Hello all!
This post is a bit overdue, but I’ve been traveling and exploring various parts of the world and trying to take in all that I can. I have some writings and pictures, which I am excited to share with you all, so stay tuned for those. 
In the meantime, we had a 2-part event in Owerri, Nigeria two weekends ago, which I believe was successful for the community. The first event was the Owerri Intro to LG event which was geared towards unofficially orienting new local guides in the community. We had a LG guide from Russia who was new to the Nigerian local guide scene, so it was exciting hearing about his journey. All in all, we chatted and shared experiences, talked about our motivation for the journey, and what we hope for the future of the LG community in the city.
The second event was the 36 Photowalk which we held in support of @PaulPavlinovich Annual 36 Photowalk. We had the same individual from the first event join us in this photowalk. The truth is that in Nigeria, many people and businesses do not respond well to having their pictures taken by strangers. You will often come across questioning and many will not allow it. We each shared ways on how we approached others so that they can be open to us taking photos. One thing we all agreed on was that taking a little extra time to explain not only the purpose of what we do but also the benefit to them was a huge advantage.
With this, I leave a big lesson learned for you all: effective communication can solve most if not all of the misunderstandings and conflicts you have with others. When we communicated our purpose, people were more open and even thrilled for us to add their businesses on the map and engaged a lot more with us.
I am extremely excited for the future of the local guide network in Nigeria, specifically Imo State. In Imo State, we are a very small community in regards to Local Guide Connect, but the active individuals are very motivated, inspired and truly understand the purpose of what we the program is all about. Thank you Flavian and Kelvin (don’t know either of your Connect handle) for coming out!
**I had some issues with my phone, so I am in the process of retrieving the pictures I took to add to this post.