#CampToCareer
Birthdays are oft reserved for reflection and planning; thinking back through the year’s highs and lows all while setting ambitious goals for the new year ahead. This year is no different. Over the past several months I’ve enjoyed taking you through the sights, sounds, and impact of Camp NexGen™ - Zimbabwe. In my 2023 Birthday Post, I want to share with you one of the exciting things that happened since we left Zimbabwe.
After our camp in August, LGRRG launched a new initiative - #CampToCareer (hat tip to Eno Umoh for the nifty name). In this new initiative, we’ve identified and sponsored two of our campers in Zimbabwe to go through 18-months of drone-specific training in partnership with Zimbabwe Flying Labs. Once training is complete, they will be licensed drone pilots with a sub-specialty of their choosing, and have the ability to launch their own drone companies (maybe even the ones they fictitiously created at camp), or serve as contracted drone pilots / instructors in Zimbabwe or across the globe!
Lean and Leon are our esteemed Drone-Pilots-in-Training, and successfully completed two parts of their training. To jog your memory a bit from an earlier post, at camp Leon shared that he was the CEO of Drone Delivery Medicine Company (DDMC) a company that would specialize in delivering medicine to remote areas. I am pleased to report he is closer to that reality.
Entrepreneurship is the third prong of LGRRG’s mission, and we love that we are able to provide a clear roadmap to gainful employment in a growing STEAM field, with the genesis being a 3-day camp with strangers from America. And just when you think it can’t get any better, it does! Upon completion of their drone training and licensing courses, both Lean and Leon will have internships waiting for them at Zimbabwe Flying Labs. We are also working on an international internship for the two to expand their reach beyond Zimbabwe’s borders! Stay tuned on that front.
In their beginner and intermediate courses, the focus was to build on their initial exposure to drone technology experienced at Camp NexGen™, covering the following topics:
Beginner: Types & Structure of drones; Introduction to Drone Racing; Drone safety; Drone flight planning; Take-off and landing protocols; Flight checklists and logging flights; Drone specific training on the DJI Ryze Tello Drone
Intermediate: Advanced Drone Maneuvers; Obstacle Course Flying; Mission planning; Introduction to Drone Coding; Droneblocks; Droneblocks exercises; Introduction to Drone Swarming
In addition to skills training and airmanship, these courses gave the young learners an opportunity to work in teams and develop their communication and leadership skills. As you could imagine, they were both sad when their courses came to a close, but rest assured, Leon and Lean will continue their drone training in the Advanced Course during the Third Term this year.
Stay tuned to see how Leon and Lean continue to grow in their drone training!