New Africa: the Kenyan internet nerd reshaping a nation

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Juliana Rotich’s groundbreaking website Ushahidi has helped ordinary Africans take control of their lives, writes Ally Carnwath…

In 2008, when political and ethnic violence broke out in Kenya after disputed elections, Rotich was trapped at home in the western city of Eldoret, where some of the worst fighting was taking place.

A blackout on live news broadcasts had left Kenyans unable to get basic information about what was going on. So Rotich and a group of friends created a website, called Ushahidi (“testimony” in Swahili), that used updates from ordinary people, via emails and text messages, and plotted these on an interactive map.

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via Tumblr New Africa: the Kenyan internet nerd reshaping a nation