In August of this year, 2021, the YouthMappers, Universidad de Panamá (Jóvenes Mapeadores de la Universidad de Panamá) will celebrate its fifth year. As we celebrate this milestone, it is almost impossible not to think about the challenges we have overcome and the numerous successful accomplishments. In 2016 Dr. Patricia Solis cofounder of the YouthMappers contacted me to tell me about this important project where, using Open Street Map (OSM), students could connect their peers from around the world, mapping communities and areas with the purpose of revealing the hidden, to give the voiceless a voice.

I had worked with Dr. Patricia Solis and Dr. Marie Price a couple of years earlier, collaborating on a study abroad program here in Panama where we were able to bring together students from George Washington University and the University of Panama to work on a project in the Historic District. It turned out that our students from both universities were excited about this experience and created ties of friendship that continued after this project.

To me, this experience showed me that we needed to focus more on trying to find these spaces where our students could expand their academic knowledge and be able to listen to other experiences and participate with other students in solving real life problems that could change in some degree other people´s lives. So, I thought that begining a YouthMappers chapter would be a great opportunity, to encourage students to participate in this voluntary initiative.

To begin this process, I talked to my colleague Professor Humberto Smith and others to help me in this task. Although for some colleagues it was difficult to get involved due to their busy schedule, they tried to help us spreading the word among students. Professor Smith and I decided to continue this endeavor, and we were able to motivate a group of students who helped us to create the YouthMappers, Universidad de Panamá chapter.

Since 2016, both students who were with us from the beginning and those who presently are part of our chapter have become acquainted with the tools they need to learn regarding the OSM and other technologies, working together to accomplish their own common goals while helping communities as well.

Some of these projects include the following: - The Smart University Project at the University of Panama, where together with other students, professors, and in collaboration and alliances with other organizations, we have been able to collect information and to create an app containing all the university´s infrastructure. This app is available, so students and the general public may use this tool.

• Several of our YouthMappers from the University of Panama chapter have had the opportunity to participate as speakers in conferences and panels at both the national and international level. Furthermore, they have given interviews on TV and other communication channels. They also have given talks to students in high schools. One of our YouthMappers became the Regional Ambassador for Panama, and she was able to go to South Africa for training. After she came back she shared her knowledge with her peers. The chapter has also been awarded with the Women’s Participation Award.

• In 2018 we visited our peers in Costa Rica to exchange experiences and knowledge. We participated with conferences at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica in Heredia and Universidad de Costa Rica in San José.

• Members of YouthMappers, University of Panama, have participated in webinars and video conferences with peers from Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. They have also contributed to the ‘mapathons’ in other places around the world. They have organized several ‘mapathons’ in Panama, each with specific purposes, including environmental risk and vulnerability in the Kuna Nega community, and San Miguelito - due to possible landslides risk -, possible situations with flooding in certain urban areas like the city of Santiago, province of Veraguas, and in certain areas of the province of Chiriquí as a response to damages caused by the ETA and IOTA hurricanes. They have worked as well in conservation projects like the Eco-routeTurtle Project, building long-term relationships with the community in the area.

The motto of the YouthMappers is “We Don´t Just Build Maps. We build Mappers,” and our students become Mappers through their hard work, which is even more admirable given the fact they are doing this work while studying their careers, doing their assigned homework for classes, and some also have to provide for their families. Still, they find time to contribute to the OSM and other projects as well, but the most important result is that they have become leaders and a model for other young people.

For me, as an advisor, it has been a challenge trying to juggle classes, projects and administrative work, and at the same time trying to guide and keep up with this great volunteer group that has become the YouthMappers, Universidad de Panamá. The path has not been easy and we have encountered obstacles. But in this process perseverance have been a key word. Watching our YouthMappers face problems, seeing how they have learned to talk to each other and reach out for help to other YouthMappers, finding the best solutions together, and ultimately empowering themselves and others is what makes every single moment worth.

In this process we have learned that technology is important in discovering and helping to solve problems around the world. At the same time, we have seen these young people grow as individuals, and as professionals committed to making things better for everyone, and that is what encourages us to continue with this volunteer work.

Commitment, sense of community, and friendship ties are what constitute the strengthening of our chapter of YouthMappers at University of Panama (Jóvenes Mapeadores de la Universidad de Panamá).