Ushahidi.com – Report Incidents of Violence in Kenya
As I mentioned in my last post, it would be good for us to have a tool to chronicle the incidents of violence happening around Kenya. That is the basic premise behind a new site that was quickly scratched together by a couple of us this weekend.
Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see. Ory and Daudi are working with local Kenyan NGO’s to get information and to verify each incident.
What you can do is get the word out about Ushahidi so that it’s utilized to it’s full potential. This especially extends to talking to the people that you know who have seen things in Kenya and getting them to the site as well.
At the beginning of a project like this the technology portion can seem to be the hardest to get off the ground. In the end, it’s just the tool, and the hard work will come from people in the field who are working with NGO’s to keep this information accurate and to chronicle as much of it as they can. If you want to help, get in touch with Daudi or Ory to get started.
When all the dust settles from this in Kenya, don’t be one of the ones saying, “I should have done something”.
[A special thanks goes out to David Kobia of Kobia Interactive for stepping up and shouldering the load and developing this site in just 2 days!]
Get the Word Out!
If you would like to raise awareness of Ushahidi via your blog or website. Feel free to use one of these buttons that I created, or make your own. (You can grab them from the Flickr set too)
The code for the bottom one would be like what you see below, which you can just copy and paste:
<a href="http://www.ushahidi.com"><img src="http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ushahidi_v2c_250px.jpg"
alt="Ushahidi Button v2c 250px" /></a>
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
[...] White African put an intriguing blog post on Ushahidi.com – Report Incidents of Violence in KenyaHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
[...] White African added an interesting post on Ushahidi.com – Report Incidents of Violence in KenyaHere’s a small excerpt [...]
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
[...] African writes about a new tool for reporting acts of violence in Kenya: “Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these [...]
[...] (White African) ameandika hivi kuhusu tovuti hiyo: Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election [...]
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
[...] To get a badge to show your online support for Ushahidi, click here. [...]
[...] Hat-tip to Hash at WhiteAfrica.com. [...]
This is a great initiative. I just spotted it on Kenyan Pundit. Are there any plans to expand this beyond Kenya? It is great how African bloggers have embraced the cause to help end the violence in Kenya, but there are other countries that can benefit from this as well. Can we extend the mashup to those countries?
very good initiative. Please include ‘rape’ in the categories of incidents.
[...] blaogy White African dia mitantara mikasika ny fitaovana vaovao ahafahana mametraka tatitra mikasika ireo herisetra nitranga tany Kenya : « Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in [...]
[...] innovation, ingenuity and the cheetah passion can’t be held down as a group of friends and fellow TEDsters have come up with a new tool to help people chronicle/document incidents of violence, [...]
Good initiative, we will promote it on http://www.africanews.com:
http://www.africanews.com/site/list_message/9926#m9926
http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/14524
[...] White Africanは、ケニアでの暴動を報告する新しいツールについて書いている。「Ushahidi.comは、ケニアで選挙後に暴力行為を目撃した人のためのツールだ。自分が見た事件を報告でき、他の人が見られるよう地図付きで表示される。」 [...]
Hash, the html code isn’t working for me? I’ve added to my blog page with no joy – even after waiting a while….
Will certainly bring to attention to as many as I can about ushahidi. Great job you guys.
Jac, thanks for bringing that error in the button code to my attention. I’ve fixed it.
Here is the correct code:
<a href="http://www.ushahidi.com"><img src="http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ushahidi_v2c_250px.jpg"
alt="Ushahidi Button v2c 250px" /></a>
[...] the most promising and practical initiative to date is Ushahidi (via White African), a Google Maps mashup enabling individuals to report incidents of post-election violence, [...]
A great initiative, HASH. Actually getting something concrete and positive done while others just faff around and say how great something like this could be (you can check the urban dictionary for a definition of “faff” if anyone’s not sure what the word means!).
All that’s missing, of course, is the mobile element and challenges of getting location information (it’s unlikely you’ll get this through the operators). Given problems with internet access in some of these areas at the best of times – let alone in a riot – I sense that mobile uploads will be the difference between success and failure for Ushahidi.
Ken
[...] Jitihada za mwanzo kabisa zilikuwa zile za kuhakikisha kuwa dunia inatambua kilicho, kinacho na hata kitakachotokea nchini mwao, kwa kutusambazia habari na matukio mbalimbali kwa kadiri walivyoweza. jitihada ya karibuni kabisa imekuwa ni kuanzishwa kwa zana inayoitwa Ushahidi. [...]
[...] White African & Kenyan [...]
Hash,
Great job, you don’t just talk the talk..
Great initiative.
[...] At the beginning of a project like this the technology portion can seem to be the hardest to get off the ground. In the end, it’s just the tool, and the hard work will come from people in the field who are working with NGO’s to keep this information accurate and to chronicle as much of it as they can. If you want to help, get in touch with Daudi or Ory to get started. [...]
[...] To get a badge to show your online support for Ushahidi, click here. [...]
Raila’s personal greed and ambitions have sealed his fate.
His hands are covered with the blood of innocent people that you sacrificed to the devil. We know they planned their murderous rampage before the elections. Spirits of dead innocent children are crying out for justice. Starving widows are crying for their husbands. What crime did they commit? Did the chilren steal votes?
Raila Odinga, you will never be president of Kenya.
Never.
[...] Ushahidi.com – Report Incidents of Violence in Kenya [...]
[...] from whiteafrica.com has been very instrumental in getting up the site and explains its [...]
Hash,
I found this initiative creative and interesting – Kenyans on ground trying to do something. They have left their numbers and messages- http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HelpKenyans
[...] Congrats to Erik and his buddies for getting Ushahidi up and running! [...]
[...] blaogy White African dia mitantara mikasika ny fitaovana vaovao ahafahana mametraka tatitra mikasika ireo herisetra nitranga tany Kenya : A couple of us have been doing interviews and trying to get the word out [...]
[...] Pundit's call for a tool to chronicle acts of violence and destruction resulted into Ushahidi. White African introduces Ushahidi. Ushahidi means testimony in Swahili: Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who [...]
[...] White African notes, At the beginning of a project like this the technology portion can seem to be the hardest to get [...]
[...] to start Ushahidi to record these atrocities and end the climate of impunity in the country. According to White African: “Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in [...]
great site, definitley has my support if from a long way away in Ireland! Well done
[...] entered Ushahidi (background story here) into the $100,000 Netsquared Mashup Challenge for further development. We’re really [...]
[...] From Hash Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see. [...]
this is a good work ..i need to sent pics to u from kericho…it was sad
[...] to start Ushahidi to record these atrocities and end the climate of impunity in the country. According to White African: “Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in [...]
[...] 2008 – Initial deployment in the Kenya [...]
[...] Kenyan bloggers, led by Erik Hersman, called for a Google Map mashup to track the situation, quickly created such a mashup in Ushahidi, and even improved upon it [...]
[...] the most promising and practical initiative to date is Ushahidi (via White African), a Google Maps mashup enabling individuals to report incidents of post-election violence, [...]
[...] the most promising and practical initiative to date is Ushahidi (via White African), a Google Maps mashup enabling individuals to report incidents of post-election violence, [...]
[...] To get a badge to show your online support for Ushahidi, click here. [...]
[...] change, take for instance Ushahidi – a platform open to the public that allowed them to report acts of violence in Kenya. The data was collated, measured and visualised to identify key hotspots and evidence of government [...]
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