20 March 2017

Sergey Brui, Co-Founder and CEO at the HTP resident-company Vizor Games, visited a children's home for the first time seven years ago. He wanted to help unfortunate children. Traditional visits with shows and fireworks did not inspire him, and it was hard to imagine how to help in a different way. A year ago, Vizor Games launched IT courses in two Minsk children's refuges to teach children who have not even seen computers to create websites, games and robots.

The very first graduation proved both to the company and to Sergey that the children who are often considered worthless can actually change, learn and grow in their own eyes. Even if the students do not become IT professionals, the skills to create something on their own and from scratch will definitely help them.

The courses are available in Zavodskoy and Pervomaisky districts of Minsk. Over 70 children have completed the course. Vizor Games not just equipped the classrooms but also finance the work of two permanent teachers.

Sergey is not aimed at growing IT professionals. He believes it is something different. First, children get access to a new world. Internet, computers, and other related technologies – all these are a fascinating world which makes children realize that they have an opportunity to develop in a new way. Second, it is a creative work. They develop though simple but complete projects. Their work has a visible result. You have done the work and may see the result. Here is a game or a robot which performs what you have programmed it.

Sergey notes that they have faced a lot of challenges when implementing the project – what course to launch, where to find teachers, etc. "Not everyone believed in success of the project. There were people who told us that it was a waste of time, that these children could not master the curricula. And those people are engaged in educational activities, head large private school, not in Belarus. But we decided not to listen to negative advice and to try anyway. And if we failed, we would design another program, a simpler one – computer basics, for example. Finally, we started cooperation with the HTP Educational Center and its teachers who are true experts and have managed to engage the children," comments Sergey Brui.

Other IT companies and individuals (due to the Imena magazine) are joining the project. One more children's refuge in Minsk is now under care of the HTP resident Belka Games. Thus, the project will operate in five districts of Minsk, and the number of students may reach 150-200 children this year.

Source: Imena (Names) magazine