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Level 7

Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Hello everyone,

I'm Wadinga Leonard from Buea, Cameroon. Some of you might know the present situation in my country Cameroon but for those who don't, here is a brief summary of what's happening. The english part of the country (where I'm from) is tired of the very corrupt government, so the anglophones to make their voices heard, boycott national events and perform other civil disobedience acts(ghost towns), and use social media to promote their campaign. So, the government in trying to maintain order( in this part of the country, decided to cut off this part of the country from the internet.  

Ok, that's a little on all what's being going on here in Cameroon for the past 4months. Due to the internet outage in this part of the country, I decided to move to the french capital Yaounde, where I could continue using the internet. So here am I in a strange city, and can barely express myself in French. You can guess how embarrassing to always ask passersby questions on which bus stop to wait for the bus, or to always tell the cab driver that you don't know where you are heading to?

So I as a tech guy, I turned to Google Maps for aid. But to my surprise a lot of places are not even on the map, those on the map have a lot of missing information and sometimes these places have wrong information(name, exact location). So, I took this as an opportunity to make the map better and encourage others to do so. I have been having a lot of fun contributing to the map, encouraging my friends too, to contribute and even take some friends out for a walk to make the map better when I can afford it. After visiting a friend or going home after a busy day, I make sure to add/edit a few places.

Many towns in my country have very few places on the map, I think this is because a lot of Cameroonians, as well as Africans, don't have the culture of giving reviews or editing information about places on the map. So I think the few local guides in this country have to take it as a responsibility to educate others on how important giving a review or verifying information can be life/cost saving to a stranger wherever he/she finds him/herself.

I hope I have motivated someone to encourage others to contribute to the map. Hoping to hear what you have to say, so don't forget to leave a comment below. Thanks.

 

Best regards,

wadleo.

https://plus.google.com/communities/104904647546732970200
Yaounde, Centre, Cameroon
20 comments
Level 9

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Kudos @wadleo. Keep Mapping 🙂

flagnepal acetreks.gif  - Nepal | YouTube
Level 10

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Bonjour, @wadleo

Ce que vous dites de la situation à Buéa est vraiment déplorable. Espérons que cela va se résoudre, pour le bonheur de nos frères de là-bas.

En ce qui concerne les local guides de Yaoundé, j'avoue qu'ils sont vraiment rares. Mais le travail, sur les grands axes comme les nationales N1, N2, N3, N10 est fait au moins à 90%. Vous recherchez une pharmacie sur ces axes, une station service, un service de transfert d'argent, une banque, un hôtel, une quincaillerie, un supermarché, un restaurant? je pense qu'il suffit de taper l'adresse sur google map pour les trouver. Les fiches des endroits sont parfois incomplets et vous pouvez les compléter par exemple en ajoutant le numéro de téléphone, le site web(rares sont les entreprises chez nous qui ont un site web), ou les horaires d'ouverture et de fermeture. Parfois il faut bien vérifier les numéros de téléphone car certaines gens s'amusent à mettre leur numéro en lieu et place du standard de l'entreprise. 

Il y a beaucoup de travail à faire à Yaoundé pour les Local Guides, car 2019 approche, et c'est l'année de la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations de Football. Concordons nos efforts pour mieux faire. 

C'est vrai que Google met beaucoup d'adresses en attente on ne sait pas pourquoi. Mais travaillons seulement. 

Bernalds Motanbou
Level 10

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

@wadleo congratulations and thanks for your effort.

You are fullfilling a personal need, but this will have a positive effect on the whole community.

Thanks for sharing and good luck for your mapping activities and for your life.

Level 7

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

You got my point, thanks for the encouragement.


@LucioV wrote:

@wadleo congratulations and thanks for your effort.

You are fullfilling a personal need, but this will have a positive effect on the whole community.

Thanks for sharing and good luck for your mapping activities and for your life.


 

https://plus.google.com/communities/104904647546732970200
Level 7

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Yes there is more to do, I am thinking of organising a little meetup here in Yaounde, so all of us already contributing google maps can invite 1 or 2 persons and choose an area to cover detaily. Let me know what you think by writing to my email, [EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED]. I waiting to hear from you, thanks.


@Bernalds73 wrote:

Bonjour, @wadleo

Ce que vous dites de la situation à Buéa est vraiment déplorable. Espérons que cela va se résoudre, pour le bonheur de nos frères de là-bas.

En ce qui concerne les local guides de Yaoundé, j'avoue qu'ils sont vraiment rares. Mais le travail, sur les grands axes comme les nationales N1, N2, N3, N10 est fait au moins à 90%. Vous recherchez une pharmacie sur ces axes, une station service, un service de transfert d'argent, une banque, un hôtel, une quincaillerie, un supermarché, un restaurant? je pense qu'il suffit de taper l'adresse sur google map pour les trouver. Les fiches des endroits sont parfois incomplets et vous pouvez les compléter par exemple en ajoutant le numéro de téléphone, le site web(rares sont les entreprises chez nous qui ont un site web), ou les horaires d'ouverture et de fermeture. Parfois il faut bien vérifier les numéros de téléphone car certaines gens s'amusent à mettre leur numéro en lieu et place du standard de l'entreprise. 

Il y a beaucoup de travail à faire à Yaoundé pour les Local Guides, car 2019 approche, et c'est l'année de la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations de Football. Concordons nos efforts pour mieux faire. 

C'est vrai que Google met beaucoup d'adresses en attente on ne sait pas pourquoi. Mais travaillons seulement. 


 

https://plus.google.com/communities/104904647546732970200
Level 10

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

@wadleo Your contribution will be very valuable for the future. 

Level 7

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Hi Wadinga,

 Your story and efforts are admiring. It shows what LG program is really about. Obama recently told: "Ordinary people, when working together, can do extraordinary things.". I think this summarizes LG philosophy.

Regards,

Yerbolat 

Level 7

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Thanks, @wadleo, for sharing your story. Your effort and dedication are so admiring and inspiring. It's so important what you said about educating others on the importance of what Local Guides do. Google Maps is a great chance to be actively involved in the process of change that is more and more enhancing our countries and their natural and artistic resources. Our community gets bigger every day, but it's up on us to speed up the process and show the LG world to others. So thank you for what you are doing. I wish you and your country all the best.

Level 7

Re: Why I contribute to Google Maps?

Keep up with updations @wadleo
Your updates are much appreciated