A Visit By Amnesty International at Map Kibera Trust

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

 

What informed the decision to map Kibera? Who were involved? How did it happen and what made you guys decide to start Map Kibera Trust? This is the closely related Questions that brought about a wonderful discussion at the Map Kibera Trust office during the visitation of the Amnesty International guests from Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya as well.

Before we could start the presentation of what we exactly do, as it is conventionally, everyone had to introduce themselves and it indeed was evident that the visiting group had eagerly anticipated this visit for there was more to learn.  During the introductions, one of them; Fubara Samuel introduced himself and when he said he was from Naigeria, I remember while thanking him i said “Thank you for the introduction ‘Oga hooh!’” this made everyone to laugh but I said to myself quietly that “This is a good dose to bring everyones’ concentration specifically to the work that we were just about to present”.

The mapping program presentation was the fast to be done and questions I have never witnessed in a long time were asked. Was it a good thing that many questions were asked? Was the time really enough to explore all aspects of our work? Did the Map Kibera Team meet some of the expectations for the Amnesty team? Your guess is as good as mine but reading the mood of the participants there was clear understanding which facilitated the kind of discussion that happened today; which was a good thing in my view.

The aspects of community acceptance/involvement, the governments take on the project were also discussed at length and there were lessons drawn from it:

i.            Not only do we need to work with leaders in given communities but also involve the community members too. This was a problem that the mapping initially experience but later learnt from it and now active community participation is key in ensuring data/contend is well generated.

ii.            Seeking governments support was also identified to be of utmost importance for without their support nothing much can be done, so for us we have been able to get the local leadership on board in understanding the broader perspective of the work we are engaged in.

A very pertinent question was raised during the discussions that how do we ensure that we are not creating maps for the sake of maps but maps that can have an influence on development? How true is the statement, “Politically, slums do exist but on the ground they don’t exist on the map?” What is the interface between the wonderful news/work you do in Kibera and the larger community? These questions cut across all the 3 programs and were tackled in the best way possible. (We have distributed some maps to organizations that work on particular themes and they are using the maps, the http://voiceofkibera.org/ is a community media platform that aggregates and maps reports against where they happen, in other words it is amplifying the capabilities of the map and how it can be used for the common good of the community- Free information sharing. Their exists various interfaces of interaction between Map Kibera and the community, for http://kiberanewsnetwork.org/ the video team normally does video screenings in video kiosks so that people can see what is happening within their localities and most importantly Map Kibera Trust organises forums to interact with the community members while creating awareness around the main issues in Kibera which have been mapped)

In conclusion, all the 3 programs had a chance to present what they do, and basing on the fact that there was much interest in Map Kibera Trusts’ work as witnessed in the participatory discussion, there are greater chances of doing this work in Nigeria as well as working together with Amnesty International.

My only hope is that, time will bring home this reality of working together with Amnesty International and or on a project in Nigeria.

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The cost of the coming Election.

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Fred

 

On  January 12,the high court issued a statement claiming Kenya’s Presidential and parliamentary elections be held March 2013 contrary to the August 2012.However,the elections could also be held in 2012 if coalition partners agree  to dissolve the coalition .There has been lots of controversy surrounding the change in dates as different views are aired on the inconvenience of  having an election within the start of the year.

 

In response to the violence after the 2007 presidential election, that divided the country and left dozens dead , the  Independent Electoral boundaries commission (IEBC)  has introduced several new technologies to ensure more peaceful elections. There has been a creation of a result transmission system, a party registration system and development of voter education messages to explain the new measures.  Every piece of technology introduced addresses specific and identified problems.

Two of the key technologies being introduced are biometric voter registration and electronic poll books, both of which address a problem with accountability on Election date. Kenya is known to have several political zones  controlled by a single political party that other parties cannot safely observe what goes on in the polling station.

The problem has been noted by observers since 1980s. The ideal long-term approach involves education campaigns for civil society and political parties to encourage greater compliance with the IEBC’s code of conduct. There is however the need to minimize the impact of any possible misconduct within polling stations in such zones.

