Afghanistan Robotics Education Fundraiser

A few weeks ago, we had a video call with a group of students in Afghanistan—most of them girls. These are students who, despite living under some of the most restrictive educational environments in the world, show an incredible hunger to learn. They only get about 90 minutes of computer access per day, but in that short time, they are constantly asking questions, experimenting, and trying to build their skills—especially in STEM.

During our call, we showed them our FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robot. We walked them through how it was built, how it moves, and how we program it. Their eyes lit up. They were curious as to how we accomplished this, and if they would be able to do similar.

These students live in a country where girls are banned from secondary education and denied the right to explore science, technology, and engineering. There are no local teams, no training programs, and no easy way to get robot parts across the border. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized: we can’t say no. Not to that kind of curiosity. Not to that kind of drive.

So we’re starting a team with them.

We’re helping them build their very first FTC robot. We’ve started putting together mentors, curriculum, and virtual training sessions. We're also coordinating with humanitarian aid groups to find safe, secure ways to get robotics kits into the country.

But to make this happen, we need your help.

We’re raising funds to cover:

This is more than just a robot. For them, it’s a chance to learn, to build, to compete, and to prove that no matter where you're from, or what restrictions are placed on you, you deserve a chance to dream.