Past Participant Q&A: Joshua from Kenya
Joshua Ogure, 34, is applying knowledge gained from the UNAOC-EF Summer School to bring about positive social change in Kibera– one of Africa’s largest urban slums. The Map Kibera Trust is helping transform the Nairobi slum into a thriving, vibrant community by putting it on the map. Literally. It empowers residents to digitally map their vast community for the very first time. Through his coordination role with the Map Kibera Education project, Joshua is working to make educational information easily accessible to everyone in Kibera. He also works with the Kibera News Network, which enables the community to share their stories with the world.
Can you tell us more about your work with the Map Kibera Trust?
Yes, I work with Map Kibera Trust, which has three programs. These are the mapping program, the Voice of Kibera (which is an SMS reporting platform), and the Kibera News Network, which is where I work. We have recently started a project called ‘Humans of Kibera’ that is inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York. Map Kibera’s mandate is to increase influence and representation of marginalized communities through the creative use of digital technology for positive action.