The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1978 and after 15 years of fighting, in 1993 my family was forced to flee our home and country to neighboring Pakistan. Like countless millions of other Afghans, my family and I were refugees in Pakistan for more than 20 years before we could return home. While in Pakistan we tried our best to rebuild our lives while also longing for the day to return home.
I was fortunate to be able to complete my Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering while we lived in Pakistan and I graduated in. In that same year, my family and I were able to return home to Afghanistan, but we found it badly affected after almost 40 years of continuous war.
One of the things that directly affected me was a simple, yet omnipresent thing: finding where places and people were located in order to rebuild our lives in the capital Kabul. It was very difficult to find some people and places because what maps that were available were outdated and much of the country’s and Kabul’s infrastructure was badly damaged after 40 years of fighting.
Shortly after returning to Afghanistan, I had an interview with an organization in Kabul. I wanted to get their office direction using Google Maps, but I found that Google Maps was not rich enough in Kabul as well as in Afghanistan. Through my efforts as a Google Local Guide, I started adding missing places in my new/old hometown. As a Local Guide, I added hundreds of photos of Afghanistan unknown to the outside world.
Whenever I visited a new place in Kabul or somewhere in Afghanistan, I always tried to see if the place was in Google Maps or not. If not, I added photos to show people what the place was like and even if the place was included in Google Maps I sometimes added more photos in order to give a wider view.
Owners of businesses in Kabul think that people do not use Google Maps to find them and as a result, they are not passionate about adding their businesses to Google Maps. I try to explain to them that I and people like me like to use Google Maps and it’s very helpful, which is why they should add their businesses to Google Maps. I’ve been able to convince many local businesses to give me their information to post along with photos in Google Maps.
Google Maps and Google Local Guides are great tools to show how my country is evolving and rebuilding by sharing photos and videos of colorful culture, its’ landscapes, history and much more. When someone searches for a place in Afghanistan, the photos and information I post in Google Maps as a Google Local Guide can help change their mind about Afghanistan by seeing positive images instead of negative ones typically associated with my country currently
The Google Local Guide program has enriched my life many times over through the contacts I’ve made and the places I’ve gotten to know in my own country and hometown. It has been the tool that I have used for the past five years to also show the wide world the good side of my country.
