180
E. Eros
Fig. 15.1 Missing maps mapathons and target mapping areas, as of November 2017
sanitation facilities, community landmarks, and physical hazards are located. Moreover, local community engagement is important in order to promote sustainability
and a sense of ownership over the map data. Therefore, the American Red Cross
began to increasingly focus on the local engagement and field-based activities.
The American Red Cross had led Missing Maps field training in countries such as
Bangladesh, Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, Guinea, Jamaica, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. For each field visit, remote volunteers map the area of interest, then a team of staff visit the local area to work with
local Red Cross volunteers in order to explain about the mapping project, train the
volunteers in necessary processes and technology, and organize the fieldwork. The
team consults local officials and Red Cross staff and volunteers to solicit their input
on data collection priorities, which often include water points, waste disposal sites,
and building or road conditions. Staff mentor the volunteers to help them edit and
upload the resulting data. After the project, they leave equipment behind with the
local Red Cross in order to enable future mapping efforts. Because areas of interest
are selected based on current project locations and needs, the data add immediate
value to resilience projects, community assessments, and other ongoing activities.
Short field projects provide a valuable opportunity to engage local communities
and add contextual data to the map. However, engagement based on bursts of international travel poses challenges in terms of sustainability. It can be very difficult
for organizations to foster long-term engagement and support local mappers without
an embedded presence in the community. Past experience suggests that, even when
local volunteers received extensive training and staff left equipment behind for the
volunteers’ use, limited mapping activities continued independently after the site visits concluded. This prompted the team to consider additional strategies to increase
community engagement and sustainability.
As one response to these challenges, the American Red Cross launched a more
embedded approach in West Africa, where it launched a mapping hub in Guéckédou,
E. Eros
Fig. 15.1 Missing maps mapathons and target mapping areas, as of November 2017
sanitation facilities, community landmarks, and physical hazards are located. Moreover, local community engagement is important in order to promote sustainability
and a sense of ownership over the map data. Therefore, the American Red Cross
began to increasingly focus on the local engagement and field-based activities.
The American Red Cross had led Missing Maps field training in countries such as
Bangladesh, Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, Guinea, Jamaica, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. For each field visit, remote volunteers map the area of interest, then a team of staff visit the local area to work with
local Red Cross volunteers in order to explain about the mapping project, train the
volunteers in necessary processes and technology, and organize the fieldwork. The
team consults local officials and Red Cross staff and volunteers to solicit their input
on data collection priorities, which often include water points, waste disposal sites,
and building or road conditions. Staff mentor the volunteers to help them edit and
upload the resulting data. After the project, they leave equipment behind with the
local Red Cross in order to enable future mapping efforts. Because areas of interest
are selected based on current project locations and needs, the data add immediate
value to resilience projects, community assessments, and other ongoing activities.
Short field projects provide a valuable opportunity to engage local communities
and add contextual data to the map. However, engagement based on bursts of international travel poses challenges in terms of sustainability. It can be very difficult
for organizations to foster long-term engagement and support local mappers without
an embedded presence in the community. Past experience suggests that, even when
local volunteers received extensive training and staff left equipment behind for the
volunteers’ use, limited mapping activities continued independently after the site visits concluded. This prompted the team to consider additional strategies to increase
community engagement and sustainability.
As one response to these challenges, the American Red Cross launched a more
embedded approach in West Africa, where it launched a mapping hub in Guéckédou,