(Rotary + USAID) x mBots = a tech-savvy future for Serbian students
In May 2020, during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rotary International and USAID announced an exciting new endeavor. Called Hearts of Europe, the initiative aimed to foster collaboration, networking, and friendship among Rotary clubs in the United States and select central and Eastern European countries.
Creating Serbia's future innovators
With demand growing for IT professionals, the Rotary Club of Beograd-Cukarica started the mBots project. See how it inspires the next generation. Watch
“At this challenging time, we believe Hearts of Europe is a fantastic opportunity to rebuild the bonds of cooperation between communities and nations,” said John Hewko, the general secretary and CEO of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. “If we can seize this opportunity, we will pave the way for a healthier and more prosperous future.”
USAID called the collaboration an example of what it and Rotary do best: They both empower communities to help themselves and lay the foundations for a better future.
Administered through The Rotary Foundation’s global grants program, Hearts of Europe has to date approved 21 projects in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. The partnership has provided nearly $2 million in funding, with 57 percent of that money coming from Rotary — and, says Sam Kendall, a strategic relations officer for Rotary, there are more projects in the pipeline. Originally scheduled to conclude in 2023, the partnership was extended another two years and will wrap up this summer.
Students at Ivo Lola Ribar primary school in Ruma, Serbia, watch raptly as a schoolmate demonstrates what a well-programmed mBot can do.
Last April, Monika Lozinska and Aleks Iricanin, two members of Rotary’s visual media team, traveled to Serbia to take a close look at one Hearts of Europe global grant project. Anticipating an increased demand in Serbia for IT professionals skilled at robotics and programming, the Rotary Club of Beograd-Čukarica in Belgrade and the Rotary Club of St. Simons Island in the U.S. state of Georgia collaborated on a project that distributed 500 programmable mBots to primary schools in Serbia. They also provided training programs to about 150 teachers in 100 schools to better prepare them to teach students the fundamentals of robotics, electronics, and programming.
Lozinska and Iricanin visited with teachers and pupils from four schools. They also attended the Knowledge for the Future Festival, where about 300 students from 63 schools — narrowed down from 1,112 schools in earlier tournaments — competed in a demonstration of their skills with mBots and drones. One team emerged triumphant, but, thanks to Rotary and USAID, all the kids went home winners.
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“The children are fascinated” by mBots, says Nadica Gavrilović, who teaches engineering and technology at Filip Kljajić Fića primary school in Belgrade. “They’re really interested in programming robots — seeing how they move and what they can do.”
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A student makes an mBot adjustment at Svetozar Marković primary school in Belgrade.
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At Filip Kljajić Fića school, a delighted Milica Rakonjac shows off her mBot, which seems equally enchanted with her.
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On 20 April, at Belgrade’s Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall, students prepare for the Knowledge for the Future Festival.
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Three of the 300-plus students participating in the festival competition make sure everything is good to go with their mBot.
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Vladimir Lalošević, a member of the Rotary Club of Ruma and assistant governor of District 2483, where the mBots were distributed, sits with his daughter, Teodora, an mBot aficionado. “I want to learn how to program,” she says, “so in the future I can make new robots that can help us.”
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Vladimir Matić, a member of the Rotary Club of Beograd-Čukarica and a leader of the Hearts of Europe global grant mBot project, reviews the results of the mBot competition at the Knowledge for the Future Festival.
This story originally appeared in the February 2025 issue of Rotary magazine.