Haiti

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, shockwaves of pain spread around the globe, and like millions of others, I felt the need to the help. I texted HAITI to 90999 and gave $10 to Red Cross Relief -- a campaign that has since raise millions of dollars. But I made my real contribution by helping to spread the word about http://haiti.ushahidi.com.

Ushahidi, which is Swahili for “testimony,” is an innovative platform that crowd-sources crisis information and was initially developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008. Since then, the United Nations OCHA/Colombia branch has used Ushahidi for coordinating humanitarian response during the Bogota earthquake simulation. Other notable deployments of the free crowd-sourcing platform are election monitoring in India, Lebanon, Mexico and Afghanistan among others. And now Haiti -- where the tool is already having an impact on the ground!

2010

Since we have crossed the threshold of a brand new year, I thought it would be an appropriate time for me to write.

For me, 2009 was not easy to characterize. It held so much promise early on when I embarked on my adventure in Kibera. But I encountered some unexpected obstacles during production and then the project seemed to lose it's momentum and awkwardly stall. I'm deeply indebted to my family, friends, and other angels for providing early support to get me to Kenya, and I want to provide more than a karmic return for this outpouring of generosity. I also feel a strong sense of responsibility to the cast and crew of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME who shared their stories with me. I want to make sure their voices are heard. So, I'm determined that 2010 will see the fruition of PRODUCING PAMOJA. Somehow, someway.

I'm also determined to launch a documentary project called MOBILIZING THE MASSES. Not yet sure what form it will take but I want to share stories about the amazing mobile innovations springing up at the grassroots level around the developing world. And meanwhile, I've been thrilled to transition from being a big fan of Ushahidi to playing a (very minor but super rewarding) role on the team.

2009 was also consumed by renovations on our house (a couple photos posted below). We lived at times without exterior walls, without a roof, without heat as winter descended and managed five months without a faucet or a drain in the kitchen! We made significant progress and learned many lessons along the way. Dare I hope to finish the work in 2010???

Fingers firmly crossed.