It is through this elements of technology involved that the IEBC was allocated sh17.5 billion, by the minister of Finace Njeru Githae in the 2012-2013 budget to ensure a smooth election, hence being considered the most expensive election.

                                                               Past referendum in kibera.

During the general election period, six elections are to be held, that is, the elections for the president, a member of parliament, a women’s representative in parliament  a senator, a county governor and a county assembly member. This means, each valid voter will be entitled to cast six different ballots, as each ballot is for each election, unlike in the past where we only had three ballot papers in one session.

The voting might however be hard and confusing for the illiterate, elderly, the ailing and even the educated but unsure  who seem not to know, and also how to be able to distinguish the different ballot papers and cast each ballot in its correct box.

The entire voting session is certainly going to take longer to complete, and if voters are not allowed ample time, they are likely to commit errors during the process, hence this my fail to reflect their intentions of the voters.

The current constitution provides that all these six elections be held in one day in one voting session. The question is, Is it possible to carry out the elections in a day, for the six elections? Might this not result to chaos? What is the IEBC, doing about it?

Currently, the IEBC opted to increase the number of polling stations from 17000 in 2007 to 45,000,meaning that voters will have more time to cast their six ballots than would have been if the case if the number remained at 17000,this is a positive approach that has been welcomed by most Kenyans.

The big number of polling stations will mean that the number of election officials will more than double, and the officials will be presiding officers, deputy presiding officers, polling clerks and security officials.

Whatever the case, the cost of running the  polling stations will certainly be far much higher than was in the previous elections, the training includes; training, remuneration, transport and oversight, and this is the result of the huge  election budget.

GDP growth rates have historically dropped 2-5% during election years – as in 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007. In 2007, after post-election violence broke out, GDP growth rate plummeted from 7% to over 1.8%, and is, still recovering today yet we  have another expensive election in due course. This is not going to be a comforting statistics in any year, given the trends of the past election years, the situation is going to be more precarious.

Voice of Kibera, the online information sharing platform for citizen journalism, looks forward to covering all the election events in all polling stations in Kibera as they update the world on all that will be revolving around in Kibera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Global Voices Visit to Map Kibera Trust.

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

The global voices summit will be happening in a matter of hours from now “Monday and Tuesday in Westlands” and many bloggers will be gathering to discuss issues or best practices when it comes to blogging.
Due to this summit some of the participants who are already in the country were dying to visit Map Kibera trust and get to know in detail what we really do.
Just slightly after 2pm we had the owner of welcoming them to our office on Karanja road and one could easily tell their jubilation from the look on their faces.


Without much a do, we went straight into the business of the day.
Introductions and welcome note from Milly-The coordinator of the mapping team to the presentation done by Maureen about Mapping to Joshua who did the Kibera news network and finally Sande who did the voice of Kibera one, concentration was the vocabulary of the time for no one wanted to be left out on any of the details that were being conveyed to them.
To prove the level of concentration the room was the daring questions asked from the audience which really made me realize that we do have something in common for their questions were very strategic and one can only hope  that there is going to be a wonderful relationship between Global Voices and Map Kibera Trust.


After the presentations everyone was grouped up according to the themes they were interested in reporting on as part of their field work; Educational projects, Women and HIV, Digital Literacy in Kibera, Election preparedness and the initiatives working to make sure that there is harmony before, during and after the elections slated for March 2013
We will have them compile what they found in the field and post them on the respective platforms for your consumption.

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Resources To Improve Learning In Primary Schools

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Friends Learning Resources, an Australian-based non-profit organization with Christian roots was today at Raila Educational Centre. The organization that has been in Kenya for the past seven years is seeking to increase literacy levels through offering high quality learning resources … Continue reading →

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Mapping Kibera

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

Before October 2009, Kibera, the second largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa, was a blank spot — one that had been photographed and filmed thousands of times but that no one had ever attempted to document properly.

