Day1-1440-One road goes a long way: measuring the impact of maps on fighting FGM in Tanzania

Friday 2:40pm, Room 1
Egle Marija Ramanauskaite

http://2017.stateofthemap.org/2017/one-road-goes-a-long-way-measuring-the-impact-of-maps-on-fighting-fgm-in-tanzania/

Transcript

1. One road goes a long way: the impact of maps in rural Tanzania Egle Marija Ramanauskaite CO-FOUNDER & RESEARCHER
2. Crowd2Map: we didn't mean to map.. :) LOCAL CITIZEN SCIENCE IDEAS FOR EDUCATION MOBILE DATA COLLECTION AS ONE OF THE OPTIONS WHOA! We can add those to the map IMMEDIATE INTEREST: LOCATION OF WATER POINTS
3. Problems to solve... FGM & rural development Mugumu Safe House - established in 2014, operating in the Mara region of Tanzania Saving girls from practice of FGM, but region largely blank on OSM/Google - not clear where any villages are ++ Overall development in rural Tanzania. Fuzzy realization that maps could help!
4. Since 2015, we have done... ... so what?
5. Impact of maps is... obvious? No "obvious" things to a researcher :) Need to measure it! Quantitative data? Patchy at best. Measure something that is barely recorded..? Impact of maps that have just been created..? Qualitative data? Talking to people - much more interesting! But not all that easy...:) April 2016
6. Interviews & (for lack of better option) online survey Community members (5) Community leaders C2M local volunteers (4) (4) Group interview (village community) (1)
7. Community members... Type 1: "Never seen" a map! Even if linked to mapping programme. Not aware of maps until it's pointed out Type 2: Don't have access to a map, but have seen one (in village office, e.g.). Modest awareness why maps could be useful (mostly navigation) Type 3: Have used maps before but don't have access now. Modest awareness why maps could be useful Type 4: Have used maps before, continue to use them & can list many reasons why maps are useful (development, humanitarian purposes) LINKED TO OUR MAPPING PROGRAMME HAVE ACCESS TO MAPS, PAPER/PHONE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO MAPS "NEVER SEEN" A MAP HAVE GOOD KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MAP USES KNOW MAPS COULD BE USEFUL !
8. Some interesting points... Unaware they've seen a map until you point out an atlas or a map in village office Even driver in the Safe House where we're mapping, "has not seen a map". How is this information shared then..? Even those who "have not seen a map" know it's basic uses, such as navigation, and would like to use maps Everyone very enthusiastic about the ability to learn to map their area & use the map In general, the majority of the community does not use maps
9. Locals use "maps"... but it's not what we think One interviewee said she used maps in her home town. But ... [translated] "They didn't have a paper map, it's so only that she grew up in that place, so she knew... she knew the shortcuts. But they didn't have maps. So she was using her knowledge, having stayed there since she was born & knowing where to go, which way to use. That was what helped her, but not maps." And... "There was this community member, 55 years old... He drew us a drainage map using his head. He had a piece of paper, then he had to [draw] everything. And when we went to the site, it was actually the same thing. So I was very amazed by that guy.”
10. But what if you're out of your home town? Some of the most usual ways of navigating includes... "You find the people who know the way, we may follow a volunteer, volunteer like... Joana. We may call her 'come, we want to go to some area - which way you can pass?'. Joana directs you... 'you're supposed to pass this way, or that way'." REACHING THE SAFE HOUSE: "There's not been any cases when girls used a map. Because they just ask in the villages where is the Safe House, and the activists direct them. 'To reach the Safe House, you need to go to road that leads to the hospital, and then turn right, and then reach the Giraffe hotel...'"
11. Everyone excited about paper maps! Specific cases too, such as GIRLS REACHING THE SAFE HOUSE: "If they had paper maps it would be much easier for them; because when they have map they would be sure if they’ll reach the place; because sometimes they might meet someone who is still keeping traditional practices and they will try to cheat them, say 'better go back, I don’t know where the Safe House is'" Paper maps might be optimal in rural settings: “Using the paper maps will be great for rural areas. Right now they don’t have access to smartphones, and if they do, they have internet issues. So if they have offline maps, such as paper maps, I think that would be great."
12. In the Safe House maps are more than basic navigation... Know where activist houses are in each village Select, change & quickly coordinate "safe places" - girls "assembly points", in case parents find any Pick optimal routes & plan fuel costs (limited resources) Pick the best roads, so they can get to the girls faster
13. Rhobi, director of the Mugumu Safe House: "In the beginning it was very difficult to save girls. Because we didn’t have maps to use, and it was very difficult. We didn't know where are the villages, what roads we can use, where are the safe roads; we were all new to the area, we would be late sometimes, would go through bad roads, and be late, and even some girls would be cut, because they were reached by parents. In the last year it’s been improved."
14. For now virtually impossible to quantitatively assess impact of maps on reducing FGM, but... We're using GIS to identify FGM clusters, unmapped regions (priority) Last year building density helped identify villages where girls were waiting for help http://www.fragosus.pe.hu/Janet2/dashboard.htm
15. But data is so patchy, deeper analysis is not yet possible Crowdsourced FGM data at the Safe House not representative of the region DHS data self-reported, non-representative, different years, before mapping... So many factors could be involved in such a complex issue as preventing FGM! More systematic data collection & assessing change might be possible in the future
16. Not just FGM - locals recognize benefits for rural development Defining ward boundaries, resolving disputes Dividing wards (happens) Identifying resources, e.g. land use Knowing where essential services are & better planning, e.g. education & health facilities General empowerment of communities to tackle own problems "[Identifying] which are the challenges in each village, and each community can plan best."
17. But better maps... is just the beginning Currently maps are incomplete - only remote mapping & Maps.me points - not fully usable People in rural areas don't have access to phones Printed maps are not distributed, unless it's ward offices - should be all kinds of public facilities at least COMMUNITIES NEED TO BE EDUCATED & MADE AWARE OF THE USE OF MAPS !!
18. "What would be the next big improvement in the map for *you*?" "...increase the number of people, teach them how to use our maps, bring them the hard copy, teach them to use phones. Now its’ just girls and volunteers..." Community members agree: what matters most is... "Continue to do mapping, but also involving different people in the community: government leaders, village leaders, the community in general. Continuing education of village communities about the importance of mapping..."
19. But progress is being made! Girls who graduate Safe House are trained to map!! Enthusiastic to continue & teach their communities (but phones - limitation) Community mappers map & teach communities enabled by HOT microgrant WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK... BUT IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE MAP!
20. Lastly... why impact of maps is not an easy question to try to answer! Long list... Researcher not in Tanzania! :) Interviews collected by colleague - Janet But - inconsistent due to circumstances, non-exhaustive Translator often needed. Which is fine, but translator --> interviewee --> translator --> audio transcript ... losing bits of info! Surveys useless! Need to take your time & dive into conversation, often narratives to find out what's real But what *is* real? Some, especially officials, tell you what you want to hear... They don't want to admit nobody uses maps! But some do - and propose solutions!
21. It takes a village... 2000 Crowd2Map volunteers & community leaders!!! crowd2map.org seplute emramanauskaite@gmail.com