Why I Gave to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team www.hotosm.org Well, Who Knew?
I watch the news. I’m aware of the amazing humanitarian agencies who fight Ebola, conduct search/rescue or provide relief to countless people around the globe after disasters. They’re on TV every day. They inspire me.
And…we’re probably ALL aware that:
Hundreds of disasters every year kill almost 100,000 people. They impact another 200 million more.
Behind the news is something that I didn’t know. (Maybe you don’t, either?) In fact, I probably still wouldn’t. I’m a retiree, mother and grandmother who’s sort of a humanitarian at heart. But--I have a son educated in the “techie” world who gave up his astoundingly high salary to follow his heart into international humanitarian work.
Here’s what I didn’t know:
To fight Ebola, conduct search & rescue after disasters, or provide relief services, agencies like Doctors Without Borders or Red Cross International need detailed maps of villages and other places where people live.
But, there’s a problem: Many places where disaster strikes do not exist on ANY map! So…how do teams locate unmapped villages…how do they find people?
I had no idea that there’s an amazing worldwide team that works every day on a solution to this very problem! And it has a name. It’s the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. That’s kind of a long name. So, people “in the know” affectionately refer to this community as “HOT.” (Yup—they’re HOTTIES…)
What does HOT actually do?
When disaster strikes, HOT mobilizes a global network—thousands of amazing volunteers. Using an editable map called OpenStreetMap, they team up and work tirelessly to create online maps of affected areas. Then, groups like Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross and numerous humanitarian teams rely on the maps that HOT creates, especially in places previously unmapped.
And that’s not all I learned.
Not just in the event of a catastrophe, but EVERY DAY, dedicated HOT volunteers are working in many countries to put our world’s most vulnerable places and people on the map BEFORE disaster strikes.
A great example is HOT’s Missing Maps project, which benefits from the tireless work of wonderful volunteers around the globe. Missing Maps has put 8 million people on the map!
4,000 volunteers have helped HOT makeover 13 million edits to OpenStreetMap!
When Nepal was devastated by an earthquake, 7,000 contributors added 13 million objects to the map!
We don’t hear about HOT in the news. HOT is made up of quiet dynamos--amazing, caring, passionate people giving freely of their time and energy to be their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. HOT is made up of a principled, humanitarian executive director, a small global board of directors, limited staff, and thousands of volunteers. They stretch their resources for enormous impact.
Please “Like!”
Who knew about humanitarian mapping? Now I do. That’s why I gave and will donate again to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Please join me and, if you can’t donate, please just click “Like.” HOT deserves our support!
Review from #MyGivingStory