I discovered the local guides program by sheer luck. Every time I went out to notable places say hotels or restaurants, after taking pictures, I would get a prompt asking me how my experience was and to share pictures. I would get excited seeing that I had been awarded points for my contribution and I would keep adding until one day I explored the maps app and saw my profile picture and a badge.
Upon engaging online with other local guides through the official Local Guides twitter account, I found there was a Kenyan community of Local guides and requested to join. This would see me be included in a group of other like-minded local guides from various backgrounds and to add icing to the cake, some members had attended previous Local Connect Live summits.
This sparked my curiosity and zeal to level up. I attended meetups that they held, geo walks and recently nature walks. They encouraged us to apply and this will be my 4th year applying, hopefully, I will make the cut.
I get the feeling of homeliness and self-worth after contributing something on the maps and sharing my stories on local connect. I have added new places that weren’t online and this saw an increase in traffic in the establishments.
Being a local guide instilled responsibility and a sense of accuracy because of what I put out there, it has to be factual.
Would love to meet other local guides from across the globe.
Asante