“Sharing the activities of YouthMappers with others is not only the mantra of learning, but also allowing others the ability to visualize the world map like global citizens. It is the most resourceful way to explore the multidimensional prospects of youth contribution in a holistic way.”
A training module was given, it was combined with a technical session along with field work. The participants were introduced to YouthMappers, edited the maps, participated in various group activities on resilience and stress in the humanitarian leadership session, and, last of all, ended with the field work by using Kobo Toolbox and Mapiliary .
During the first part of the training, the participants of the University of Dhaka YouthMappers chapter were introduced to the YouthMappers activities, projects, Let Girls Map campaign, and the leadership and research fellowship initiatives. Then they learned the procedures for working with tools such as Kobo Toolbox and how to snap pictures using Mapiliary by creating their own user accounts.
“We Just don’t Build Maps, we build Mappers “ – the slogan is inspired the University of Dhaka Youthmappers chapter to enrich their knowledge more about mapping .
One of the participants, Mourupa Mohima, said “It was my first time attending a workshop like this on mapping, which is a completely new thing to me, but, it was so exciting that it had me engrossed in it. The efficient use of the application Mapillary in mapping and the first mapping experience through TeachOSM was every bit exciting to me. And at the end, the on field trial of Mapillary made it a 100% effective day for my first time as a mapper.”
After the lunch, the Resilience and Stress in the Humanitarian Field session began with lots of group discussion, drama play, Yoga activities, and a moment for reciting poems to build students' capacity for enduring the stress that often accompanies emergency situations.
On the left side picture, one participant was doing Mountain Yoga and then two of them were teaching him a poem and the other two participants were observing the whole scenario. Then they were assigned to write down the answer of “What kinds of stress do they feel during the exercise? “. Through the group discussion they, gave presentations about the outcomes of mental stress during the exercise.
On the left corner, there is a group exercise where the participants participated in a drama role-playing exercise where one is a stressed out fire fighter and other two are her colleagues with whom she shares her feelings through communication as a mechanism for reducing the mental stress.
One of the participants, Afroza Mahazabin said, “One of which was role playing as firefighters and their colleagues to get an idea about the stress and trauma felt by the rescuers. Through those dialogues and discussions, we really found a new perspective of the stress faced and experienced by the disaster rescuers and managers. Thanks for this fabulous event, as a future disaster manager, I came away feeling very educated and inspired.”
Last of all the, participants participated in a field work activity, which was very exciting and they used Kobo Toolbox and Mapiliary activities in the Moghbazer Slum area.
On the left, the participants are collecting the data from the internal displaced female respondents about the mental stress situation in the Moghbazer Slum area. Then on the right, the participants are snapping images using Mapiliary app.
One of the participants, Maliha Muhtasim added, “What made this workshop different than most is that our instructor created for us the opportunity to practically implement all the things she taught us in the classroom. My favorite part of the day was the field-work, where we conducted surveys on real people easily and efficiently through using 'Kobo Toolbox'. Learning how to use 'Mapillary' to potentially contribute to the mapping of the Moghbazer slum area was also a great experience.”
All the participants are second year Bachelors’ students of the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies at the University of Dhaka. The full-day training was a nice way to share the lessons with others and to encourage the University of Dhaka YouthMappers to generate new ideas for implementation through mapping.
Last of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Patricia Soils for her tremendous guidance as my supervisor of NNPHL to make the training efficient to the participants. Last but not the least Andrea Solomon, Desk Officer from Concern Worldwide, the person mentoring me throughout the whole process with superb support as my mentor from NNPHL.
Maliha Binte Mohiuddin is doing her Masters’ programme at the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability at the University of Dhaka. She has recently completed her 5 month professional training on program on humanitarian leadership initiated by Concern Worldwide, Harvard Humanitarian Initiatives, and International Medical Corps. She is interested in writing to inspire youth through words and she believes in Female Leadership in the humanitarian field.