plumbers and individuals from the marginalised community in Dar es Salaam to mass-produce the eco-friendly and affordable walkers. “Moreover, I look forward to making a much larger impact by involving certain special-needs centres that would collaborate with me to make this project even more successful.”  

The Aga Khan Academy Mombasa is the only IB school in Africa to have students receive this grant every year since its inception in 2019. According to the IB website, “the IB Student Innovators platform provides an opportunity for MYP students to build vital skills to become the socially conscious leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs the world needs today.”This falls in line with the Aga Khan Academies’ overall mission and vision of developing homegrown, ethical leaders who will positively impact their local communities and beyond. 

The Academy is proud of Arya and all its students for their hard work and is appreciative of its teachers for supporting their students inside and outside the classroom to achieve these exceptional accomplishments.