Ushahidi: Citizen journalism and “testimony” in Haiti

By Kyla — January 17, 2010 | 0 comments

Ushahidi Map

The most recent entry on the Reports page of Ushahidi (the website name means “testimony” in Swahili) alerts readers that armed and masked robbers have just invaded an area in Delmas, Haiti. The author of the post asks for someone to call the police. This entry is one of 649 reports that have been posted on the website since the earthquake struck Haiti five days ago, and the number continues to grow.

Ushahidi is a free “Crowd Sourcing Crisis Information” website that uses citizen generated reports to aggregate information in political and natural emergencies. The website was developed through a collaboration of citizen journalists who wanted to map incidents of political violence, and later the peace efforts that followed the 2008 Kenyan elections. Information on the website is updated in real time which can be used to provide updates, call for help and facilitate crisis response.

Inside Haiti, people are able to submit new reports online and via other social media tools such as SMS, Facebook, radio and phone. These reports specify the location and time of incidents such as collapsed structures, missing persons and dead body collection among many others. There is also a column indicating whether reports have been verified. The website’s Crisis Map claims to be “the most comprehensive and up-to- date crisis map available to the humanitarian community.”

We’ve embedded the Ushahdi Crisis Map on our website, and will be contributing reports to it from the ground in the coming days.

The Map is coded with reports of Emergency, Threat, Vital Lines, Response, Person News, All Categories or Other, and provides near-real-time information for survivors and aid workers.The map and reports sections are mobilizing users of the site around activities as diverse as a drive for “survival kit” supplies taking place in Washington, DC., to notifications of under-utilized aid corridors that might help expedite the efforts of humanitarian agencies.

The following report was just made on the website:

Need help urgently – We have only received 4 patients by airlift so far. We have a full-service hospital w/2 ORs, a trauma team and an orthopaedic team standing on the ground waiting for patients! They can land helicopters. we have an ambulance. I IMPLORE your help with this! IMMEDI…ATELY! Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti- 904-223-723- 904-451-0003

There is enormous potential for this site to provide urgent information to aid in relief and rescue operations. Emergencies and missing persons can be reported to Ushahidi from within Haiti by Text: 4636 (International:447624802524) on Digicel with your location and need, or through these means:

By sending an email to haiti@ushahidi.com
By sending a tweet with the hashtag/s #haiti or #haitiquake
Filling this form