Helping my community to grow has been my major core value even before joining the local guides program. And this has influenced how I have consistently contributed to Google maps.
I accepted the invitation to spearhead the Kings University Photowalk from a colleague, without no much conversation because I knew the value of a connected community. Kings University is situated in Omu Aran, Osun state of Nigeria. Which is like a village within a town in a city that is in a country. Undoubtedly getting the school on the map is paramount to helping ease accessibility for students around the world as a whole.
Pre Event Observation: After I received the invitation to lead the Photowalk session I decided to search for the school on Google map, alas only the main entrance gate of the school was mapped and was even wrongly mapped. Co-ordinates were totally wrong and misleading. I noted this down while preparing my presentation to be one of my major emphasis.
Event Summary: I traveled on Sunday evening by road for like 3hrs before I arrive the university lodge to meet five other colleagues (Wale, Iyanu, Abiola, Mary, and Ayo) that will be leading the Photowalk. We used the night to strategize on how the activity should go. And on Monday morning we all arrived at the university lecture hall where all the computer science students already assembled (about 150 of them). I started with a light presentation, introducing the Local Guides program and also sharing best practices for adding places and pictures on Map. After the presentation, we had the students divided into two groups. One to start the exercise from the extreme of the school an the other to start from the main entrance of the school. I led the later, with mary co-ordinating the students. At every location we arrived at, the students will identify the activities commonly carried out there while I add it to the map after which they will take shots from a different angle and upload. The school admin instructed that I be the one to add these places because of accuracy and also to avoid overloads of data. We tour the whole university till we converge with the second team. The two team share highlights from the Photowalk session before we proceed to the next phase, which was mapping the neighborhood. Such as the closeby mini market, fuel stations and the kings’ palace. We went with the school bus and two security guards for some reasons.
One thing I heard a student whisper during the outstretch was that - thank God for the LocalGuide program, which has given them the chance to explore outside their school, which ordinarily they won’t have. I smiled and pretend I didn’t hear it 
Closure: The event has been a great experience for everyone. The students got the opportunity to explore beyond their tents and learned about the Google map apps and how to be a local guide. And to us as local guides, we were extremely grateful for the chance given to us to bring our community closer to the world and impacting the students alongside. This is a rare opportunity every local guide would wish for. As local guides, our pride is to help bring our community online by sharing our discovery on Google maps. Looking forward to more future events.
@KarenVChin @TraciC @Osaka78forTRUMP @OSAMA @U-royFelixA @HelloSamsonR @SanyaOdare @Justine2807 @JeslynL @Mayford
IF YOU READ THROUGH YOU’RE AWESOME AND IF YOU MADE IT TO THE COMMENT BOX, YOU’RE LOCAL GUIDES HERO
PS : EXPECT PHOTO ALBUM SOON!
