On Wednesday, October 9th, my world was wonderfully improved.
I had finally arrived at the prestigious Stockholm Challenge, and
although I was already 2 days late because of an airline ticketing
mishap that forced me to wait 30 hours in the Istanbul, Turkey
airport, I still arrived in time to take part in the Global Forum and
Exhibition.

You see, my project, UAEMath.com had been chosen from about
600 other projects to represent the Education category in a
worldwide competition for projects with pioneering IT
applications that benefit people, environment and society.
The road to this challenge was unique and to those who
helped, I am eternally grateful, as the experience has
changed my life.

The concept of e-learning has fascinated me for many years and has recently become more and more common
all over the world. Last year, Sayed Mohammed Sayed, my Headmaster at Sharjah Technical School, called me
into his office to give me a challenge. As a mathematics teacher at the school and someone with a keen interest
in information technology, he handed me an advertising brochure for the UAE IT EDUCATIONAL Challenge and
said that this would be a good benchmark to see how well the project I was working on (UAEMATH.COM) was
developing in relation to other projects in the region. This meeting, in retrospect, put me on the road to not
only winning the education category in the UAE IT Challenge, but also giving me the opportunity to enter the
world wide challenge held in Stockholm.

In the UAE Challenge, my project had been chosen from about 260 other projects to represent the
Secondary Teacher category in a nationwide competition. The UAE Challenge was initiated to recognize and
harness the best IT based ideas and practices from the classrooms of secondary schools, colleges and
Universities of the UAE. The UAE Challenge was a very good occasion to improve my learning experience by
communicating with other Finalists through exchanging ideas and providing mutual help. It was also a unique
opportunity to meet very interesting people such as the Uae Challenge committee, many CEOs of the most
prominent companies in the country and a large number of students from different schools and universities.
It was fascinating to see their faces filled with joy and enthusiasm. Why not, I thought? It was the First
nationwide challenge that put together a combination of IT enthusiasts varying from 13 year old students
to university professors!

The award ceremony and banquet was held in the Emirates Towers Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels
in Dubai. We were waiting for the moment when they would announce the winners and it was a proud
moment to be selected as a winner for the secondary teacher category. Being a winner in my category was
very inspiring, several committee members suggested that UAEmath.com should enter other IT Challenges
that are held in other parts of the world.An application for the Stockholm Challenge was submitted and I was
astonished to receive notification that the UAEmath.com project was selected as a finalist.

The Stockholm Challenge focuses on the positive effects of today's information society, and the benefit
information and communication technology can bring people and society. The technology itself is not the
issue. As the Stockholm Challenge's web site notes, "The Stockholm Challenge is not only a competition,
but a meeting place for people who share a vision about the future. The big challenge is to bridge the
digital divide."

Uaemath.com was one finalist project among 101 ICT projects from 40 countries around the world. At the
competition, all finalists were given the opportunity to participate in a "Global Forum." This forum was an
excellent opportunity for me to participate with the other finalists in exchanging knowledge and experiences,
creating personal networks and to get valuable international contacts. The finalists who attended were
fascinating people and represented all possible stakeholder groups, ranging from countries in the developing
world and those in economic transition, to industrialized nations.

Ahnaf with Nicholas You and LaurenWhite Stockholm Challenge Banquet		Receiving the Trophy from H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan (UAE Challenge)

Although the Stockholm Challenge is a forum, it is also a competition. It was fascinating meeting with all the
other entrants and chatting with them about where they were from and how they had been selected to
represent their category. Selection committee "judges" made their rounds and viewed and spoke with all of
us. After the showcase and forum, it was time for the moment of truth. I suspect all were nervous about the
awards dinner and it was a time to reflect about our individual journeys that led to this moment. One thing
that I knew was true from my discussions with other entrants was that all shared something in common: all
of us had spent time reflecting on what we had created with our diligent efforts,our motivation and our
commitment to excellence. This was very inspiring to me and perhaps is the crux of the competition because
it's this inspiration and determination that makes us want to continue making even better projects.

Well, the awards dinner was stunning and truly was something that I had never experienced before. The
dinner was held in the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall and was designed to be identical to the way in
which the Nobel Prize ceremony is conducted. In the beginning of the ceremony the hall filled with the
wonderful voices of the Sofia vocal ensemble. We all listened with such reverence at the awe-inspiring
choir. I felt reflective and ever so appreciative that I could participate in such a wonderful event and it
reminded me of what people can do if they work together.

Alfonso Molina, the chairman of the Stockholm Challenge Jury committee, commented in his speech, "The
Challenge celebrates and brings to the world's attention those often "invisible" unsung people,
pioneers, who with their dreams, efforts and profound humanity are growing the flowers of
solidarity and innovation that will make true the information society for all."

This was a great start to the dinner and I felt honored to be sitting next to so many interesting people.
I spoke with Nicholas You, Co-coordinator of the Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme, UNCHS
Habitat; Mr. Sam Carlson, Executive director of WORLD LINKS; Lauren White, Vice President of Business
Development at The Orkand Corporation; Adam Holmstrom, Program Manager of Stockholm Partnerships.
It was a good opportunity to talk about what I was doing and what they were doing and the future of
these activities.

Well, did I win? No, but I never felt like a loser and neither did the other participants. There was a very
nice touch by the Challenge committee to make us all feel rewarded for all our efforts. For the finalists
who weren't announced winners, they asked us to stand up and let the whole hall of guests clap for us.
It was thunderous! Next, with glorious music playing, fine young ladies and young men passed through
the tables and handed us a nice small trophy with "Stockholm Challenge Finalist." On our way out of the
ceremony we found a Certificate ready for each Finalist. It says: "Your Project has been selected as a
Finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Award 2002 for your contribution in the global movement of
building a better Information Society for all".

The fabric of our lives is so interesting. A small event, a meeting, an idea that we follow up on can
transform the typical and mundane to something truly rewarding - - It did for me! UAEmath.com was
chosen as one of the best in the world and I had the pleasure to be the very first finalist from the Arab
world and the UAE. I am very proud of this and if I had one wish, one desire as an outcome of this whole
experience that I would like to share, it would be that I would hope that all my students learn from my
experience. That is, the road to success begins with recognizing an event of importance and then
challenging yourself to complete it with determined energy.