Ground Truth from the Grassroots (Innovations Case Discussion: Map Kibera)

Abstract

Initiative, have been properly lauded as new media projects. But their greater accomplishment lies in executing media projects in a way that is both modern and ancient: by working through community. The history of media development is littered with big, ambitious projects that are incubated in the United States and delivered “in a box” to developing countries, ready for assembly without consultation with the recipients and without adjustment to the realities on the ground. American graduate students return from the field with tales to tell: shipments of computers whose plugs didn’t fit the outlets, Internet connections that were instantly monopolized by teenage boys looking for porn, flash-ridden websites that take hours to download for users without broadband. The commercially driven tech culture in the United States is currently undergoing a reexamination by educators and social critics. Is more, faster media always better? How do we match the powerful new tools to the actual needs of society without losing sight of our goals? Our traditional framework for media technology deserves even closer scrutiny when extended to developing countries. Information is vital to life, as vital as food. Each culture uses the same nutrients but in many different forms, depending on the local culture and environment. The same is true of information: positive results can come in many forms, depending on the situation. In 2009, Erica Hagen and Mikel Maron launched their media project in Kibera, a sprawling, impoverished district of Nairobi, Kenya, that has become a regular