[:en]Currently 70% of the infrastructure in Dar es Salaam is unplanned, meaning that structures are often built in flood areas and are not adequately built to cope with high waters. Often, even unplanned buildings that are relatively ‘safe’ from flooding have huge consequences on the surrounding area; improper planning has led to an increase of compact soil, which has low absorption rates to help disperse water during floods.

Ramani Huria is a project lead by HOT, with the aim to produce maps with the main intention of improving flood resilience planning and raising awareness of safe areas for local people. This means that future houses can be built in safe zones and that steps can be taken to reinforce or relocate buildings that are currently at risk.  Moreover, it can mitigate the risk of cholera and prevent sudden displacement.

Amelia Hunt – Mapping Trainer and Project Assistant, HOT – and Zac Hill – Consultant, This is All – arrived in Dar es Salaam and have spent the last two days in the HOT office in dLab.  In this blog post they outline what they have learnt about the Ramani Huria project by speaking to team members.

This blog post has been broken down into three sections: Technology, People, and Communities.

Technology

In the western world we are often faced with the perception of the developing world that has been presented by the media and development sector over the last 60 odd years – the image of poor people whose only livelihood is a small farm, travelling however many miles a day to collect water.  Whilst it would be inaccurate to claim that access to better agriculture and clean water isn’t still an issue in continents like Africa, we can claim that the image is not representative of all of Africa.

Many countries in Africa are very well connected, and Tanzania isn’t an exception. This connectivity allows ample opportunities, including the digital mapping activities performed by volunteers and staff at HOT. Moreover, all the team members we have met so far are Tanzanians, demonstrating that the traditional approach of using Western surveyors is an unnecessary expense. Armed with local knowledge, Tanzanian volunteers are able to cover more ground in less time and are able to collect more accurate data due to local language and cultural understanding.

Ramani Huria 2.0 has seen an improvement to data quality and a more structured approach to team management. Field supervisors are committed to leading their teams by example so that they can demonstrate good data collection processes, inspire participants to enjoy their work, and help them see the importance of collecting reliable, accurate data. The technology and training provided to volunteers, teamed with their commitment and passion for mapping, makes them one of the most efficient  and talented digitisation teams.

Drainage map of Mikocheni Ward

People

Many of the volunteers are graduates from related fields who are taking part in Ramani Huria in order to improve their technical and management skills whilst contributing to improving their community. Ramani Huria is giving students the opportunity to learn new types of mapping such as using JOSM and Qgis.

Ramani Huria has been split into specific teams e.g. Drainage, Infrastructure etc., allowing volunteers to build up specialist skills. Sections of the project is divided into a data cleaning team and field mapping team, with supervisors who coordinate between groups to make sure that the data being collected is accurate. Speaking to the team, many of them had never been exposed to open, community mapping before. Now they feel that they can give back to their own communities whilst adding to the larger open mapping community. It is inspiring to see that after years of top-down approaches to international development, it is local people who are putting themselves on the map.

Mapping participants at State of the Map Tanzania

Communities

There is still a long way to go in terms of training the local community to understand how to use the maps. However, from what the team says, the communities do seem to be receptive when the field teams explain what they are doing when measuring the drainage systems in the city. The field teams are working hard to help local people understand the concept behind the projects and how maps can improve development initiatives and emergency response. The vision is for maps to be used by every ward and sub-ward leader to better support their local community so that people are able to locate themselves and the services they need e.g. health centres, schools, bus stations.

Field data collection team measuring drains and working with local community members

Overview of Initial Thoughts

While the initial motivation for the Ramani Huria project was to improve flood resilience in Dar es Salaam, it is clear that there are other benefits to the project. The project is upskilling the local people who are involved in the mapping, as well as creating a community of mappers. The way the projects operate encourage collaborative community working, which is a refreshing way to run a developing project.

Long gone are the days of traditional surveyors – it is time for local communities to lead!

 [:sw]Kwa sasa asilimia 70 ya miundombinu Dar es Salaam haijapangwa, maana yake ni kwamba miundo mara nyingi hujengwa katika maeneo ya mafuriko na haijatengenezwa kwa kutosha ili kukabiliana na maji mengi. Mara nyingi, hata majengo yasiyopangwa yaliyo ‘salama’ na mafuriko yana athari kubwa juu ya eneo jirani; Mpango usiofaa umesababisha ongezeko la udongo mgumu (Compact soil), ambao una viwango vya chini vya kunyonya maji ili kuzuia kusambaza maji wakati wa mafuriko.

Ramani Huria ni mradi unaofanywa na HOT, kwa lengo la kuzalisha ramani kwa nia kuu ya kuboresha mipango ya ustawi wa mafuriko na kuongeza ufahamu wa maeneo salama kwa watu wa eneo. Hii inamaanisha kuwa nyumba za baadaye zitajengwa katika maeneo salama na hatua hizo zinaweza kuchukuliwa ili kuimarisha au kuhamisha majengo ambayo sasa yana hatari. Aidha, inaweza kupunguza hatari ya kolera na kuzuia uhamisho wa ghafla.

Amelia Hunt – Mkufunzi wa Ramani na Msaidizi wa Mradi, HOT – na Zac Hill – Mshauri, Wote wamefika Dar es Salaam na wamekaa siku mbili za mwisho katika ofisi ya HOT iliyopo  dLab. Katika chapisho hili la blog wanaelezea yale waliyojifunza kuhusu mradi wa Ramani Huria kwa kuzungumza na wana timu.

