Beautiful Heidelberg

I guess it’s OpenStreetMap’s way of congratulating me on my 5th year as an active contributor when my scholarship application to the HOT Summit and State of the Map both held in Heidelberg, Germany this year was accepted.

I totally over-packed (17 kgs check-in baggage for a week) in anticipation of the cold weather (8 to 18°C) because I’m a tropical girl all the way. But Heidelberg wasn’t cold at all. It was sunny, bright, and the right amount of chill in the morning. The views were gorgeous, too.

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It was my first time to leave my husband with our wildling 2-year old to fend for themselves for close to a week. Prior to leaving the house, I was wondering if it was right to go as I stacked up the fridge with food and the closet with clean clothes. I packed my luggage and my hesitation instantly turned to excitement. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot in Davao! (Translation: I can’t wait to be relieved from mom duties.)

I got this mapping stint from Erwin Olario. He didn’t have other options as nobody else was available from the OpenStreetMap Philippines local community. (No competition!) The invite came from Tambayan Center for Children’s Rights Inc., a non-profit, non-government organization based in Davao City. There were roughly 30 participants all between 11 and 18 years of age. Managing that number would be quite tough for a two-man team but with the strong assist from the very warm Tambayan staff, the whole four days were a breeze.

Here’s a short account of what transpired during the mapping workshop:

Day 1. Erwin started the day with a mapping exercise where he asked the children to draw a map for a friend who would be paying a visit. Then, Erwin and I took turns in rolling out a series of lecture-exercise planned for the entire workshop, specifically for the following tools: OpenStreetMap ID Editor, Field Papers, and MapContrib.

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