If you contact a call center in my country, you will encounter a line like: “even if you can’t hear us, we are working for you.” And that’s precisely how I feel about the Local Guides Community and Google Maps. After having LocalGuidesConnect.com so close to my heart and my daily routine, life sent me to an important task, one that I embarked almost in silence and which I now want to share with you.
First, the context:
As you might have seen in the fantastic video published to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I was lucky enough to get a job where I literally had to map places and teach rural community leaders and authorities how to do it and why it was for their own benefit. I must confess that it was like a dream to have my Local Guides and knowledge-sharing passion turned into my job description, and a few months after, I still can barely believe it!
Because of this project, I was submerged in the northern region of the Dominican Republic, the one we call “Cibao.” What is personally meaningful about this is that precisely in that area is where I spent many summer and Christmas holidays in my childhood. Why? Because that is where my dad came from and where many of my relatives still live.
The task was so complex that I required help, which is why I recruited @Helina .
I met her a few months before as a university student in two of the classes I teach. When our professor-student relationship was over, she asked me to be her mentor and to do an apprenticeship or internship (however you call it) in my company. After seeing her talents, I had to accept. And, long story short, I also chose her to join me in this challenge.
We went together to several places and even had to use different means of transportation, as seen in the following photo:
Together, we added historical, touristic, and culturally valuable places; we cleaned the map and reported dozens of photos, duplicate sites, and incorrect markings. And we were able to witness the passion, devotion, and dedication of our people. From the ladies that make chocolate in Puerto Plata to those making creative pieces out of the organic banana plantations in Valverde. We visited museums and galleries, agricultural fields, and artisan workshops, and with each visit, we documented and explained to them what we were doing. We identified “pains” like the one of the petrified wood artisans who had moved to a bigger exhibition area, and their pin on the map still guided tourists and clients to the old location. Of course, we not only fixed it but instructed them on how to do it.
While all that intense traveling was undoubtedly an unforgettable and enriching experience for both of us, it was not the most moving part. But that will be the subject of another post in order to keep this one simple and shorter.
As I said at the beginning, while it might appear that I have been on mute, I have been embracing my position as a Local Guides Community Builder and Creative Contributor. I have been taking my role as a self-proclaimed brand ambassador to the next level by sharing this knowledge not only with those from the younger generation like @Helina but also with many who, regardless of their age and economical status, will directly benefit from having Google Maps in their own rural and community businesses.
And now, to finalize this piece, I want to challenge you to answer: did you notice that I had the Local Guides Logo with me at all times?! In how many photos did you spot it? 
Greetings from the Caribbean,
M.
.
lo tendré en cuenta.
