Training in Freetown

“Good thanks, and you?”
“Great. How do you fancy a trip to Sierra Leone?” ………………………

At various times in my life I’ve ended up training subjects including IT, and when Missing Maps started, training was my main involvement. I’ve been to many Mapathons, stood out the front, and done my best to make mapping ‘happen’ for people struggling with software & strange terms.

The trip to Sierra Leone was slightly different. 32 volunteers needed training in how to carry out surveys using software on mobile phones. Essentially they were carrying out a survey of village & health facilities, how many people, what sanitation – all of the things you would expect the American Red Cross would need to know in order to plan their operations. In addition some training would also be given to MSF personnel – similar sort of thing, but each organisation has its own version of the questions.

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If you fancy getting involved in the Missing Maps Project, or Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team - HOT, but don’t fancy a trip to London for one of the Mapathons which are held there, how would Swanley, Kent suit you.

Brief explanation for those not familiar with HOT or “Missing Maps Organisation”

The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) are a team of volunteers who map areas needed by the Aid Organisations.
The American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Medecins Sans Frontiere (Doctors without Borders) (MSF) and HOT have teamed up under the banner “Missing Maps” with the aim of mapping those areas in greatest need. There is much more information on their individual websites which you can access from their logo’s on the Missing Maps website.

Weekly sessions in Swanley

A small team of us are organizing a weekly Monday afternoon session based in the Christ Church Centre, Swanley (The map below is a clickable link)

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Ho, Ho, Ho

Antlers, what a good idea. If you want to break the ice & chat with a bunch of nice people, try wearing antlers. I hope I haven’t given too many people my cold - honestly, it’s just been a little nuisance until yesterday when I nearly lost my voice.

I’m certain that the Missing Maps Team deserve a brilliant Christmas for all the hard work they put in making these events run so smoothly - It’s a pleasure to work with you guys & Thank You. I’m including all the HOT people who turned up to help - brilliant, you’re advice (and waiter service delivering mince pies) is invaluable.

Great progress folks - I can’t wait to see the full stats when you’ve all finished any squares you were working on, but 34% done during the course of one evening, and many more squares started & just needing a little more work - that’s impressive!

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What an evening!

60+ willing volunteers with laptops in a room (Big thanks to Skills Matter) with a team of helpers & great things happened. We talked, they worked & occasionaly we answered questions or helped in some other way. Some of our team were elsewhere in the world giving feedback to our new mappers, and some more were learning & helping using web links. There are quite a few photographs on Facebook - search for Missing Maps Project.

Progress?

Well, I’ve never seen anything so good so quickly. Our mappers coped with the squares magnificently, checking what had already been done, adding missing details, and marking the squares as complete. Validators checked the squares, corrected any slight errors, gave feedback (messaging system in the TM works extremely well for this) & marked the squares as validated - we do need more validators though - might have to see if we can train some of our more regular volunteers in this.

Our Team

You were terrific. They wouldn’t have done it without you - the whole package is needed & I don’t know the names to thank everyone. There will be many unsung hero’s and you should have a warm glow inside from knowing that you helped to make it work. Advertising, contacts, paperwork, ordering pizzas, standing at the door, making the technical bits work, admin - more admin. There’s a lot of work needed, and I for one am grateful that you helped to make it happen, On the night I was really pleased to see many helpers giving advice - Dan, Harry, Nataly, Ralph, Richard, to name just some who willingly gave their time & expertise.

& Now

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Hi,

If you followed a link in a message to get to this diary entry, you’re probably one of the people who went to the event. I’m the old, tall, bald & bearded one who stood at the front & talked for part of the time.

The event was laid on by a large team of people all hoping that we could give new mappers the information they need to get started mapping for HOT, from http://tasks.hotosm.org/ , but I think we’re all aware that with such a big group of people ‘zero to hero’ is unlikely in the 2 hours that were available. We’ve given you a start & we’re planning to help you keep going, but we do need you to try! It’s a simple process but sometimes there are little hiccups with the software that can make it seem difficult, just keep trying & you’ll get there. By the way, I still make mistakes - it’s a human thing, just don’t let it stop you & try to learn from them.

