Latest Contributions by WilliamTarpai

@KusalJana   Allow me to provide a link you may wish to ponder if you are interested in work in East Africa https://kenya.un.org/en/sdgs. Write to one or more of the UN agencies in Nairobi, and let them know what you are interested in.   ... View more

Great post and wonderful discussions, Thanks to everyone in the community responding.   @EzraCheruiyot   Imagine how we have to plan our approaches working with students in the field who may or may not have dependable access to the internet, but are just starting to learn how to build their skill sets It reminded me of the ESRI START UP page https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/partners/our-partners/startups?rsource=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.esri.com%2Fen-us%2Fabout%2Fesri-partner-network%2Four-partners%2Fesri-startup-program  ... View more

@EzraCheruiyot. Although we do have various level of GIS education and experience, neither of us have GIS in our job titles today. But we have now been able to deliver thousands of books, but only a limited amount of reconditioned computers to some of these 9 Bomet County, Kenya school: 1. Tenwek High School 2. Chebonei Girls High School 3. Chebilat Boys High School 4. Itembe Secondary School 5. Kaplong Boys High School 6. Kitaima Junior School 7. Kaplong Girls High School 8. Kiriba Integrated Secondary School 9. St.Mary Mixed Junior School Now we are trying to introduce local students to mapping and spacial analysis.  But we have many challenges:as a recent Safina Empowerment report documented: Infrastructure remains a major bottleneck. Only Tenwek High School had a functional library; the other eight schools had none. A targeted 2023 study in Bomet Central Sub-County (highly relevant to the project area) found that 86.3% of schools lacked ICT laboratories and had no access to digital tools, while 82.1% lacked functional libraries. Additional gaps include classroom shortages, inadequate sanitary facilities, and unreliable electricity—critical barriers as Kenya's Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) incorporates digital literacy and practical activities.    We are trying to provide good leadership and looks to our friends for help...   ... View more

@EzraCheruiyot I would like to collaborate with you to build Field maps of Bomet County, Kenya - Lots of good suggestions from members of this community to help avoid some problems.... ... View more

Hello @RosemaryBoone ,    Have you ever been to Kenya?    Imagine good roads, good access to water and sanitation, good access to the internet are major problems preventing more young Kenyan students from joining in discussions on Esri YPN Networking space.   BUT there are many potential YPN candidates who are working to improve their communities.   ... View more

Thanks to everyone involved with this post.  I spent an hour today in discussions with my colleagues at Safina Empowerment (a Kenyan NGO working to improve rural community development efforts in Bomet County.  Has anyone ever created a map that included Bomet County (near Lake Victoria, and on the borders with Tanzania and Uganda)?   If so, and you have an interest in helping student learn and hone ARCGIS mapping skill sets you may wish to contact me directly. (The Safina team has made photo and video recordings of their work distributing books to rural schools in Kenya you may wish to review) Our zoom call today included  3 new SAFINA EMPOWERMENT members (a 12 year old girl and a student ambassador (both Diana Award winners) who were involved in the first distribution of books to 9 local schools in Bomet County last week.   26,000+ books with some computer equipment were part of the Books for Africa 40 foot container shipment.  This post is truly noteworthy as in additional to the tips, it will certainly be helpful for avoiding future disaster of new learners. ... View more

@JeffreyThompson2     My colleagues in several Kenyan schools were discussing best ways to get some of the basic questions answered that beginning students have....   I suggested tuning into ESRI COMMUNITY once they are actually putting their fingers on the key boards to learn and hone their mapping skills..   Perhaps I should suggest some of your community inputs as well.... ... View more

Thank you @JeffreyThompson2  and ALL contributors to this post.  Just off the phone with a Safina Empowerment colleagues calling me from Bomet County, Kenya.  He was pleased to be informing me about contacts he and his team from Safina Empowerment had with Bomet County high schools administrators to deliver computer equipment for local students to begin to be introduced to mapping and spatial analysis skill sets.   We are hoping to speed up the pace for achieving successful Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outcomes in this decade.   Something New for Esri Partners at the 2025 Esri Partner Conference (EPC)    Anyone interested in supporting skill building of students in East Africa? ... View more

It is amazing how things happen when we are able to collaborate....  Today I have been in contact with colleagues in Bomet County, Kenya as they reached out to several local high schools, providing computer equipment that will hopefully bring new users into our community and community discussions. Helping students moving from finding out about ESRI software and tools on computers provided to their schools to being able to become regular contributors to this community is of course, a long process.  So I'm sure we'll be checking back next year to see how development may be happening in the regions along the coast line of Lake Victoria.... ... View more

Thanks for posting.   This is an important point related to how to better search. ... View more

@Ibrahimishag.    Good points - I'm a field man myself, and have wished I would have honed my mapping and spatial analysis skill set during a career that found me in conflict situations, often without access to stable electricity flowing, much less internet access.  BUT in hind sight, I wish I had been able to map like a GIS engineer or specialist.   With the application deadline closing in fast, I'm urging students and young professionals, with GIS skills,  to apply through their universities, for a SDG13 climate Solutions Mapping Contest "...competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students from universities selected from SDSN’s member institutions worldwide. Throughout the competition, students receive dedicated mentorship from Siemens Energy staff and Siemens Gamesa to enhance their projects. The winner is awarded a USD $10,000 cash prize and opportunities for further development and networking. ... View more

Thanks for your good works.   I'm sharing with my new friends in Zambia.   @MercyChilefwe ... View more

Hello @DerejeMekonnen    With the United Nations high level week in full swing this week, I also want to encourage to assemble a network of GIS professionals and students, and hopefully hone your combined skills improving the abilities of Ethiopia to close the decade with its best possible score on the SDG 15 year challenge (2015-2030).  Please feel free to use the SDG Ethiopia country profile and dig down to all the indicators that your group can make progress achieving.    best wishes  ... View more

@AhmedYasser Great question.  Let's see what we can find out from ESRI....   I can point to lots of great activities being ccarried out globally, but wondered whether the countries consider them as part of theur /sdg success stories?   /with the high level UNGA 2025 taking place this week in New York, it would have been a great place to ask world leaders who are using ESRI software and tools in their countries.... ... View more

Sorry I missed attending.   I was seeking to corral perspective Map Geeks interested in helping promote achieving sustainable development outcomes using ESRI software and tools with people in developing countries interested in helping to live in healthier and safer communities.   Anyone interested. ... View more