Our Family's NYHA Journey

In 2023, we enrolled our three children in the NYHA Summer Course. We thought they would come home with a fun project or two, or talk about new friends that they met during their sessions... instead they came home talking excitedly about circuits.

Zachary, Zoe, and Zaira spent that summer learning robotics, electronics, and coding. Most of it was hands-on. They designed their own machines, wrote the code for them, and worked out why things were not running the way they wanted. By the end of the course they were explaining parts of it to each other at home.

Zoe and Zaira at the NYHA Bootcamp

That summer turned into something bigger than we expected. Later in 2023 they qualified to represent the Philippines at the World Robot Games in Taiwan. They came home with awards and with their first experience of competing internationally, and in 2024 they qualified again for the World Robot Games in Singapore, where they won several awards, including the Sumobot Champion Trophy.

A lot of that progress goes back to Coach Arthur Betez Jr. After three years he has become more than a mentor to our children, as he has become a family friend now. He was just as patient with the builds that failed as he was with the ones that worked, tinkering and teaching the three kids to problem-solve.

Arthur and the Borja Family

NYHA gave our children opportunities we did not expect: real technical skills, international competition, and the chance to travel to Taiwan and Singapore. But above all, what we appreciate most is that after everything else, they still want to keep building.

If you are a parent considering the program, we would tell you to enroll them. They will learn real skills, and they will be more confident for it.

— Ziegfred Borja, Parent #AlagangNYHA #ParaSaBataParaSaBayan #NYHARobotics