Around Dec 2014, I opened up a grocery store (we call it minimarket) in my hometown of Manado, Indonesia. the minimarket is called Metromart. It is located on a tiny street in a crowded neighborhood. I was thinking on how to get people to know that the is a minimarket located here. So, that was the first time I tried to put a missing place in google maps. And since then, I have been actively contributing to Local Guide.
There a lot of places like my grocery store in Manado, also all around Indonesia, which is just opened but have no presence on Google Maps. So the past 5 years, I have been trying to take photos of places and contributing to local guide, to help these small businesses make a presence on Google Maps, so it will be easier for people to find them.
Recently, other than taking photos of places I visit, i have also starting to take photo of the food that i’ve ordered and giving reviews after. I feel that this will help people decide before they visit the place, also will help the business owner to know what customers want and see their reviews.
The roads in Indonesia is not very organized compared to other countries, So, sometimes it will be hard to find places, As a local guide, it is very satisfying to know that our contributions have been viewed, liked by other people. Here people is not familiar with the name of the street/road, and only familiar with the name of the area. So, sometimes without google maps and without contributions from local guides, it will be hard to find some places if we are not familiar with the area.
I hope to improve my photo taking skills, and also writing skills as i go forward in contributing to local guides, i hope i have made a difference in my hometown of Manado, Indonesia.