LEGO First Leauge in Cape Town
The Open Africa Championship is a premier event in South Africa uniting the worlds brightest young minds in the fields of STEM, particularly focusing on robotics and coding. The Championship is envisioned not just as a competition but as a platform that highlights the technological potential of African youth, contributing significantly to the continent’s visibility in the global Robotics and Coding landscape. The OAC is based on FIRST advancement policy and therefore by invitation only.
Jász-Stones qualified for the international finals again this year with the support of our Foundation, we travelled to Cape Town to compete. After a long journey, we arrived tired but enthusiastic, and immediately began exploring the city’s sights. Over the next few days, we will visit Nelson Mandela’s prison, the Cape of Good Hope, penguin colonies, and even go on a real safari. We will participate in the competition from May 7 to 9, and until then, we will prepare as best we can.
“On our first day, we explored downtown Cape Town. Our first stop was Table Mountain, where we took a cable car to the top. The view of the city below was breathtaking, and the Atlantic Ocean was beautiful. During the sightseeing tour, we saw many historic buildings and visited the 17th-century fort built by Dutch colonists, as well as a museum where we could learn about the lives of the indigenous peoples. We were deeply moved by our guide Charlton’s account of District 6, where deportations took place during the dictatorship in the 1950s. Afterwards, we went to the ocean shore where we collected shells and admired the roaring waves.
Anna Sas Maja, Jászság Group 4
“Yesterday we embarked on a wonderful adventure starting from Cape Town. The South African landscape is impressive in itself, but today’s destinations made the experience particularly memorable. First, we visited the world-famous Cape of Good Hope. The place is wild and breathtaking at the same time – the rocky coastline and the endless blue of the ocean captivate every visitor. Walking along the hiking trails, we felt like we were at the end of the world. The lookout point offered a magnificent panorama of the Atlantic Ocean, and luckily the weather was perfect. From there, we continued on to a penguin colony, where we were able to observe these cute little animals up close on the beach. The sight of the sandy bay and the cute penguins brought a smile to everyone’s face. To round off the day, we visited an ostrich farm, where we gained an insight into the world of ostriches. The size and behavior of the birds were quite unique. This day was a perfect example of how you can gather experiences from nature, the animal world, and one of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth in a single trip.”
János Bali, Jászság Group 2
“The next day, we embarked on a new adventure: we travelled to Aquilei Safari Park to see the classic African big wild animals. When we arrived, it was so hot that our skin was burning. We sat in open trucks reinforced with bars, which we will remember fondly because we got an “African massage” on the bumpy roads. Finally, we caught sight of the safari animals: elephants, lions, baboons, rhinos, giraffes, a hippopotamus, numerous zebras, antelopes, and then a herd of gnus. It was a little scary when one of the elephants almost hit the truck we were sitting on, but our experienced driver slowly maneuvered away from it. My favorite part of the day was the variety of food and the animals.”
Ferenc Baranyi, Jászság Group 2
“On our last day of the trip, we visited Robben Island (named after the Dutch word for seal) and saw the prison where Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first president, was imprisoned for 18 years for political reasons. We arrived on the island by catamaran across the sea and then continued by bus. On the way, our guide told us about the island’s sights and the difficult situation of the prisoners. The most horrific sight was the limestone quarry, where prisoners were forced to mine stone with simple tools under the scorching sun. Then we went into the prison, where we were given a tour by a former political prisoner. After that, we returned to the ship and went back to Cape Town. We spent the afternoon at a flea market, then returned to our accommodation, had dinner, and continued preparing for the competition.”
Bendegúz Ödön Bugyi
“Today, the eagerly awaited robotics competition began. After the opening ceremony, we learned that more than 80 teams from 40 countries are participating in this event. After a lot of preparation, we started building our stand in the morning feeling well rested. There were a few initial difficulties, but in the end everything came together as we wanted it to. The decisive part of the day was spent getting to know each other. We were delighted to meet a few teams from Australia and got to know many new teams. We were also able to work on the robotics part, but that will take center stage tomorrow, which we are already looking forward to. At the end of the day, it was culture night, which meant that each country could present its own culture on stage to the others. We had 10 minutes to present our country, so we started with a short vocabulary game, then Janika taught the audience a csárdás dance, which was a great success. We returned to our accommodation tired, where we practiced the other main part of tomorrow’s program, the innovation and robot design presentation. This is my last competition, so I think I’m the most excited about tomorrow.”
Zsolt Kovács, Jászság 4 group
“Today was the day when we had to demonstrate most of our knowledge. It is very difficult to summarize everything, because presenting nearly 10 months of work in 30 minutes and showing everything is almost impossible. The presentation of our innovation lasted 30 minutes, but it will remain an eternal memory for us. We said and did what we presented there with joy and love. Although we are not quite through the robot competition yet, we are satisfied with the results of both our races, as we managed to score 100 points more than in the Hungarian national final. However, tomorrow is the last day and in the third race we would like to reach the psychological milestone of 400 points (the maximum possible score is 620 points). At the end of the day, all the teams participating in the OAC competition visited a marine aquarium to relax a little. Here we saw lots of animals that we would never have seen in Hungary. Overall, as team captain, I am extremely proud of the team and everything we have achieved together so far! Go Jász-Stones!”
Máté Márk Kaptás, Jászság 1 group
“Our long journey, the FLL Africa Open Championship, has finally come to an end! We scored 355 points in our last robot race and 195 points in the Alliance Game against a South African team. We didn’t win any awards this year, but we don’t mind – it was a great experience to be here, we learned a lot, improved our skills, and made new friends. Celebrating with 40 other countries at the awards gala was an unforgettable experience. We are proud of what we have achieved together. Now it’s time to head back to Hungary!”
Zoltán Baráth, Jászság Group 3
Thank you for the support and the aid from the Csányi Foundation!
The Jász-Stones team