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Letwin's Diary

Recent diary entries

MapSwipe on the Web Experience

MapSwipe Session

Recently, I had the privilege of leading a MapSwipe training session for a corporate group, and it was an incredibly rewarding experience. While I’ve conducted online trainings before, this one felt particularly special. Despite my initial nerves, I was able to deliver a smooth and engaging training session.

Initially, I felt a bit nervous about taking on the role, especially since I was filling in for a colleague. “Corporate” to me also sounded really scary and extremely formal. However, with a bit of preparation and the support of a wonderful colleague, Nicole, I gained the confidence to deliver a successful training session. I focused on guiding participants through the web version of MapSwipe, a tool close to my heart.

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GroupPhoto

It’s really a difficult task penning down experiences that even I could not express physically, but all the same I will walk you through the mapping horizons – my journey through the incredible State of the Map Nairobi.

State of the Map (SotM) Nairobi wasn’t just a conference; it was a homecoming. This year, the first-ever Afrikan-hosted, global SotM, buzzed with the energy of passionate mappers from across the globe.

“Who did you say you wanted to share the room with?”

“Have you booked your airport pickup, using Little Cab?”

“I don’t want my Letwin to get lost in Nairobi :D”

“The eagle has landed 🔥”

“Are you in Nairobi now?”

We keep it at that so curiosity kills the cat….

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LettyLaura

I feel like I owe the world this, I owe Zimbabwe this, we can’t step into the new year before I share this news with everyone. It was June of this year when I was voted as a New Voting Member. I am grateful for a supportive nominator Kingsley Chika CHUKWU and the HOT family as a whole. I might be the first Voting Member from Zimbabwe and for this I was compelled to share this step with the rest of this family especially.

Getting to be a Voting Member came with proving your worth and making sound suggestions and decisions I am already incorporating or taking part in. I am happy to be recognized to this extent and I promise to stand in for the community, to the community as we build a stronger community. You can read my responses here:

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Location: Zvishavane, Zvishawane, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe

It has been a busy time for OpenStreetMap Zimbabwe Community forging ahead to set it’s foot within the Global OpenStreetMap Family. This year started enormously with the introduction to the Anticipatory Response Program for Muzarabani.

OpenStreetMap Zimbabwe is one of those communities that is still emerging and testing the waters in pursuit of a safe landing space. I am sure it’s all smooth surface but not so easy to be well established. Starting up a community or resuscitating one is no little work; you sweat it out, you cry it out and you scream it out. Only commitment and dedication will see you through the winning point. Over the last couple of years, OpenStreetMap Zimbabwe has been active in terms of the YouthMappers Chapters. Vivid and energetic, the young mappers have been very enthusiastic, raising their home flag high. This year, tables should turn or rather tables should balance.

OpenStreetMap Zimbabwe jump-started this year at a climatic point with the first massive Mapathon ever which also served as an introduction to the Anticipatory Response Program for Muzarabani. The community which gathered at the University of Zimbabwe on the 20th of March 2023, made tremendous efforts to put Muzarabani on the map. The tasks cleared way for the Disaster Response Deployment which then took off the next day in the Muzarabani District. The occasion was rich in attendance (80+) from various institutions and organizations like the Chinhoyi University of Technology, Midlands State University, Harare Polytechnic, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Institute of Geomatics, Surveyors Institute of Zimbabwe, independent participants and supported by the Eastern and Southern Africa Hub (ESA). Training was led by Deogratius Kiggudde while the Zimbabwe Steering Committee and ESA (Jomokela Kennedy, Wilson Munyaradzi, Michael Osunga) chipped in to attend to the floor. It was a huge success.

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YOUTHMAPPERS 2023 LEADERSHIP FELLOW

Posted by Letwin on 9 February 2023 in English.

montegobay Of course we woke up to this every single morning!

This year started on a high note for all YouthMappers selected for the 2023YouthMappers Leadership Fellows Summit in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

YouthMappers from different parts of the globe embarked on a very exciting trip to Jamaica, I was one of them representing my mother country Zimbabwe. I bordered from Lagos, Nigeria and calculating the hours and days to get to Montego Bay kept me in suspense and some kind of curiosity. I travelled with YouthMappers from various states of Nigeria, it made the trip much exciting and fun. The joy of meeting someone new, someone who’s passionate about the same things you are also into, exchanging those big smiles and hugs made it worthwhile. So I’d say my summit experience commenced the instant I met my first Summit mates and trip mates!

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Following the Global State of the Map in Italy, the Inaugural State of the Map Nigeria came to be this time with Mr Victor Sunday as the Chair.

The conference was organized by Unique Mappers Network Team and saw attendees from various states of Nigeria, from Hong Kong, Tanzania, Brazil, Zimbabwe just to mention a few. I was in for Quality Assurance and Volunteer Lead alongside Kaue de Moraes Vestena. It was great learning especially from the Nigerian Community how they are using FOSS, contributing to OSM and all. It was an honor launching this hybrid conference and paving way for many to come.

My gratitude goes to Mr Victor Sunday for also trusting my capability in this, the Unique Mappers Team at large and to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT unSummit) for sponsoring me. So Mr Victor asked me again to give closing remarks like I did in Italy, if it’s now a calling I don’t even know. I am thrilled to be part of the Unique Mappers Network as an Intern – this also adds to the space. I am more than grateful.

This is how it went down...

Posted by Letwin on 29 December 2022 in English.

2022 PART 02

##My first State of the Map and FOSS4G (Italy)

When the mail came in, I couldn’t believe it…SotM and FOSS4G all at once…Italy you say – I still think it was a dream!

It was a call to attend the Global State of the Map (SotM) Conference and the Free and Open-Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Conference in Italy. I didn’t know where to start but I have the Organizers of FOSS4G and my mentor Dr Prestige Makanga to thank in all.

It was the 17th of August when I bordered the plane to Rome. It was a first, overwhelming is the closest I can use but trust me it was way beyond that. My flights got delayed and I got to Rome late, took my trams to Firenze and hail there was a raging storm. The storm delayed my trams too and I got to Firenze around 11pm. Thanks to Cristiano Giovando; he was there all the time till I was right inside the hostel, on my bed and ready for the big day the following day (I’d call him my map, tour guide, keeper and connector). I am very much grateful.

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This is how it all started...

Posted by Letwin on 21 December 2022 in English.

2022 PART 01

#Welcome to OpenStreetMap Community

It was just 3 students, ambitious about a pathway they were not even so sure about. They accepted the challenge and got ready to roll.

So, we started our YouthMappers Chapter just as a Students OSM Community at our University. We didn’t know much but we were willing to take the risk. So, one thing we knew and we did was hold Africa Monthly Mapathons.

File:Launch3

This we knew and actually followed and for a time it was the only activity we knew. Fortunately for us, we had the unwavering support of our mentor Dr Prestige T Makanga and Dr Charles Paradzayi and of course Geoffrey Kateregga (our Mr OSM)! Later on, light came, and thanks to Regional Ambassador Laura Mugeha; we registered our small community as a YouthMappers Chapter and things started getting better and brighter. On this day, we launched our Chapter with an introduction to OpenStreetMap and YouthMappers.

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