The virtual talk about a new organization forming in our college got everyone’s attention. The initial thought was of an agriculture-related organization as we are all pursuing agriculture. Then the day came when the notice about an orientation and a PDF file about YouthMappers was sent to me. My initial reaction after reading the PDF, I need to be a part of this. The date came for the orientation about YouthMappers by Mr. Saurav Gautam, YouthMappers Regional Ambassador. OpenStreetMap, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), and so many new things, which I had never heard of till now were, introduced to me for the very first time. The fact that the delivery services, transportation services, and even Nepal's armies use this service pushed me, even more, to fill out the application form.
The days passed wondering whether I will ever be part of YouthMappers. Well, the day came, on 11th July at around 10:32 PM NST, the notification about a new mail came. Once I read it the smile could not fade away until I slept. The next day when I told my family I had become a board member of an organization they were overjoyed; their nose was lifted with pride that their youngest child will be contributing something to the society in some manner. And in a couple of days the new team of Agri Mappers-Lamjung chapter had the very first OpenStreetMap workshop my excitement was out of control but thanks to the power cut I missed it. But thank-god with the recording I could catch up to others. After going through the recording, I started my first journey as a mapper.
Rather than wasting my time during this pandemic, I did some mapping firstly around my house and later extended the mapping area which could later help someone, even if that means easing some deliveries. Then we learned Java OpenStreetMap Editor after a few days which I found very useful during power cuts as at least I was utilizing my time.
After a week or so mail from YouthMappers came about being officially registered to the organization. That smile again came back and the official work started to begin as an executive board member of Agri-Mappers Lamjung. The very first meeting and many more to come, and the bond among the members will become even stronger. The energy and the enthusiasm of the newly formed organization seem to drive every member to reach higher and contribute to the society and the agriculture field through mapping. What I hope especially is the collective effort of our group can help the farmers, sales-persons as well as the armies to carry out their work which can directly or indirectly help in social change. The journey that lay before may have challenges of its own but the work and bondage we create, hopefully will live for years to come.
Here is the YouTube video for our chapters introduction:
Prajwal Shrestha,
Second Semester, B.Sc. Ag
General Board Member
Agri-Mappers Lamjung Chapter
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science-Lamjung, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.