It was at about this time that Mikel Maron and Erica Hagen, alongside a group of 13 enthusiastic youth, sought to put Kibera on the world map with the Map Kibera project. In so doing, they would provide Kibera residents and other stakeholders with a source of public, open, and shared information that would, they hoped, be used to enhance living standards in the settlement.

At that point, Kibera was completely absent from online resources like Google Maps and OpenStreetMap. This lack of basic information about geography and available resources made it much more difficult for residents and other stakeholders in Kibera communities to carry on an informed discussion about how to improve the lives of citizens there.

Approach: Identifying key thematic areas

Once a pilot map had been completed, it became clear that the team needed to develop a model for comprehensive, engaged collection of community information. Subsequent mapping focused on specific thematic areas that were considered to be of primary importance: health, security, education, and water and sanitation.

This new round of mapping added details such as operating hours and services provided by private clinics, as well as enabling the team to double-check the original data. Mappers carried digital cameras or Flip camcorders, and took photos of clinics or recorded interviews with clinicians and other health workers whenever possible.

Small community forums targeting those interested in each issue area were also conducted, at which participants were able to examine the printed maps and add comments and missing information by drawing on tracing paper over the map.

Approach: Engaging citizen journalism

To fully realize the broader vision of the project — not just a one-off map, but an engaged community mobilized around open and shared information, stories, and knowledge — it was clear that the project would have to expand and integrate the information with other technology projects and with local media.

Citizen journalism would provide a comprehensive picture of the local reality and support the achievement of community goals. To aggregate information on a map and create a platform for local storytelling, Ushahidi, an open source software for crowdsourcing information, was very helpful. Local media — including Voice of Kibera, Kibera Journal, published byKCODA, and Pamoja FM community radio, as well as a Flip camcorder video team — could map stories. These community media are the only outlets that cover Kibera from within and are a vital source of news.

Outcomes: Kibera Mappers, residents, and the international community

Apart from the obvious acquisition of new skills in using computers, video editing, citizen journalism, and new technology (GPS), several Map Kibera volunteers now have new social skills and greater comfort in public speaking and encountering strangers. This is both within Kibera, where they have had to reply to general inquiries about the activity, and in greater Nairobi, where they have been invited to participate in functions such as meetings and conferences about technology (Ushahidi Day, 1% Club, TEDx Kibera).

The mapping project itself was well received from the start by local organizations. There has been no resistance to the concept from CBOs, NGOs, or local government. Whether viewed as technology skill training for those on the other side of the digital divide, a way to get important and accurate data, a potential tool for the advocacy work of the organization, or just a practical way for visitors to find their way around in Kibera, the project has been widely embraced as the realization of something previously missing, yet clearly fundamental: the right to exist on a map.

Many have requested the paper map, which is in production. While the separation from greater Nairobi and its corridors of power cannot be overstated, the map seemed to bring the community closer to legitimacy and give a sense of being a real neighborhood.

Sensitive to external perceptions and Kibera’s negative reputation, Kiberans appreciate any image that portrays it in a positive (or at least “normal”) light, and this map does exactly that. (This is a constant subject for debate; for example, see “On Kibera, flying toilets and poop.”)

Local organizations are keen to be represented and eager to learn how they can make use of the map — as well as the Voice of Kibera web site — to highlight their activities. (Only foreign journalists seemed to think of it as a politically subversive activity or a potential tool of state control.)

It is important to note that data collected is also being reused daily in different international contexts. Groups with an interest in a variety of issues — including health, gender-based violence, sanitation, new mobile phone services, large-scale conflict mapping, and peace promotion — have contacted the directors to look into collaboration or use of collected data, sparking new thinking on each issue and the potential for the project to move in unexpected directions.

This post was originally posted on http://urb.im  and has some exerps from Erica Hagen one of the Map Kibera Trust founders http://wiki.ikmemergent.net/index.php/Workspaces:The_changing_environment_of_infomediaries/Map_Kibera

 

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Death Has befell a small business man.