I’d recommend that you sign up for HOT emails - this link for a howto: https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot

If IRC is your thing then osm.wiki/Irc (obviously I’d recommend the HOT group!)

There are quite a few places to get more help from (The tasking manager has recently been upgraded & many of the screenshots are out of date - we’re working on updating the guides, but the principles are the same). http://learnosm.org/en/ has several different modules & it’s worth reading them. osm.wiki/OSM_Tasking_Manager contains more information and links.

I’ll be validating shortly, and I always try to leave feedback on the squares I validate – I’m intending to start on http://tasks.hotosm.org/project/606 (#606 - Central African Republic. Refugees in Cameroon, Garoua-Boulaï - Meidougou ), and then move on to http://tasks.hotosm.org/project/624 (#624 - Ebola Outbreak, Eastern counties, Liberia, road network ) . I have other bits & pieces to do as well, so please bear with me if it takes a long time before your squares are validated.

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Hi,

This is the text from a message being sent to all the attendees of a mapathon held in the MSF offices in London - Hopefully it will be of help to someone.

“Hi, and thank you for helping to make the ‘Missing Maps’ session such a success. I’m the old, tall, bald & bearded one who stood at the front & talked for part of the time.

All of the people who helped the evening work are hoping that you will persevere & do some mapping from http://tasks.hotosm.org/ , but I think we’re all aware that with such a big group of people ‘zero to hero’ is unlikely. We’ve given you a start & we’re planning to help you keep going, but we do need you to try! I meant what I said about it being a simple process, but sometimes there are little hiccups with the software that can make it seem difficult, just keep trying & you’ll get there. By the way, I still make mistakes - it’s a human thing, just don’t let it stop you & try to learn from them.

Personally I’d like to try to organize a regular mapping session at which we could go along, do some mapping, learn a bit from each other, and drink coffee - the coffee’s optional. Learning from each other is a lot more fun than reading instructions on a web site. Would you be interested?

I’d recommend that you sign up for HOT emails - this link for a howto: https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot

If IRC is your thing then osm.wiki/Irc (obviously I’d recommend the HOT group!)

There are quite a few places to get more help from (The tasking manager has recently been upgraded & many of the screenshots are out of date - we’re working on updating the guides, but the principles are the same). http://learnosm.org/en/ has several different modules & if you’re new to mapping it’s worth reading;

• http://learnosm.org/en/beginner/introduction/
• http://learnosm.org/en/beginner/start-osm/
• http://learnosm.org/en/beginner/start-josm/
• http://learnosm.org/en/beginner/more-about-josm/
• http://learnosm.org/en/coordination/tasking-manager/
  

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Foot survey today

Obtained a few address numbers in Swanley, Kent, UK, using KeyPadMapper3. I’ve uploaded the address nodes to OSM, but deliberately left them as nodes at the moment. ## My profile I’ve spent a few minutes updating my profile. I like to survey areas, and am interested in working with other mappers - if you are interested in working with me, have a read of my profile page & see if there is something of interest. You don’t have to be anywhere near Swanley!

Regards

Nick (Tallguy)

Hoping to work further on ncn1 in Dartford area later this week. Think I can fill in some of the missing bits, but need the time to cycle there.

Have added a few roads from memory, will be doing more work on this area - Daphne knows area well & will get her to carry a GPS. Does seem to be a poor satellite signal there, so not all tracks are as accurate as would like. Am waiting on new GPS to come into stock - perhaps when this arrives will improve the tracks.

Had a quick (long actually!) look through the mapping done so far in Durham, Maidstone, Dartford & Swanley.
Think I've now corrected all the errors I made previously;
Pilgrims Way, have made a residential road again,
Birchwood Rd - now a road again.
.
Other bits look okay now - if anyone reads & notices something wrong, let me know or i'll keep making the same mistake!