The first day of the 2019 YOTA camp began with the traditional group picture with all countries presenting their national flags. After this the first Train the Trainer presentation began, the aim of the Train the Trainer program during this week is to give youngsters the skills, ideas and knowledge to go home at the end of the week and start their own youth activities in their countries. There will be various presentations by a number of countries during the week and time to exchange ideas and experiences between the teams. This mornings presentation was by one of the organisers of the 2016 YOTA summer camp in Austria, giving some tips on how to organise such an event. For example, the budget, some tools to help organise, how to get sponsors, how to communicate with the media and much more.
The next presentation was by Rhode and Schwarz, a sponsor of the camp. The participants learnt about the basics of electronic measurements in amateur radio and how they can be used in all kinds of situations. A very interesting and useful lesson! Tomorrow the presentation will be continued, for sure there will be a lot more to learn.
After learning so much it was time for lunch and after a short break the afternoon activities started. During the afternoon the participants built electronic kits which can be used to find broken transistors. Furthermore the participants had the opportunity to put what they learned in the morning into practice by using a variety of different measuring instruments. Everybody had fun soldering and putting together the kits. The more experienced youngsters helped those who have less experience with the soldering irons. A great example of youngsters teaching each other and working together. Again a lot was learnt, not only how to solder and put together a kit but also how the kits work and the function of some of the different components. Meanwhile some youngsters operated on 20 metres using the special callsign LZ19YOTA, which will be on the air during most of the week.
The evening ended with a joint dinner. After this the social highlight of the day began, the intercultural evening. This is a tradition which has been going on for a long time at the YOTA summer camps. Each team brings traditional food and drinks from their country. Many teams wear traditional clothing to represent their countries culture. The participants are always proud to show the traditional food of their country, and it was obvious that a lot of effort went into the preparations. The food available ranged from smoked cheese from Slovakia, to sweet Baklava from Turkey and everything in between. Apart from the culinary side, a lot of countries also showed of their countries touristic attractions, for example Iceland’s stunning landscapes. It was an evening of cultural exchange and gave the participants the chance to get to know each other: a lot of new friendships were made, and now the whole group knows each other.