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

Today was unexpectedly the last day for one small business man who sells sugar cane along Karanja , Olympic road. He died in misteriuos ways not to be understood by his business neighbours. Jacky Mwikali, his neighbour only recalls a few minutes after the man died he called her to helped get some money from his own wallet to get some food from the hotel he is used to eat.

This was not to happen since at that time he was shaking the whole body and from his mouth you could see some kind of white stuff coming out [foam] and in a few minutes time as they were trying to get the hotel attendant, the man died and up to now the cause of his death is yet to be determined.
A small Harambee is currently going on at the place to enable the body to be taken to the Mortuary. As they try to get in touch with his family.

Everyone at the place was surprised to learn of how this kind of death really happened as i could note from the conversation that was happening at that time.

Above is the place where the man conducts his business and where he died today.

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Heavy Rains

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Lee Ibrahim

In the past month or so there have been rains not only in Kibera but also Kenya at-large. The weather which has been described by many as a bad one has been going on for sometime and a lot has happened.

Focusing on Kibera a number of houses have been demolished due to the houses been poorly build. Many houses in Kibera are build with mud and iron sheets. When it rains heavily the houses which are mostly affected are those near the river or drainage streams.

 

The rains causes the business around to be closed early due to lack of customers and for fear the rains will not stop until the late hours of the night. These has really affected the people with businesses.

The rains has also exposed the dweller to electricity danger. This is caused by the wires which pass on the grounds been exposed or cut. This is dangerous as the wires became so exposed that they start smoking from the ground and can electrocute someone who steps on it. With the wires so exposed it affects the electricity passing in it and causes power failure. Many businesses such as Video shows, Kinyozis and Salons just to mention but a few around Kibera rely on electricity to keep them running are affected very much.

 

With the government having have put into place the drainage pipes in some parts of Kibera, they should be opened to pass water during these situations we have heavy rains. They can be of much help to the usual glowing water and help in reducing mud in some roads which became impassable during rainy seasons.

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A Training Workshop on How NGOs can better work with media

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

 

“What is the one message you could let out to media about your organization? What will be worth talking about? “

After days of waiting, the eagerly awaited day, the 25th came and I being among the 15 people invited for the training assembled at the Fairview Hotel in Nairobi for the first day of the training. Filled with jubilation as well as expectation, we had ice breakers just to make sure that we were not thinking of how we were rained on the other day but set to share and learn from each other and more importantly from the facilitators. The decision to change our ways of operation lies in our hands and therefore it is important to know how we can cooperate with media to achieve huge strides in our endeavour to woe policy makers as well as citizens into formulating and implementing policies and consuming this content respectively.

During presentations from the facilitators; Mia foreman and Florence both from Population  it was evident that there really is a gap between journalist and organizations and this was attributed to the fact that most of the time, NGOs    pay little or no attention to journalists with whom they can spread the message of their work to a bigger population as Florence says “It is possible for us to continue writing about our opinions on what we work on and send them to editors and make sure that we are consistent in the writing to spread the word about our work” Develop a relationship with policy makers and from the workshop, it was made known to us that a better way to start especially if you want to get audience with members of parliament, you need to write up what you wish that be addressed then take them to this parliamentarians’ pigeon holes. Get contacts of important people and when you have new information in line with your work share with them, this enhances the ability of your organization to be depended upon when certain information is required.

The 2 day training was very beneficial for it not only provided a learning chance but also provided an opportunity to practice what we had learnt.

Some of the practical work we did was;        

  • Writing and presenting of a press release/getting the word out there (for map Kibera)
  • Addressing a news conference
  • A 60seconds sound bite (what massage do you want to pass out in 60s?)
  • How to effectively communicate within the organization and to media

“Try to designate one staff person to be responsible for media relations. That way the press will have a point-person within your organization that they can always turn to.” A massage from one of the handouts. Before we left for home, additional material to enable us be effective in communicating and getting every little detail of our work known by the community and the world at large with help of the media.

