Every year, we support Giving Tuesday and connected activities. This time, we not only arranged a clothes donation but also donated computers to children in orphanages.
The clothes donation was a huge success! There were many bags full of clothes, toys and home decor items our colleagues didn´t need any longer. All these items went to the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Boruvka which has a great sustainability concept. Volunteers from Boruvka send everything to Boruvka second-hand shops. The money gained from the sales supports disabled people, and the clothes not sold are sent to another NGO that uses it to create mats, dish towels or toys for pets.
The PC donation was a huge success as well. We were able to donate 100 computers to 20 orphanages. Although we couldn´t satisfy all the demand, we received amazing feedback. Orphanages were so grateful and thanked us not just for thinking of them but also for making their kids happy.
Last week, our developers’ community organized the second Code Retreat which was open to the public. It was attended by both external developers and our colleagues from MSD.
Code Retreat is a workshop where participants have an opportunity to practice the fundamentals of software development. The goal of the event is to practice writing clean code, get focused on tests, and try to refactor the code.
There were three sessions, each 40 minutes long. During each session developers worked in pairs. The pairs could select to work on a classic Code Retreat task, Game of Life, or array operations. For each task there were basic boilerplates ready in JavaScript, Java and Swift. The participants could use them or to set up their own local environment. Some of the developers were programming in different languages such as Python or C#.
During the sessions some constrains were introduced. Each pair could choose which restrictions they wanted to implement. Constrains were of different kinds; for example, one person was only writing the tests and the other only the code or the pairs were avoiding using loops. Some pairs tried not to use a mouse or a touchpad and it was considered the funniest challenge.
The participants enjoyed an opportunity to learn new things, experience a friendly atmosphere, and receive support from the coaches.
We look forward to organizing another workshop like this in the near future!
On April 25, our company celebrated Girls Day – an annual campaign recognized by 16 European countries which encourages young women to explore potential vocational interests – by hosting local secondary school students to offer a peek into life in a technology career.
The one-day event started with an introduction of our company, followed by presentations by two female speakers who shared their background by telling inspirational life stories. The young guests gave positive feedback and appreciated hearing stories that encouraged them to follow their passions in pursuing a career. This session continued with a presentation from local teams to discuss the innovative projects they are working on.
The afternoon portion began with a workshop on coding Ozobots – small robots. The excitement was evident as the young girls began learning the basics of how to code. Afterwards another workshop outlined presentation tips such as how to use storytelling to captivate an audience, how to better recall relevant stories to use in presentations, and how to avoid stress while presenting. The day wrapped up with friendly advice on preparing for a career, how to build a resume, and how to manage stress during an interview.
We received positive feedback and requests from the students to host a similar event in the future. Our mission was successfully accomplished.
Prague MSD employees´ children have the opportunity to learn how to code in the Code Academy for Kids, an MSD-sponsored 15-lesson course teaching kids how to create their own video games and animations, code little robots called Ozobots, and basics of 3D printing.
We all know how important it is to give back to the community, so the Code Academy for Kids coaches have decided to share coding knowledge with local kids in Smíchov, where the MSD buildings are locaded. On February 6, the coaches visited a local public library and taught 15 kids (ages 6-13) the basics of Ozobots, how to solve logical puzzles, and the importance of collaborating with others.
After the workshop, the kids showed off their creations and newly gained skills to their parents and grandparents. Most the kids and parents were excited about how simple it is to code and some of the kids started thinking about becoming developers one day.
All of us probably remember what the most exciting moments from kindergarten were when we were little. A friend‘s birthday party? A trip to the zoo? Or a field trip to some cool place we had no idea existed? All of the above probably come to mind because some of these memories stay with us our whole life.
To help create these kind of memories, we opened our doors on January 17th to a field trip of 15 kids and 4 teachers from the Petrklic kindergarten in Prague – Radotin. During the all day event kids from a “Garden Class” saw what it’s like to be an employee of our Prague IT center. Did they enjoy it? You bet they did!
After a snack on the roof , we went to explore the human heart using HTC Vive and used a virtual sword to try to pop as many balloons as we could. In the afternoon we showed our creativity by writing our first computer programs. Can a four-year-old kid write code without even touching a computer? Of course!
The whole event was fun and we look forward to hosting kids again.
December 20th marked the second semester conclusion for the Code Academy for Kids. Over 40 employees´ kids attended a 15-lesson course to enhance their skills in coding, robotics, team work, and analytical thinking. Our colleagues designed the course to help young programmers with their computer bugs and motivated them throughout the process.
There were three courses total – basic courses in Czech and English and an advanced course in Czech. In the basic course, the kids learned how to write commands and basic programs for Ozobots – robots that help children develop logical and creative thinking. Also, they used Scratch – a programming language for kids – to apply their creativity and design their own stories and games.
The advanced course showcased how to create more complex games in Scratch and even offered a 3D- printing lesson which allowed the kids to design and print their own toys. All of the courses included a cyber security lesson to highlight the dangers of today’s online world and teach kids how to protect themselves against threats.
Given the success of this course, we are looking forward to more Code Academy for Kids lessons in 2019.
The first day of December is known to be a World AIDS Day, when world unites to raise awareness of the HIV and shows support for people affected by the virus. MSD Rainbow Alliance held the HIV Awareness Day in Prague. Event could not happen without tight cooperation with our Global Human Health division.
For the occasion, over a hundred colleagues gathered to learn from Gabriele Grom (Global Human Health CEE Region lead) and Stefano Santangelo (Global Human Health Czech Republic lead) insights about our company’s commitment to treat HIV for more than 30 years. Furthermore they shared what such commitment means to them.
Next speaker, MUDr. David Jilich, Vice-Chief of the HIV Centre in Bulovka hospital, educated the audience about the virus itself, the trends in spreading and dealing with the disease. His insights helped everyone to understand the current situation and future of curing HIV. Moreover he highlighted the importance of focusing on curing such a disease.
Afterwards, Alena Kloučková from Czech AIDS Help Society Company NGO, spoke about the disease from different and much more touching point of view. She kindly shared with us her story of life with HIV. She pointed out that even now when there exists a treatment for HIV, it is still important to spread awareness of prevention and fighting against stigmas associated with HIV infected people.
Big thanks to our speakers and everybody involved in organization of the event.
