Et Voilà‚ we have our map!

After many long discussions, strenuous consensus building and lots and lots of work, I have the pleasure of introducing you to our baby: the CAR Humanitarian Map: http://internews-car.ushahidi.com/.

This interactive map, however, is currently a testing platform only. Our local media partners, the Réseau de journalistes pour le Droit de l’homme (RJDH) en RCA, and humanitarian organizations are providing critical feedback during this initial phase. Our Internews’ technical team will then use these pointers to make necessary adjustments to the platform and sure we are providing a custom-designed tool that is specific to user needs in CAR. In the brief time since the map was released, we have already received great ideas on how to improve such aspects as logos, the map’s interface, design, categories, colors and structure. On May 30, 2012 our final product will be launched, which will be much more user-friendly, dynamic and yes, more aesthetically pleasing too!

We had the opportunity to officially present our project on April 5 during the Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT) meeting, organized by OCHA. Over 50 people were present, including international media. We were happy to get the ball rolling.

Together with my colleague Anahi (@anahi_ayala), we have also held several technical training sessions on how to use the platform both to the RJDH and the humanitarian community in CAR.

We will now continue our work bilaterally with the humanitarian organizations and the cluster groups, to follow-up, make sure they are familiar with the project, answer all questions and keep the interest and energy levels high.

Training Local Radios &; Community Correspondents The launch of the interactive humanitarian map coincided with the training here in Bangui of 22 staff members of the 11 local radio stations members of the RJDH’s network across CAR, plus 8 journalists based in the capital. It was a pleasure to finally meet them all together. During the seven day course the local journalists received training on reporting techniques, technical use of computers and editing software, and the Frontline SMS and Ushahidi platforms.

They also had the opportunity to discuss in three separate sessions with representatives from the ICRC, OCHA and my colleague Jacobo (@jqg) about the value of humanitarian information and the critical importance of verification and confidentiality of reports and information.

Beyond the actual content of the training itself, the event provided an important opportunity to interact face to face and share ideas and experiences with each other. At the end of the day, it is always the human interactions and real-life trust networks that provide the basis and foundation for technological tools.

On the week of April 23 my colleague Roger Clavet started a two-week training in the city of Bambari. This time Internews and the RJDH gathered 20 community correspondents who have only basic journalism skills from areas where there is no radio coverage. At the end of the training, we hope they will be much more informed, curious, resilient, enthusiastic, and a ready to go back with a clear sense of purpose. . The better the information is that we receive from and share with the field and the local communities via local radio and correspondents, the better our map will contribute to improve situation awareness and bi-directional communication with the humanitarians.

Monitoring &; Evaluation Also present this month was our colleague Patrick Vinck, who was happy to come back to his old stomping grounds in CAR, where he had previously spent six months doing research on affected communities. After an adventurous journey to arrive (which involved six flight connections and getting stuck for a day in Douala, Cameroon), he held 18 bilateral meetings with humanitarian actors - both national and international - and obtained 22 completed questionnaires from the local community radios. His goal is to evaluate the impact of our project on mutual perceptions of communities, media and humanitarians. Patrick is currently working on his initial findings and you will soon hear from him personally on this blog.

Personal To conclude on a personal note, my Catalan fiancée was able to visit during the Easter week-end, and it was wonderful to have her. It almost makes up for a sudden malaria attack I had earlier in April!

Stay tuned, far more to come!

Raimondo ChiariHumanitarian and Media Liaison Officer, Internews - CAR[email protected]@R_Chiari