**As part of the worldwide meet up during the month of October, which is also being hosted by several other active local guides like @AlejandraMaria , @DavidTito , @nazeem , @KashifMisidia , @Kamalhasnainee ,**and others as a contribution to accessibility worldwide, we Batticaloa Local guides got together on the 6th of October.
@Kajan746 and Meshanth joined me in this meetup and we started contributing to the google maps. From the beginning itself there we only a little amount of accessible places around town and many places didn’t have accessible entrances, ramps, and other facilities. We were really sad and then we entered a medical clinic nearby. At that place, there were certain facilities at the entrance, but there was no proper ramp near the clinic area, this was so disappointing, and we completed some other places and wound up the meet up.
As planned, the second phase was at a Non-profit organization caring visually impaired. That day there were more than six people gathered, they have already go basic knowledge and from my side, this was a bit upgraded version of knowledge sharing session.
One person out of the crowd asked me “how can I share my location with someone else when I’m going out alone?” I explained to him about the location sharing and also mentioned the pros and cons of sharing their location with others. Also, they learned a bit of voice search for the day from me.
Another person notified me a new thing this time. He asked me, how can I check my location based on the landmarks nearby if I’m lost somewhere on the road using Talkback?” I replied it’s the same way, expand the map, look for any familiar places nearby and get home. He says some of those functions are not working. So what they have been doing all these days is turn off talk back, click the pin nearby, once the pop up comes out then turn on the talkback again and listen to what’s written in and find out where they are. Even though this was a complaint raised, I was amazed to hear this by the research they have done. I wholeheartedly realized the importance of having such meetups to support these differently able people.
@TraciC hope this talkback will work properly in the future update.
Then, I explained them the improved features of Connect 2.0 referring to What are the accessibility features on Connect? Post.
When the time was up to wind up the session, one participant asked me whether will I have to have a look at the plant when I have given them under let’s map green initiative. With much enthusiasm, I followed him and I there waited for a double surprise for me.
@StephenAbraham can you believe this? (check your tree here)
The plant has shown enormous growth. Probably this has been the tallest and healthiest plants I have ever visited after planting before three months. When I asked “what’s the secret behind this?”, they innocently replied we are dumping all the kitchen scraps under the plant and watering it with care. Also, the one who showed me the plant gave a little speech and wanted me to record it. Have a look at him in this video.
"What he says is, these plants are donated under let’s map green initiative. We have cared them well and they have grown up well. Also, he encourages others to plant a tree for the future too.
With the satisfaction of seeing such a surprising growth in my previous planting activity as well as having a satisfaction of supporting them with what I know, I returned home.
More photos please check this Album
