Children's comic book on mental health among 30 projects supported by Maan

Look was devised by Liam Kelly, an Abu Dhabi-based teacher who penned the Worried William series of books

Liam Kelly, 42, a teacher Diyafah International School in Abu Dhabi has devised a new comic to help kids with the support of Maan Social Incubator. Reem Mohammed / The National

The idea for children’s author Liam Kelly’s new social enterprise was, you could say, handed to him.

The teacher had already penned the Worried William series of kids books, which follow a boy through his childhood, focusing on the worries and stresses he faces.

He was being interviewed about it when someone made a throwaway comment, sparking the idea for his latest project.

"I was showing a woman from Maan Social Incubator some of the comic work for the Worried William project during a video interview, and she said my son would love your comic.

“Why don’t you think about submitting a comic to Maan?”

He thought about it for a while, and then did just that, making the deadline with minutes to spare.

Ten months on, the magazine – which is designed for children to help them explore their emotions – is getting ready to launch.

It is one of 30 start-ups that have been launched with the help of Maan Social Incubator, which has allocated more than Dh6 million worth of financial support to fledgling companies.

The concepts were selected from 800 entries from 21 different countries.

Salama Al Ameemi, director general of Maan. Satish Kumar for The National

Salama Al Ameemi, director general of Maan, said the incubator was overwhelmed by the response it received from aspiring social entrepreneurs.

"Through empowering social entrepreneurs to grow their business ideas, we will be able to enhance the third sector, growing a healthy and strong network of social enterprises and not-for-profit associations, benefitting Abu Dhabi,” she said.

They include Key2Enable, which empowers people with disabilities to use tablets, computers and smartphones with adapted hardware, software and accessories; and Heroes of Hope, a social enterprise delivering equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

Mr Kelly’s idea changed significantly after being selected for support from Maan.

“At the start it was going to be a comic book,” said the 42 year-old head of year five at Diyafah International School in Abu Dhabi.

“But then I had a 12 week mentorship with Maan. And during that time we decided to change it to a comic magazine, because the turnaround would be much quicker. A process for a book can be a lot longer.”

The comic, which is called Look and stars Hamad and Hamda as the main characters, is by children for children, said Mr Kelly, from Northern Ireland.

“The children draw how they feel around their name, which makes it personal,” he said.

Then Emirati illustrator, Hamda Alkhajeh, transforms their drawings created by children into a digital comic strip. It will include some Arabic translations and there will also be a section for children to learn the language.

Mr Kelly hopes to obtain permission from Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge to distribute the comic, which will be entirely non-profit, in schools across the emirate to be used during lessons in subjects like Moral Education.

“It won't have any advertising. It’s solely dedicated to help our children understand their feelings and emotions.”