Welcome to our Brand Ambassador Nettey Madhinga:
Where did you study? Gwanda State UniversityWhat are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? A degree or diploma in Geomatics and Surveying or equivalent.
How did you get into surveying? It was very unfortunate of me to reach my Advance level unsure of what I really wanted to study in the future. No one had ever mentioned surveying to me and I didn’t even know there was something like that. When I started applying for a place at university, I came across Geomatics and surveying and it fitted well with my academic qualifications. I started researching about the profession. What do surveyors do, how, and all the stuff related to surveyors. I fell in love with this profession and felt the need to learn more and more about it. So me being in the geospatial industry is because of my enthusiasm to understand more about it.
How long have you been in the industry? Still a third year student in university
Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention?
>Zimbabwe Institute of Geomatics
>African Surveyors Connect
>African Women in GIS
Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I came across GKiS and I admired the good work it is doing. I then realized, in Zimbabwe maybe 2% or less of primary and secondary (high school) pupils know about the surveying profession. I am one of such people who came to know about this industry when I was now applying for my university place. Someone might have told kids about the surveying profession, but I do not know or have even heard of that someone. Most of the kids you hear them say when I grow up I want to be a doctor, a teacher, a pilot among other professions; but not surveying. The number of students in Zimbabwe who pursue surveying at university is very low as compared to other programs and the reason is that they do not understand what surveyors do and their importance in our day to day lives. I therefore would like to be a GKiS ambassador in Zimbabwe and start enlightening kids about what surveying is all about and build passion in them to want to become our future surveyors.
Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Surveyors are a very important group of professionals and most people do not know this because they do not understand what surveyors do and how they do it. In simple terms that kids will understand; surveyors ensure our safety by making sure houses are built on right positions, they reduce conflicts in our residential areas by showing people boundaries between their property and they are playing a very big role in making sure the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are met. Surveyors and geospatial analysts have come in with some amazing geospatial technology they are using to monitor climate change and biodiversity loss. Kids should be taught all of this so that they understand why certain things are the way they are.
What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I would like to spread the geospatial awareness targeting kids through social media platforms, visiting schools with hardcopies of GKiS and teach the kids as part of my extracurricular activities. With time I’m hoping to get some surveying equipment toys to reinforce idea of getting kids into surveying.
What are your hobbies?
>Playing chess
>Mapping on OpenStreetMap
>Learning new things on the internet
>Web designing
>Reading and writing
If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Maybe a black short girl like me who is always asking questions.
What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? So far I’ve been impressed by the available resources.