Leaving someone’s country and moving to another to find a better life and future is a terrifying and tremendous venture for an immigrant like me and many others. In my case, my family left the Philippines in 2008 and moved to Montreal, Canada seeking for a better and comfortable life. It wasn’t easy! Montreal is a fairly big city and can be very overwhelming for a newcomer. This was the time when I discovered Google maps and local guides. It helped me navigate unfamiliar streets, find places where to eat, and reach locations like schools, job interview locations and local attractions. Google maps was literally my “local guide” to start my new life in Canada. This inspired me to be a part of Google’s local guides program and share my photos, provide feedback to local businesses, and help other Google maps users answer their questions.
Then I moved to a bigger city, Toronto, in 2012 to start a new job at a nursing home as a Physiotherapy assistant. This time, I was prepared and confident to tackle the new challenges that I must overcome because I know that with the help of Google maps and other local guides, I won’t get lost and be swallowed by the city’s intimidating obstacles.
As I get to know and understand my new job working with the elderly at the nursing home, I realized that the residents are no different from me when I first moved to Canada. In their case, leaving the comfort of their own homes to live in a building with strangers is also very overwhelming and most of the time very hard to adjust to, which makes them “immigrants” in a way. They don’t get to enjoy the outside world as much as they used to. For some, the only time that they get to see the outside world is when they have to go for an appointment or even worse, when they are sent to the emergency room.
Over the years, I realized that most residents don’t really come and join me for their exercises. They actually need someone who is willing to listen to their life stories and someone who can share stories to them as well. This was the time that a “light bulb moment” hit me. I have come up with an idea of using Google maps as a platform to share my travel experiences, other people’s culture, history, cuisine, beliefs and practices to the elderly residents at work. Even better, the residents get to see again the streets where they grew up, parks they used to play with friends, restaurants they used to enjoy and places they have visited in their younger years. Through this, I can also take them to places or restaurants that they could think of and show them pictures and tell them stories that other local guides share. This little gesture that puts a smile on their faces is priceless and witnessing a feeling of elation that would wash over them is very fulfilling.
Local guides program has helped me to give back to my community, not only by being a local guide to Google maps users but also being a local guide to the elderly at my work place, whom I believe are the most vulnerable and neglected citizens of our community. I would say that the Google’s local guides program has made more impact to my residents that I work with than myself.
It is my own little way to make a difference and to show my appreciation to the life that I was able to build in a place that used to be an alien, intimidating place, which now I call home.
#ConnectLive2020 #LetsGuide