From Mark Aubin, Software Engineer, Google Earth:"Seeing two Amazonian Indians from opposite sides of the Amazon meet and embrace for the first time was a powerful moment for me. They communicated easily with smiles and embraces, but speaking proved quite challenging. Wuta (left), a cartographer for
ACT Suriname, speaks
Tiriyó. Chief Almir's father, Maribop Surui (right), speaks
Tupi-Monde, the native language of the Surui. As Maribop spoke, Almir translated to Portuguese, then Vasco would translate to English, and then Skappie, Wuta's Surinamese colleague, would finally speak Tiriyó to Wuta. Despite this game of 'telephone' I could see from their faces that they shared a common bond that goes very deep." (Photo courtesy of
Andrea Ribeiro)
From Amit Sood, Google Europe:"As our training session started off, I scanned the room to gauge the students' levels of knowledge. It was clear that some students are more comfortable than others. A few minutes into the session I noticed a group of four women sitting quietly, staring at their monitors and not participating in the training exercises. I investigated, and learned that they were not familiar with the mouse or the other strange equipment that is such an everyday part of my life. A fellow instructor, Eduardo, focused his attention on them while I continued the training. At the end of the day I witnessed something that made me feel both proud and sad: all four women were chatting away on the Internet, searching, moving the mice as if it were something they had always known. Smiles all around, no sense of apprehension: The Net had found four more addicts."
There were no cameras around to capture that particular moment, but here is a nice one of Amit during the training (and me, on the far right):
If I've piqued your interest and you want to learn more, Rebecca Moore, Manager of Google Earth Outreach, has posted her thoughts about the trip on the
Official Google Blog.
Posted by Sean Askay, KML Evangelist, Google Earth Outreach
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