Main Page

From Map Kibera

Revision as of 12:02, 24 June 2011 by Erica (Talk | contribs)

(diff) ← Older revision | Current revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Wiki Recent Changes

...more Recent Changes

Welcome to the MapKibera.org wiki. A wiki is a collaborative space for sharing ideas and coordinating our work. Login / Create an account to begin editing.

Map Kibera

The first complete, free and open map of Kibera, Nairobi

Kibera is the largest slum in Africa, situated in Nairobi, Kenya. Many UN agencies, including UN-HABITAT, US Government agencies such as USAID, and NGOs, like Carolina for Kibera, have presence nearby in Nairobi, and as a result, Kibera is one of the most well known, researched, and serviced slums anywhere. Despite this focus, Kibera was literally a blank spot on the map, its patterns of traffic, scarce water resources, limited medial facilities, etc. remain invisible to the outside world, and residents themselves. Without basic knowledge of the geography of Kibera it is impossible to have an informed discussion on how to improve the lives of residents of Kibera.

Map Kibera has produced the first complete free and open map of Kibera. In November 2009, local motivated young people learned to create maps using OpenStreetMap techniques. This included surveying with GPS, and digitization of satellite imagery and paper based annotation with Walking Papers. Individuals from the blossoming Nairobi tech scene helped train and make connections with the larger community, and created a sustainable group of map maintainers beyond the initial three week November effort. Data consumers were consulted for their needs, to help add direction to feature types collected, and aided to immediately make use of the map data. Projects leads are Erica Hagen and Mikel Maron.

In April 2010, Map Kibera started two media and local news reporting groups formed to elaborate on information in Kibera. Kibera News Network uses handheld Flip video cameras to record local news and stories and edit videos to post on Youtube and share in the community.Voice of Kibera uses Ushahidi software to map local stories and reports onto the Kibera map, and serve as a local information hub. Both groups are led by Kibera youth.