Map Kibera

To mark the International Open Data Day, Map Kibera, on Saturday 7th March, took the initiative of hosting a half day forum in order to discuss Open Data with partner organizations, community leaders and members not only from Kibera but the larger Nairobi area. The aim of the event was to try and simplify the concept of open data to the grassroots level, and further promote the use of open data among the community members in order to promote data driven development.

Participants following up on the session keenly

The event kicked off with Zack Wambua, who is Mapping Coordinator at Map Kibera, talking about the importance of Open Data. He highlighted examples of Open Data and the importance of having open data such as giving clear information and containing rumors and making data accessible and reachable.

Sharon Omojah represented OSM (Open Street Map) Kenya and explained to those who had attended what OSM Kenya is and the work it does. She gave an example of the Mapathon as one of OSM Kenya activities. She also explained the benefits of being a member of OpenStreetMap as more questions were asked about OSM Kenya mission and whether trainees were awarded certificates after OSM trainings. She stated that the OSM Kenya mission is to have an updated map of Kenya and yes, certificates are awarded after trainings.

Sharon presenting about OSM Kenya.

Zack Wambua took the attendees through how Map Kibera started. He explained Kibera was just a blank sport on the government map and there was need to have a detailed map of Kibera to show that there’s life in Kibera, and that’s where Map Kibera stepped in to provide the first map of Kibera, which has since been reproduced thematically. Map Kibera uses OpenStreetMap because it is open and accessible.

Zack talked about Open Schools Kenya, how it can be accessed and the information one can find when searching for a particular school from the website. People could see an example of a printed Open Schools map on the wall. There was a suggestion to map the Kibera population which has been a controversial issue for long.

The attendees also watched a small video done in Kibera asking people on the street about what they know about Open Data. Zack led a small exercise on what people had learnt from the video and what they thought of the answers given on Open Data.

There was a breakout session where the forum split into 3 groups to discuss the Open Data rising questions among them, why there weren’t many people who have attended Open Data forums. Most of the audience had an idea of what open data entails and even went ahead to share some of their experiences like accessing census data, and the country’s financial budget among others.

One of the group discussing about open data, during the breakout sessions

Discussions followed on the benefits of open data and accessibility, where we had an example of how Kenya Urban Roads Authority had hid the data of possible people to be displaced by the road cutting through Kibera.

The last session of the day was led by Lucy, where she introduced the participants to Maps.Me and OpenStreetMap. She did a step by step demonstration of how to map new points as well as how to upload them to OpenStreetmap. Majority of the participants were excited that they can now be able to add new map features of their neighborhood. Since this an extensive course, there was a request that Map Kibera should organize more training on open mapping of which most participants have already registered for it.

Among the recommendations were organizing for more sensitization forums and further defining open data in a simpler way that can be understood by ordinary citizens. There is also is a need to conduct more training on open data platforms in order to promote open data in the community.

2018 is a year that most of Kibera residents would really like to forget. In the last 6 months, the residents of Kibera have been waking up to the sounds of bulldozers in their neighbourhood- not for purposes of evading traffic along Lang’ata road or Ngong Road. This time they had come with one purpose, to bring down structures which most of them had called home. To some, it was their business which ensured that they had something on the table at the end of the day. And to others these structures served as schools where their children went to learn and get the necessary knowledge that would prepare them for the market place and change their lives forever.

A map designed by Zack Wambua showing the effects of the demolitions of schools in Kibera (click image to expand).

The demolitions in Kibera affected 4 schools that were located near the railway line around 42 area and 10 more schools were affected when structures were demolished to pave way for the construction of Kibera Link road (the road meant to link Ngong road and Lang’ata road to ease traffic on Ngong road).

Demolition of structures that are along the railway line at 42

A bulldozer brings down structures around the DC’s place.

After all these incidents Map Kibera team went back to the field to track the schools that were affected and update their current location on the Open Schools Kenya website. On our way, we stopped at Babylon Day Care to talk to the school head (who also happens to own the school) to find out if she knows where some of the demolished schools might have moved to. In between our conversation, we learnt that one of her other schools had also been demolished. Her face was filled with grief and sadness as she explained to us how she was forced to take some of her students to the nearest schools because she had nowhere to take them. We asked if she intends to reopen her school again and she told us she doesn’t see the need to and if she gets that chance again she will only do that in her rural place. After our short talk she shared with us the contacts of another school called Damside Preparatory that was affected and told us that the principal of that school would be in a position to tell us where the other schools relocated to.

