Meetup brings a community of Locals together during Geo hike.
entrance to Ngwo Cave.
local guides taking a soak to keep hydrated.
As many should know me. I am Eleweke Ikenna Austin
Austin infornt of White House Auditorium parking spaces [White House Auditorium ](http://White House Auditorium Ogui, Enugu https://maps.app.goo.gl/35eSfRVFzgzqUV7B7)
As a Local Guide, apart from sharing reviews and adding pictures on Google maps, Meetup is what I have found to be fond of as a Local Guide on Connect.
Since getting to know about Connect in April 2018 to be precise, Meetup has been an important event for me as a Local Guide and others in our community.
Enugu community Local Guides take a picture before Geo walk hike starts.Hike to the End of Love.
In Enugu Municipal, where I stay, we have a strong community of Local Guides who are not actually active on connect, but amazingly active during meetups.
Local guides hiking the mountain during our Hike to the End of Love meetup.
I was the first Local Guide to organise the first meetup in Enugu to the best of my knowledge. My favourite type of meetup is Geo-walk because it is a form of an adventure seeking mission (chuckles).
picture taken during Hike to the End of Love meetup.
Why do I love meetups on connect?
- Meetup helps to facilitate better Communication among Local Guides. Meetups create an environment where local guides communicate and also share ideas that help benefit their various profession.
- Motivate Local Guide: Sometimes it is very discouraging when you feel that you’re the only person doing something and also you may desire to quit and do or channel your energy into other things but during meetups you see alot of energy and happiness from other Local Guides, this keeps you moving.
- Promote creativity: During meetup, it involves sharing of great ideas which in turns promotes creativity, like in our last meetup (Hike to the End of Love) One of the Local Guides decided to mud bath which is Therapeutic.
- Develop Problem Solving skills: During our first meetup we have encountered problems, sometimes with the Locals of the areas we hike, many of us has discover great problem solving skills to analyse situation like this whenever it arises.
- Break through barrier: With the help of our great team which was built through meetup many of us have broken through some kind of barriers like emotional barrier which some of the Local Guides offer help and advice, financial barrier, health etc.
- Encourage support has grown to its maximum through meetup.
- Uncover strength and Weaknesses: Finally, Geo hike meetup had helped us to uncover our strength and Weaknesses and taught us ways to handle it.
It is of a great importance that I discovered connect and also it is of a good thing connect has options of meetups
There is no doubt that I have remained long on connect because of hosting meetup from time to time.
Our meetup has always have great turn out often more than we have planned for.??
settlement of Fulanis herdmen during our first meetup.
Right now due to the volume of post on connect lately, I wish to tag some of my friends to have a look at this story and add ideas to it while I wait to answer questions. Thanks
@Muhammad_Usman @MukulR @Anonymous @OlgaKlimchik @Ant_Bad_Yogi @Nyainurjanah @JaneGh @SabbirShawon @TravellerG @Ddimitra
I wish you good luck on the application. 
