My name is Kibrom a level 7 local Guide from Mekelle, Ethiopia. I am a Circus artists manager. Because of my job for the last 12 years, I have been touring in many countries around the world mainly in Europe and America and Google maps platform helped me to share my photos and my experiences along the way. My photos have been viewed for more than two million times and the responses from users encouraged me to do more especially to my local community.
During my tour, I observed that in numerous countries such as Germany, France and Russia many locations and their reviews are written in local languages which I believe helps locals in those countries to easily understand and use the locations and their reviews on the platform. Unlike the European countries, in my home country Ethiopia most listed places and their reviews are written in English but not many locals can understand the language which might be hindering users in my community from using the platform.
In parallel to English, listing and reviewing places in local languages not only can help locals find local businesses easier and understand their reviews better but also can help local guides express their experiences better in native languages. I believe local guides like myself can help make a difference.
In my local community, we have so many places which I believe are not listed on Google Maps yet, even most of the already listed places and their reviews are written in English. So, in addition to English, I speak two local languages Amharic and Tigrigna which are widely spoken in the northern part of Ethiopia and Eritrea and are written in Ge’ez script (ግዕዝ). I would like to extensively add, Edit and review local places in those langue’s so that locals can understand about the locations better.
In the future, I would like also to organize local meetups in local languages to encourage participation and to create awareness about Google maps and the benefits for the local community.