Hello fellow Local Guides! Greeting from sunny Kazakhstan!
Everybody knows the benefits of sharing and giving. Does not matter if you do so by being a Local Guide or devoting your time in a local charity or community center. Volunteering and giving back to the community is exactly what makes it safer, happier, cohesive and self-sufficient.
I am a professor of Politics and part of my research interests deal with the so-called 'social capital' - the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively. Volunteering and caring about the community are two of the core values of a healthy social capital.
I became a Local Guide because I realized how much this program is fostering social trust, volunteering and associational life - all parts of the society's social capital.
Let me tell you the question which I am asked the most whenever I write and share my Local Guide reviews: "Why are you doing this? Isn't it the waste of your time and effort?" I am used to answering these kinds of questions. People who ask them have poor stocks of social capital; they do not trust strangers, never volunteer, do not join any social movements or public associations. I do not blame them. In fact, I used to be like them.
You see, my homeland - Kazakhstan - like most of the post-communist societies is trying to get rid of Soviet legacy characterized by prevalence of materialist values, cynicism, apathy and egocentrism among other nasty features of public life. These beliefs make volunteering, community service and civic engagement almost impossible. Little do my friends and acquaintances understand that by contributing to the Google Maps and sharing my reviews I help locals and tourists enjoy Almaty even more, make their commutes more accurate, make informed choices of places to dine, shop, etc. People in Kazakhstan are so much used to take from the society and the city, but never give something back. The now ubiquitous maxim of 'sharing is caring' was never as important as it is today.
To reiterate, I keep telling my students and everybody asking me the above mentioned question that by giving back to the city and community by either contributing to Google Maps or volunteering in neighborhoods' community centers, we are not only making our cities a better place to live, but we are also fostering growth of social trust and cohesive communities, which can be put in one simple word: the social capital or the civic culture.
Thanks for reading!
2022
