I’ve been involved with the Missing Maps project for some time now, often attending mapathons once in a while and eating as much free food as I can there. I’ve mapped huts, houses, swamps, roads, and dried up ponds which I always mistake for huts. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from these mapathons, it’s that shadows make buildings. It’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given as a Missing Mapper and one that I continue to preach to new mappers.

I wouldn’t say that I’m an experienced mapper, but I’d say that I’m a Missing Maps believer. As cheesy as that may sound, it’s true. The Missing Maps project has a lot of potential to make the lives of epidemiologists, project coordinators, logisticians, health officials, and many others much easier. It provides first responders with actual maps of low-resource areas that are both detailed and up-to-date. Whether it’s a natural disaster or a disease epidemic, maps make all the difference in helping aid workers locate the most vulnerable areas and respond accordingly.

Although the project is only about 10 months old, we’ve definitely come far. This blog series that I’m writing is an attempt to document all the successes that we’ve achieved with our maps and the challenges that we’ve yet to overcome. It’s to give our mapping communities an opportunity to learn about the impact of their contributions. And to give field professionals who’ve used our maps a mouthpiece to talk about their experiences.

I hope you will enjoy this series, dear reader. I shall let you know when the next blog is published, but for now, continue mapping for the greater good.