Today marked the end of the workshop. What a time it has been! Geography faculty from all around Ethiopia came to Bahir Dar to be trained more on GIS and develop an atlas of Ethiopia to be used in the classroom and for geographical knowledge. The maps produced were great. Here is an example of one by a faculty from Mekele University in the north:
During the morning we worked hard to complete maps and I gave a final lecture on how to do Internet Mash-ups using Google Maps and ArcGIS. It was really cool to see the faculty totally excited about web mapping and interactive content. It was an honor to work with them.
In the afternoon we finished up a few odds and ends and then I burned DVDs will all of the data that Emma and I had collected during the last month. It was extensive. In fact, we didn't even get to HALF the good GIS data that we gave them. It is a huge boost toward the development of new labs in GIS for geography university students and much of the data can also be used for research by the graduate students and faculty. They were generously thankful and expressed great appreciation. We handed out certificates of completion and then headed off to dinner.
At dinner along the shore of Lake Tana, we had a wonderful time celebrating and sharing one last time together as a faculty. Many kind words were spoken the participating faculty gave each of us gifts to take home in appreciation for all the work that we did during the work and before.
I have made many new friends during the week and look forward to possible collaborations in the future. Here is the chair of Addis Ababa Geography and Environmental Studies department sharing his heart in appreciation at our dinner. Dr. Desalegn Wana is a brilliant leader and scholar and here he is:
No comments:
Post a Comment