Chapisho hili la blogu limeshuka katika sehemu tatu: Teknolojia, Watu, na Jamii.

Teknolojia

Katika ulimwengu wa magharibi sisi mara nyingi tunakabiliwa na mtazamo wa ulimwengu unaoendelea ambao umewasilishwa na sekta ya vyombo vya habari na maendeleo katika kipindi cha miaka 60 isiyo ya kawaida – picha ya watu masikini ambao tu maisha yao ni ukulima mdogomdogo, kusafiri maili nyingi kwa siku kukusanya maji. Itakuwa sio sahihi kudai kwamba upatikanaji wa kilimo bora na maji safi bado si suala katika mabara kama Afrika, ila tunaweza kudai kuwa picha haiwakilishi Afrika yote.

Nchi nyingi Afrika zimeunganishwa sana, na Tanzania sio tofauti. Uunganisho huu unaruhusu fursa nyingi, ikiwa ni pamoja na shughuli za ramani za digitali zilizofanywa na wanaojitolea na wafanyakazi wa HOT. Aidha, wanachama wote wa timu ambao tumekutana hadi sasa ni Watanzania, kuonyesha kwamba njia ya jadi ya kutumia wataalamu kutoka nchi za Magharibi ni gharama zisizohitajika. Wakiwa na ujuzi wa ndani, watu hawa wanaojitolea wana uwezo wa wa kufanya kazi kubwa kwa muda mdogo na wanaweza kukusanya taarifa sahihi zaidi kutokana na lugha ya ndani na ufahamu wa kitamaduni.

Ramani Huria 2.0 imeona kuboresha ubora wa taarifa na mbinu zaidi ya usimamizi wa timu. Wasimamizi wa kazi wana nia ya kuongoza timu zao kwa mfano ili waweze kuonyesha michakato mzuri ya kukusanya taarifa, kuwahamasisha washiriki kufurahia kazi zao, na kuwasaidia kuona umuhimu wa kukusanya taarifa ya uhakika na sahihi. Teknolojia na mafunzo yaliyotolewa kwa timu, pamoja na kujitoa kwao na shauku ya ramani, kumewafanya kuwa moja ya timu zenye ujuzi wa ufanisi zaidi na wenye vipaji.

Mkutano wa Hali ya Ramani Tanzania 2017 ulioandaliwa na Ramani Huria na wadau uliohudhuriwa na washiriki 170.

Ramani ya Mitaro kata ya Mikocheni.

Watu

Wengi wanaojitolea ni wahitimu kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Ardhi wenye ujuzi unaohusiana ambao wanashiriki katika Ramani Huria ili kuboresha ujuzi wao wa kiufundi na usimamizi wakati wanachangia kuboresha jamii yao. Ramani Huria inatoa fursa kwa wanafunzi ya kujifunza aina mpya za ramani kama vile kutumia JOSM na QGIS, pia thamani ya kutumia wanajamii katika ramani.

Ramani Huria imegawanywa katika timu maalum kama, timu ya mifereji, Miundombinu, Ufikiaji wa jamii nk, kuruhusu wanaojitolea kujenga ujuzi wa kitaalam. Sehemu za mradi umegawanywa katika timu ya kukagua taarifa na timu ya kukusanya taariafa za ramani, na wasimamizi ambao huratibu kati ya vikundi ili kuhakikisha kuwa taarifa zilizokusanywa ni sahihi. Ukizungumza na timu, wengi wao hawajawahi kujua ramani ya jamii kabla. Sasa wanahisi kuwa wanaweza kurudi kwenye jamii zao wakati wakiongeza jumuiya kubwa ya ramani ya wazi. Ni msukumo kuona kwamba baada ya miaka mingi juu ya njia za maendeleo za kimataifa, sasa ni watu wa ndani ambao wanajiweka wenyewe kwenye ramani.

Washiriki wa mkutano wa Hali ya Ramani Tanzania

Jamii

Bado kuna njia ndefu ya kwenda katika mafunzo kwa jamii ili kuelewa jinsi ya kutumia ramani. Hata hivyo, kutokana na kile timu inasema, jamii zinaonekana kupokea wakati timu za kutengeneza ramani zinaelezea kile wanachokifanya wakati wa kupima mifumo ya maji ya mjini. Timu za ramani zinafanya kazi kwa bidii ili kusaidia watu wa ndani kuelewa dhana ya nyuma ya miradi na jinsi ramani zinaweza kuboresha mipango ya maendeleo na mipango ya dharura. Maono ni kuwa ramani zitumiwe na kila kiongozi wa kata na mtaa kuusaidia jamii yao ili watu waweze kujua maeneo yao wenyewe na huduma wanazohitaji kama; vituo vya afya, shule, vituo vya basi.

Timu ya kukusanya taarifa wakipima mtaro na kufanya kazi na wanajamii

Muhtasari wa Mawazo ya awali

Wakati msukumo wa awali wa mradi wa Ramani Huria ulikuwa ni kuboresha ujasiri wa mafuriko Dar es Salaam, ni wazi kwamba kuna faida nyingine za mradi huo. Mradi huu unasaidia watu wenyeji ambao wanahusika katika ramani, pamoja na kujenga jumuiya ya ramani. Njia ambazo miradi inafanya kazi inahimiza ushirikiano na jamii, ambayo ni njia ya kufurahisha ya kuendesha mradi endelevu.

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