In some area we had find a way through the muddy footpaths to find the schools

I quickly saved the number on my phone and proceeded to where we had been directed. When we got there, we were met with a vast empty land and the remains of what used to be people’s homes and schools. I called the school head and after a brief introduction he told me to go to where the school used to be as he was already there. We went through the rubble and after few miles we saw a group of people standing together. When we got to where they were we quickly introduced ourselves. The school head introduced the team that he was with, which comprised of class 8 candidates and two parents. The school head reminded us that the place where we were standing on is where their school used to stand and they were meeting there to finalize on their preparations for the forthcoming national exams. We were curious to find out where the students will sit for their exams now that the school had been demolished.

“The government offered space for the students in one of the nearby public school and so that is where they will do their exams,” said the school head.

“So what is next for the school? Have you found a place to move to?” we asked.

“Yes we got a place, we bought land somewhere close to Kiserian and that is where we have moved to,” said the school head. He went on to say, “So far we have been able to construct 2 classrooms and a dormitory. The plan is to have the school operate as a boarding school.”

“But that’s too far from Kibera, what happens to your students who live in Kibera?”

“I agree that’s far and the move has proved to be a challenge to some of our students since majority of them were needy and so they cannot afford all the requirements to be in a boarding school. We would have loved to move closer but where in Kibera can we move to? We all know how hard it is to get land let alone to get a title deed.”

The School Head of Damside narrating their ordeal

The school head went ahead to recount how they had incurred a lot of losses as a result of the demolition. He had just acquired the code to make his school an exam centre, a process that had cost him 100,000 KSH. In addition, he had just finished building a laboratory earlier this year that also cost him a large sum of money.

Afterwards, the school head agreed to an impromptu interview with members of our media team, Kibera News Network, who had accompanied us (check out their video here!). He also asked us to interview one of the parents and a student so that they can share their side of the story.

The school head later told us where the other schools moved to. One moved to a nearby SDA church, another pitched tent in a nearby health dispensary and the other one moved somewhere along Karanja road.

After saying goodbye, we left to find those schools and pick the coordinates of their new location. On our way we couldn’t help but think of what some schools have had to endure as a result of the demolitions. Some have been left counting

Sam picking coordinates of where one of the schools moved to.

losses, some have been forced to shut down. Others have had to partition some of the rooms to accommodate the number of students. Parents had to go through the hustle of looking for a new school and the most affected group is the students that have to walk a long distance to their new school and at the same time adapt to the new environment. I can’t imagine what could be going through the minds of class 8 and form 4 candidates. How are they supposed to compete with students from other schools considering what they have been through? While other students were in classes reading, students from the affected schools were busy trying to salvage what they could from the rubbles of what used to be their classroom. While other students are reading their books, students from these schools lost all their books during the demolition. The few books that they could salvage would have to be shared amongst themselves which means that they don’t get a chance to carry the books home with them to read.

We will continue to follow up with the schools, and update their information and locations on Open Schools Kenya.

Kenya’s devolution process and constitutional reforms of 2010 means that Kenya’s counties, of which there are now 47, are directly responsible for a much greater amount of their local development. Some counties have integrated citizen participation in planning by embarking on an intensive annual participatory budgeting process, with support from the World Bank. But, in order to allow communities to directly plan and budget for development, counties realized that they needed better information about existing projects and features, best represented geographically. Many times, participatory budgeting (PB) groups were relying on memory or on hand-drawn paper maps of existing terrain and features in order to determine where they should place new water points, health centers, and other key new projects.

To help fill this gap, Map Kibera Trust, along with GroundTruth Initiative, have begun to work with two pilot counties, Makueni and Baringo, to create participatory digital maps with both citizen and county government mappers. Makueni has already been mapped in two pilot wards, including collecting feedback on county development project status and quality. Please see the maps here.

The base map data is, of course, gathered on OpenStreetMap – including various key features such as roads, shops, landmarks, schools, as well as the PB projects themselves. However, the mappers also collect project feedback information using Open Data Kit (ODK) and store it separately. The digital maps are then created using MapBox tools to combine them together. While mapping, participants mark whether the project is completed or not, whether it’s in good shape or poor, and add a sentence about the project’s quality or impact. We intend for this aspect to be updated regularly in preparation for the annual budgeting meetings, so that citizens can get a sense of how their intended projects are faring. Therefore, the map also allows  those who take part in the budgeting process to see the extent to which the county is doing what they had intended. Each PB meeting will receive a printed map, so as not to have to rely on digital maps in locations with very little internet connectivity or even electricity.

Mobile data collection using ODK in Mbooni ward, Makueni.

Check out this great video showing the mapping in Mbooni ward of Makueni county, also illustrating the challenges of working across rural terrain. By engaging young residents of each locale, we hope to spread participatory mapping throughout Kenya, county by county.