On January 13th, 2019, through the Women Connect Challenge project in Serengeti Tanzania, we conducted a one day OpenStreetMap introductory training at Serengeti Tourism College, located in Mugumu, Mara Region Tanzania.
The tourism school is the only institution of higher learning in Mugumu town, the administrative seat of Serengeti District. The purpose of the training was to develop capacity of the students in the use of OpenStreetMap and also initiate the creation of a YouthMappers chapter whose members could also contribute to the Women Connect Challenge project through Crowd2map Tanzania.
The 3 hours training which attracted 13 students and 3 teachers including the principal of the college had the following schedule.
Arrival and Registration
Women Connect Challenge
About the project
How the college can take part
Introduction to OpenStreetMap
Navigating the map
Creating accounts
Editing with ID Editor
Adding points, lines and areas
Mobile Data Collection tools
Mapping with Maps.Me
Filling ODK forms
YouthMappers Introduction
Who are YouthMappers
Steps for setting up a chapter
Voting of committee
Next steps for applying to join YouthMappers
Closure
Outcomes of the training and next steps: A copy of the constitution of IRDP YouthMappers was shared with new leadership committee to use as a template to create their own.
A leadership committee was voted by the students themselves to steer the chapter forward, first through the application process.
These positions were the president, vice president, social media coordinator, training coordinator, treasurer, secretary and patron. To ensure gender balance, 3 out of the 6 leaders are women.
A checklist of items to put in place before filling the YouthMappers chapter application form was shared, these included
Drafting the chapter constitution
Setting up social media platforms: Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook
Designing a logo for the chapter
A list of materials was shared with students so they can continue learning and exploring more about OpenStreetMap. These included the LearnOSM website and links to videos.
As a follow up training, the SETCO YouthMappers will participate in an online webinar in the coming weeks. The YouthMappers Steering Committee reviewed and approved SETCO YouthMappers' application to join YouthMappers.
Geoffrey Kateregga has been working with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMapTeam (HOT) since March 2015 as the Lead Mapping Supervisor in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania engaged in Community Mapping for Flood Resilience. Currently he is working on Mapping Financial Inclusion in Uganda. Prior to that he worked with Mapping Day building a network of enthusiastic mappers in Uganda. Follow Geoffrey's work with #WomensConnect with HOT.