Sorrow in Eastern Congo
As the work of healing our nation continues, do not forget the work that must be done elsewhere. We will surely turn our attentions to Iraq and Afghanistan and rightly so. But let us not forget the work to be done in the last place many of us think about, Africa.
People are still being killed for land and oil in Darfur, but I want to turn your attentions to Eastern Congo for the moment. Few of us know of its civil war or minimize it as yet another ‘African problem that has nothing to do with me’.
Just remember this. Congo is awash with gold, diamonds and metals such as cassiterite and coltan used to weld small pieces together in electronics. The conflict in Eastern Congo is being funded by mineral resources that end up in MY cell phone, YOUR laptop and other electronics.
That connection deepens my stake in a war that sprung out of festering hatreds from the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Perhaps some of us saw its dramatization in the movie ‘Hotel Rwanda’ or remember when we here in America were focused on Bosnia and ignored Rwanda. That ‘oversight’ allowed the ‘summer of blood’ when 800,000 were murdered in 100 days.
Although media outlets here in America continue to ignore the news from Goma, Kiwanja and other places in Eastern Congo, it doesn’t have to be like that. The BBC and the (London) Times have daily online updates. And, if you find yourself hungry for up-to-date details, review Ushahidi.
Ushahidi, which in Swahili means ‘testimony’, is an award-winning mapping tool initially deployed during last year’s post-election violence in Kenya to let people on the ground ‘crowd source’ reports and photos. Since the Internet is rarely available in conflict zones, Ushahidi allows ordinary citizens to report news via mobile phone SMS text messaging. The BBC and regional news outlets use it daily to enhance their reporting.
It is more than just a program, however. The Ushahidi Engine is a platform that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or the Web and visualize it on a map or timeline. The goal is to create the simplest way of aggregating information from the public for use in crisis response. In May 2008, it was used to map the xenophobic attacks perpetrated against non-South Africans. Imagine if it had been available during the Katrina disaster in 2005.
Today the Ushahidi team deployed the version of their software for the Democratic Republic of Congo (see below). Instances of deaths, property loss, sexual assault, disease, displacement of peoples, locations of fighting, peace efforts and more can be tracked.
screen capture - Ushahidi - Eastern Congo
To learn more about Ushahidi and the situation in Eastern Congo, follow the links below:
Ushahidi
http://blog.ushahidi.com/index.php/2008/11/07/ushahidi-deploys-to-the-congo-drc/
http://drc.ushahidi.com/
http://whiteafrican.com/
http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/10/31/the-congo-war-take-three/
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