Working with
International Media Support , CartONG is mapping the locations of radio stations in Haiti. Radio stations are important in less economically developed countries since they are the most common source of information: during a emergency operation, radios are invaluable. A number of groups are working in Haiti trying to assess the state of the radio stations, many of which are the only way of communicating with rural communities.
Radio stations that are currently broadcasting, such as Signal FM, are informing people of crucial information such as where food is being distributed, where there are clinics and helpful advice. Signal FM has also been central to raising the morale of the people by playing music, inspirational speeches and reports of people being rescued from the rubble.
The maps are made in the Google Earth format KML. This format is lightweight and can be used without any expensive software. We are also using Google’s KML creator spreadsheet that was developed as part of their outreach programme. The spreadsheet means that anyone with a browser and connection to the internet can update the map which in turn is refreshed automatically for all users through an update feed.
So far almost 100 radios have been mapped, with help of work on community radios from Internews. Reports from the ground and elsewhere are constantly updating the map which is benefiting enormously from the ease of collaboration around the globe.
Download the kml from
here .