A Farewell Outing

Last Friday, June 22, the first ever Zero Robotics camp held in Armenia came to a close. The campers stayed up late to squeeze the enjoyment out of the waning minutes out of their time together, and they got up early to make sure their goodbyes were thorough. The same energy felt from the our campers saying goodbye to each other last week was felt this week when we joined back together to visit the COAF SMART Center in Debed. 

This visit to the SMART Center was originally planned to happen during the duration of the two weeks in Toros, but having to postpone a week ended up being a pleasant reunion for the campers and volunteers alike. The SMART Center is a project put on by the Childrens of Armenia Fund. The stated goal of COAF SMART is to bring state of the art education and resources to build the capacity in rural villages. The center will serve as an "idea acquisition and exchange hub", and is just the first of many centers planned in Armenia. 

What drew the Zero Robotics Camp to SMART this year was the shared interests in both robotics and information technology. This new center has an entire room dedicated to the teaching and learning of LEGO robotics, where youth can learn how to code the robots that they build. Even more accessible are the computers in the center, which are spread throughout the building in common areas and in private rooms. 

After a tour of the building and a insight into all of the opportunities waiting in the SMART center, our campers received a closing presentation from the camp's leader Mariam Avagyan. Mariam, talked briefly about Zero Robotics, its origins and its future here in Armenia, presenting to both our campers and some other guests in the center.

YES NGO Director, Hripsime Amirkhanyan, gave a closing talk to our campers as well. Hripsime had some parting wisdom and gifts for our campers, reminding them that their intelligence and ambition did not go unnoticed, and that their efforts in the future can be put forward to make their communities better places for everyone. The United Nations in recent years has defined a list of 17 sustainable development goals in order to encourage the world to fight poverty, injustice, and environmental degradation for everyone. Before getting back on the bus to drive back to their homes, this group of civilly minded youth were reminded that they are the ones that will see this development through in their communities and country, and the Zero Robotics Armenia 2018 Team is confident that they will too.