Sócio da PLUG?: Não (not yet...)
Localidade: Santarem
D.N: 1978
Tel: 960 496 464
e-mail: silvarevoy@gmail.com
website: http://www.evoluir21.org
Temas LEGO® preferidos:
City, Castle, Technic e NXT
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6 years in Portugal, I can speak Portuguese but writing is a little more tricky. Such a rich language, so many forms of the verbs. Well as soon as I figure it out I will translate this to Portuguese.
Why is a Canadian in Portugal you might ask? The answer is of course Ana Raquel Silva! We just celebrated our 6th year of marriage on the 1st of June. Time flies so fast, it feels like only yesterday we got married, but it also feels like we have known each other forever.
Ana and I work together in the Association Evoluir21 (www.evoluir21.org). When we married I had to wait for authorization to work in Portugal. Sitting a watching novellas for 6 months didn't really appeal to me so I looked around for something voluntary to do. I also wanted to do something good for my new country, my new home. After some research I found out about the academic difficulties that many young people have in Portugal (failing classes, leaving school, general lack of success). This was the area where I saw that I could help. In the end Ana and I formed Evoluir21 as a non-profit association to help the next generation to evolve into productive and successful members of society. We also partnered with the LEGO Group, FIRST (www.usfirst.org) and Arabot Hi-Fi to bring the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) and the NXT to Portugal.
We really believe that LEGO blocks can change the world. This might sound silly to imagine a toy that can do so much. But just think of this: 145 000 kids in 49 countries participated in the FLL last year. Kids from Israel did the same project as kids from Iran, kids from China did the same project as kids from Japan, and they all got along at the international tournaments. The focus of the FLL is not science, technology or even LEGO. It is the FLL values:
- Respect each other in the best spirit of teamwork.
- Behave with courtesy and compassion for others at all times.
- Honor the spirit of friendly competition.
- Act with integrity.
- Demonstrate gracious professionalism.
- Encourage others to adopt these values.
Oh yea! We hope o go to Atlanta Georgia this summer for the 10th anniversary of the FLL + training sessions. We need to raise the funds to go first as the airfare is expensive. If we get there we will send the greeting from PLUG to Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen when we meet him.