 

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A Unique Computer Training Programme

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe

Youth face a challenge of not being able to enrol for further studies after high school due to fees challenges. It’s for this reason, Kibera Community Youth Program (KCYP), a community based organization working to create youth empowerment programmes developed a computer training program that will address this challenge.

Having established the program in early 2009 to bridge the digital divide between the youth of Kibera and the rest of the world, KCYP entered into a partnership with NAIROBITS School of computer design, a college that offers sponsorship to needy members of the society. This partnership was important to KCYP because the college offers comprehensive trainings in web design, entrepreneurship and reproductive health and therefore students who enroll at KCYP for the training are assured of continuity in pursuing web design at Nairobits.

How is this computer training unique? I admit that within kibera, there are very many computer trainings going on but this one is different; it has 4 stages, Computer basic skills training offered at KCYP, Introduction to web design and Extensive training on web design offered at Family Health Options Kenya (FHOK) and finally life skills training and completing a 6months project work to reinforce design skills learnt in class.

Nairobits has developed a good relationship with different companies over the past 10years of its operation, this is important because when students graduate from Nairobits, they are absolved in these companies on internship basis after which they are employed. Many youths are now employed courtesy this program and Joseph Mbithi (in photo below) is one such example.

When asked about his experience having gone through the system, here is what he says. “I never new KCYP and Nairobits will help turn around my life in this manner. Even though I am not working in a company, I chose to come and give back to the community by being a trainer at KCYP. My greatest pleasure is to see the students proceed on with the training having passed through my hands. Out of the subsidised commitment fee of 1500/= each student pays, I get my monthly allowance and the rest of the money is used to buy stationary as well as for operations such as repairs.”

A total of 32 students enrolled for the program at KCYP in January 2012 and in my short interaction with some of them here is what they had to say;

Linet Moraa (above) “I joined because after the program was explained to me, I had a strong feeling that a promising future lay ahead of me. I am working hard so that I can go through all the 4 stages and use the skills I will have gained at my work place so that I get paid well and live a comfortable life far from what I am now.”

Musa Babu (Above)  “Being part of this family is a wonderful thing for I believe with the help of our trainer we are and will make a difference. This program is distinct from the others in Kibera for we are able to get mentored and internship placements at completion so we can put our skills to practise. I see myself becoming a web guru in future”

 

 Ami Lavander (above) “I commit myself wholly to this program for I have seen my fellow youths who have passed succeed. I am motivated everyday to learn new things that I know they will guarantee my future life. I always tell myself that success does not come from a University but from an individual, so am comfortable where I am because that is what I can afford to pay for and I know I will make the best out of it.”

I had to let them go for lessons but I could not leave without asking them about challenges they face. All of them were unanimous in their responses. The lack of enough space for their training leading to overcrowding in one room was a big problem until they had to be split so that 16students can be in the morning class and the other 16 in the evening class, lack of enough computers hence sharing in the ratio 1:3 was another major concern for them and their only hope is to get more computers so that they can maximise on their potential.

As I finish my writing lots of questions than answers linger in my mind; what is the government doing to support such grassroots initiatives? How can I be of help to them either directly or indirectly? Is there a place we can get refurbished computers for their use? If some of this questions can be answered then I believe this initiative will turn around the face of Kibera from the long ago known as a place of hooligans/violent youth to a place of responsible youth you are flexible and ready embrace the changing times.

This post was originally posted on http://urb.im/

 

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Embracing Reading at an Early Stage

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Sande Wycliffe
  • In Kibera and i perharps to a larger extend  the entire kenya, it’s believed that if you want to hide something from a Kenyan you can do that by hiding it in a book. But is this true? Does it mean that Kenyans do not read at all? Well the jury is out there.
  • Young ‘Kiberans’ are defying this statement by embracing a reading culture thanks to Children of Kibera www.childrenofkibera.org under the leadership of Kenneth Okoth for facilitating such an initiative.

 

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