Dear friends ☀️

I’m raising $1,000 to help fund a minibus for kids in Amasia, Armenia, so they can safely reach their TUMO Box - a free tech and creativity center that empowers rural youth. Right now, some kids walk up to 90 minutes or even hitchhike to get there.

With your help, we can cover transport costs for one year and make sure over 30 families no longer have to worry about how their children get to the Box safely. Every contribution counts. Thank you for supporting this cause close to my heart 🙏🏼

Yours,
Laura

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A TUMO Box is a compact, mobile version of the larger TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, an award-winning, free education program that helps teenagers gain skills in fields like programming, animation, graphic design, filmmaking, music, robotics, and more. TUMO started in Yerevan, Armenia, and is now empowering young people all over the world, especially in rural areas where access to such opportunities is rare.

This April, I visited one of the TUMO Boxes in Ashotsk, one of Armenia’s coldest and most remote villages. While Yerevan was already warm and green, the rather grey Ashotsk was just slowly waking up from the long, cold winter.

Despite the winter cold and the summer heat, kids from Ashotsk and neighboring communities come to the Box to learn how to code, develop computer games, design posters, create 3D models, and even make films. Some walk, some take the bus, but most Ashotsk kids, luckily, get picked up by the minibus organized by TUMO and funded by generous sponsors.

Every week, these kids look forward to completing their self-learning activities in the Box so they can advance to the next level, attending workshops in the larger TUMO Center in my hometown Gyumri, where they get hands-on training from professional musicians, photographers, robotics engineers, and graphic designers. A true highlight. Because honestly, there isn’t much else to do. No opportunities to grow, explore talents, or build future skills. The TUMO Box is really an island excellence in the midst of despair.

Just some 20 km further away, you will find another TUMO Box, in the village of Amasia. It is the biggest village in the area, yet still lacks public transportation to and from neighboring communities. Here, kids walk up to 90 minutes in snow or rain to get to their favorite center. Alternatives? Hitchhiking. Can you imagine 12-year-old kids hitchhiking with strangers? But they do. Only a few lucky ones get driven by parents or older siblings. The Box is there, waiting for them with open arms, yet the journey becomes an exhausting and unsafe hurdle for many.

Hearing these stories broke my heart. Thanks to the generosity of donors worldwide, Armenia has built an unprecedented network of high-quality tech education centers in its remotest villages. But there is still one big barrier: transportation. Without a safe and reliable way to reach the TUMO Box, dozens of kids are being left behind.

That’s why I aim to raise $1,000 out of the needed $10,000 to fund a minibus service for the kids of Amasia and neighboring villages. This will cover driver costs, fuel, and maintenance for at least one year, ensuring that over 30 families no longer have to worry about how their children will get to the Box safely.

These kids are the future. Through TUMO, they learn to challenge themselves, discover their talents, and strengthen their confidence. They are our future community leaders and change-makers.

Let’s help them reach the opportunities they deserve.
Let’s enable that crucial last mile for them.

➡️ Donate today and help fund safe, reliable transportation for the kids of Amasia. Every contribution counts.

Thank you so much for supporting this cause close to my heart.