The Local Guides program means a lot to me, although I have been participating in it for only six months. I started during pregnancy: I had more time to walk, take pictures, talk about the places I saw. So the program is inextricably associated for me with the happiest time in my life - expecting a baby and walking with it.
This is me and my son inside me ? Before his birth, my husband and I decided to move to Pushkin - this is a suburb of St. Petersburg, a very beautiful place. It was the residence of the Russian tsars.
The Local Guides program gives me the joy of helping other people. Before the birth of my son, I worked as a journalist, and then in the Nochlezhka charity organization, which helps homeless people. So all my life I have been sharing important information with people - and this is an important part of my self-identification. It is important for me to help other people, and I am glad that thanks to The Local Guides program I have such an opportunity, even during my life with a small child.
This is the same Catherine Park six months later. In the photo, I, my dad, husband and son in a stroller.
The Local Guides program helps me keep in touch with the world and feel my own worth. Because I see how my actions benefit other people: when I see the number of views of my photos and the responses to my reviews. When I read letters from the program with words of gratitude and recognition of my contribution.
It amazes me which of my photos are gaining the most views. It is unexpected and interesting for me.
The Local Guides program helps me feel that I can say important words and help the world get a little better. Because I can thank and cheer the guys from the classroom, help their business in this way, cheer them up. Because I can talk about what can be improved - and how to take care of my visitors. And attentive companies will take this experience into account. It is important for me to be able to be heard, to feel that my opinion matters.
And the Local Guides program gives me inspiration. Because I see how in the program the voice of one person becomes important. Because this is how I see how the Internet helps to create a community of people who help each other, on whom the world around depends. And it does not depend on borders and languages.
Thanks to The Local Guides program for the opportunity to be involved in this great good deed!
When my son grows up, I will tell him about the Local Guides program and its principles. And this is me and the kid going on the train to get acquainted with the world.
