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November, motivated young Kenyans will create the first
public digital map of Kibera, widely known as Africa’s largest slum. Map Kibera is a collaborative
project lead by Mikel Maron of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team and supported by
JumpStart International.
Partners include Jubal Harpster of WhereCampAfrica, the Social Development Network
(Sodnet), Pamoja Trust, Hands on Kenya, Carolina for Kibera and others.
Kibera remains a blank spot on the Kenyan map, though it holds as many as one million inhabitants
according to UN-HABITAT. Its limited health and water resources, traffic patterns, and housing
layouts remain largely invisible to the outside world and to residents themselves. Though many
organizations have collected data on Kibera, the information is not yet shared as a resource for all to
use. Map Kibera will fill in this gap by producing free, open-source digital map data using the
techniques of OpenStreetMap, a user-edited map of the world. The resulting information will be freely
available to residents, NGOs, private companies, and others interested in working with and for Kibera.
Twelve young residents of Kibera will first be trained on current mapping techniques during a two-day
workshop. Individuals from the growing Nairobi technology scene will help train and network with the
larger community. The group will then map all of Kibera over a two-week period in mid-November and
share the results through OpenStreetMap, joining a growing global community of tech-savvy grassroots
mapmakers. "The project will provide open-source data that will help illustrate the living conditions in
Kibera. 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," said
Mikel Maron.
Following the completion of the map, raw data will be made available at no charge to upload into
collaborative mapping platforms. A workshop with local interested civic organizations will introduce
them to the final map, and spark follow-up initiatives. The new group of mappers will share the
information with their own communities by distributing paper maps, and will be able to keep
information current as conditions change in Kibera.
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