I am Lineekela and I am quite new to the OSM community but I have GIS experience and background as I am a GIS graduate. I started OSM this year (2021) where I took part in the Mapathorn here in Namibia and later was part of the team that facilitated the mapathorns.

This is my first time attending the “State of the Map Africa 2021” event. I could only attend the first day but I watched the recorded sessions on YouTube so I could update myself on what I have missed out on.

From the videos I have watched, I have learned quite a lot about the open source software and their tools that can be use when it comes to spatial data. I have learned about OSGeoLive and the tools that are available like GeoNode which is an SDI for sharing and managing spatial data. QGIS whas also talked about, but I have already known about it as it is the software I use when creating maps and cleaning GPS data. Another thing I found interesting was the journey towards building a sustainable OSM community in Malawi as we here in Namibia are currently busy trying to establish a community here in Namibia aswel. We have started in April 2021 with Mapathorns where we trained community members how to digitize their respective settlements that they were familiar with. I am looking forward to the next State of the Map Africa event so I can share my experiences and learn from my fellow mappers as well.