Ushahidi.com – Getting More Doves on the Map

Via Ethan Zuckerman’s post on internet based reporting in Kenya’s post election violence comes a link to Ushahidi.com – Kenya’s Post Election.


Report Acts Of Violence In Kenya

Ushahidi is a good example of using the power of an image to convey data. They are mapping citizen reports of violence. People can submit reports via mobile phones. They are also mapping reports of peacemaking activities, but alas, there are not many doves on the map and plenty of flames, indicating conflict. (see map below)

Here is a report from today:

My name is peter and I teach at Kisumu Day High School. I want to report that in Kisumu Thousands of students will not be able to attend school again this coming Monday. The violence and sheer police brutality that has rocked Kisumu in the last three days has rendered learning activities impossible.
Most Children and teachers are traumatized. The students and their teachers have either been displaced in the fighting or their schools are sheltering displaced people.
The schools were supposed to have opened on 14th January. This did not take place. We need guiding and counseling to be done for the kids in Kisumu who have seen dead bodies, heard gunshots and slept hungry for the last one week.
Roads in Kisumu still have huge rocks and boulders to block motorists.
Let the Ministry of education in Kenya come up with ways and means to jump start the education sector in this region.
Personally I am calling on to people who can offer counseling services to the kids to contact me on +254722612128.

Map from Ushahidi.com

Via Global Voices, Ndesanjo Macha’s also writes about Ushahidi.com Kenya: Cyberactivism in the aftermath of political violence. Ndesanjo writes about what went into the formation of the site and the value of a very simple idea put into practice.

There are a number of things at play worth noting. First in the technology community’s response – technologists primarily in Africa, but also across the world. People saw a need and responded. It is worth amplifying their work by blogging about it.

Second, it is useful amplifying positive actions. It is important to cover the news of the atrocities, but communities and individuals can also cover the things people are doing as a positive response. Acts of peace, reconciliation and relief to those cut off from food, water, jobs and family due to violence. This is something networks are good at.

What acts of peace or reconciliation are you amplifying on your blog? And what can we do to help Kenyans create and get more doves on the map?

Other links:

  • http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/01/08/scoble-kenya-and-opening-the-closed-stories/
  • http://mashable.com/2008/01/04/forget-kenya-lets-talk-scoble-gate/
  • http://fullcirc.com/wp/2008/01/04/what-can-we-do-for-our-friends-in-kenya/
  • http://www.mentalacrobatics.com/think/
  • http://www.kenyanpundit.com/
  • http://www.whiteafrican.com/ (specific link)
  • http://afromusing.com/blog/
  • http://www.mamamikes.com/blog/?p=22 (donation page)
  • Global Voices aggregation page on Kenya situation

    • Attention, Attention

    From Tricycle Magazine’s Daily Dharma…Attention, Attention. Do read the whole thing. It is short. Here is the quote that starts today’s message:

    There’s an old Zen story: a student said to Master Ichu, “Please write for me something of great wisdom.” Master Ichu picked up his brush and wrote one word: “Attention.” The student said, “Is that all?” The master wrote, “Attention Attention.”…

    It is not for nothing that people say “attention is the coin of cyberspace.” We have so many things we COULD pay attention to, but what DO we pay attention to. What would be wise to pay attention to.

    The wise use of attention is definitely a 21st century skill.

    Flow of Donations from a Networked Response

    As a follow up to a post from a few weeks ago, here is an update from Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas.

    Pyramid of Peace
    Ways to help Kenyans, Kenyans to call, latest news organized by city

    The latest emails from Kenya and around the world

    Send phone credits to Kenya – purchase them from mamamikes.com or sambazanow.com

    Click on the image above to see a diagram of part of our Pyramid of Peace. We’re thinking through how best to show all the data.

    So here is the image referenced above. First, it is really helpful to me to see the impact of Andrius’ fundraising efforts. This is an interesting sort of “front end” of the ROI problem Beth Kanter is wrestling with these days. Second, and more interesting to me, is how we can visualize in some tiny way our impact in a network. A lot of what made me donate was simply trust. But to see this image, it is a positive reinforcement to make the effort again in future situations.

    It is not “verified” data, but insomuch that I trust my network, the visualization offers me both a community indicator that together we can do more than I can do alone.

    Donation Flow

    Obsidian Wings: Andy Olmsted

    I had put a draft blog note to link to this amazing community indicator – a post created “in case I died” and posted by a friend on the blog of an US soldier in Iraq. There is much more to the story – the fact that Andy Olmstead has been blogging from Iraq, for a newspaper. But the humanity of the final post, the act of community in posting and responding to that post by friends and strangers, is what really took me. Take a peek. Obsidian Wings: Andy Olmsted by hilzoy (Andy’s friend who posted the final post.)

    Andrew Olmsted, who also posted here as G’Kar, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave me a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July.