Mr Frikan Erwee as BSc Hons Geoinformatics student was selected as part of the first group of YouthMapper Leadership Fellows. Frikan was selected out of a pool of 80 students internationally that applied to be part of the YouthMappers leadership programme, and only 20 students were selected. 

As part of the fellowship, Frikan attended the YouthMappers Leadership Fellows workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, 22 – 26 May 2017. Frikan said that before the trip to Nepal, he did not know what to expect, but was honored to be selected. 

The week was filled with activities aimed at improving technical ability like data capture and research communication. Teams also identified specific tools for the toolkit that will be worked on till the 1st of September. This kit will hopefully help to build current and new chapters. The kit will also focus on education of the usage of open mapping technologies. In their downtime, the fellows could explore and experience the beautiful city of Kathmandu. They also had the opportunity to visit a small village and see the Nepal countryside. Some of the fellows even got to overcome their fear of water during a rafting trip.

The workshop was hosted by the Kathmandu Living Labs. They shared their inspiring story about their response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake disaster. Frikan believes that the workshop and the output to come is evidence that Youthmappers as a network does live by their tagline: "We do not just build maps, We build mappers".