Saturday, September 4, 2010

Google Maps for Project Description



Google offers many great services. One great service is My Maps in Google Maps. Once you have an account in Google Maps you can geographically locate any aspect of your project for others to view. For example, Save the Children is implementing the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) in the country of Yemen in schools primarily in the south. 

Using Google Maps, via the Satellite View, the project staff located all the schools the  YEP project. Once located, the schools were tagged with an icon (GPS units can be used to help locate project activities). Not only did the staff locate the schools and place icons were they were located in Yemen, but they also created pop-up windows so that when various stakeholders (donors, Ministry of Education officials, SC HQ staff) clicked on the icon, a "ballon window" appears providing specific details about the school. It is also possible to include pictures and video besides text.


The YEP project schools can be viewed here: Schools Save the Children is working with in Yemen. Click on any of the icons to the left the school will be immediately identified via a balloon-window that will show various details about the school (not all schools have details entered yet). If you are interested, keep zooming in and you will actually see the school building.

Also, an organization can add its Logo to Google Maps and can be integrated in to your organization's website or your project/program website. So, when appropriate, use Google Maps to show others where your projects or programs are being implemented.

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