Hi, I’m Jorge, from Portugal, and I live on Madeira Island.
As geography teacher, I love to travel all over the world to meet other people with different ways of living and expressing themselves culturally. I like to plan everything related to my trips and organize everything with the precious help from internet, namely Google maps, to get the information and advice I need to make sure everything goes well.
However, just until recently, I had no idea that I could also contribute to enrich Google maps by being a local guide. I got to know the local guide program through a friend here in Madeira, Patrícia, who represented Portugal at Connect Live 2019. At first I didn’t really understand how it worked and how I could contribute.
What could I do? What knowledge could I share?
With Patrícia’s priceless help, I started to get more and more excited, specifically because I’ve realized that what we know about a place, restaurant, food or event, can be very useful for someone else. I also understood that the best vehicle to spread this information was through the local guide program, as it helps other people making their daily lives or their travels a more enriching experience.
So, I started contributing by posting some pictures of places I love, assigning scores and making some comments that can help others make the right decision. And it was then that the feeling of belonging to a Global Community began to grow, helping each other in various ways with the aim of making life easier for everyone, based on the contribution of local guides in a fantastic network of knowledge, that is now available to all those who need it. For me this is truly amazing.
This way, the local guide program made me feel that, in this increasing globalized world, any one of us can, and should, contribute to making everyone’s life easier and happier. It was this feeling of community, combined with my work as a special needs education teacher, that impelled me to create a list named Madeira Accessible Playgroups, so that families know where it is easier to go with their children , especially those who have some disability.
Speaking of community, remember that only in community can we win Covid-19. So, stay at home for yourself and for others.