Marina Orth Foundation

Please help the Marina Orth Foundation’s rural robotics champs, from El Carmen de Viboral outside Medellin, Colombia, travel to Tallinn, Estonia, to participate in the 2019 International Robotex Competition from November 26 to December 3. In only their first year in our robotics program, these great rural public school kids  won second place against 19 private schools to qualify at Robotex Latam. This was their first competition! (The first place winner were actually two professional instructors allowed to participate.)

Our “Anonymous Warriors” team has three members, 9th grader Daniela Vilada and 10th graders Oscar Caly and Juan Esteban Moreno. They study at  Santa Maria school located in picturesque El Carmen de Viboral, an hour and a half outside Medellin. The “Warriors”  are coached by Andres Aristizabal and will compete with their robot, “Desmodus” in the Intermediate Folk Race Competition which simulates a rally cross race with multiple robots competing on the track. 



Over 700 kids, both girls and boys, participate in the Marina Orth Foundation Robotics clubs. And last year our all girls team, THE LITTLE ENGINEERS  won the gold at the RoboRAVE International competition in Albuquerque, NM. 

We want to make the dream come true again and are just so proud of these kids who have learned to do everything from coding to making light sensors and switches out of recycled materials in order to build their robots. Most important, they also learn teamwork, complex thinking, problem solving, and other crucial social-emotional learning skills. 

For kids who come from one of the most unequal countries in Latin America, this is their chance to shine in worldwide competition. Even if they don't win this will be a formative experience they will never forget!

The Marina Orth Foundation was founded in 2005, by Maureen Orth, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia, which has helped over 11,000 kids in 31 schools around Medellin and now in our newest school in Nuqui in the biodiverse Choco region on the Colombian Pacific Coast.  We offer leading-edge programs in technology, STEM, leadership, English and teacher training. We start coding in the 3rd grade and robotics in kindergarten. Our dream has always been to educate our students for the 21st century. PLEASE HELP US CREATE NEW CHAMPS!

$15 pays for one piece of winter clothing – average temperature in Medellin is 74°F, Estonia is 35°F

$20 pays for one team member to visit a rock climbing center in Talline

$25 pays for two meals per day for one team member

$45 pays for one  team member to stay one night in a double room in Estonia

$100 pays for a team member for 2 nights in a double room in Estonia

$200 pays for the competition entrance fee for one team member

$400 pays for a round trip ticket from Frankfurt to Talline

$1,000 pays for a round trip ticket from Medellin to Frankfurt