I’ve been tough on Newsweek.com the last few weeks, so I’v actually found a great article on a technology project that originated in Kenya, and has found significant usage across the the globe in all types of crisis situations — Ushahidi.com.

Ushahidi.com

Ushahidi, which means “testimony” in Swahili, is a website that was initially developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008

While the Newsweek article is a bit awkward for numerous reasons — it doesn’t focus on the development of the open source project, the grants that sustain it or much else really. However, the article does give the project much needed coverage in the United States, coverage that will help the developers gain both monetary support and more importantly usage and developers. So, here’s a brief bit of the article — and I think the whole article deserves a read, if only to show how technology developed in Africa can affect the world.
[...]

American Evangelical Missionaries are now being held in Haiti for allegedly kidnapping Haitian children who may or may not have been orphans.  Evidently the group flew into Haiti and was in the process of transporting children from Haiti across the border into the Dominican Republic when stopped by authorities. The group had no adoption paperwork necessary for their work.

Now an interesting political issue has come to light. According to the WSJ Washington Wire Blog, there is a link to the Bush political clan.

“The case of one detainee has caught the attention of several conservative lawyers, including Amanda Bush, who as the wife of George P. Bush is the daughter-in-law of former Florida Gov. Jeb [John Ellis] Bush.” WSJ WashWire

There are several key background issues surrounding this case:

It’s crucial to remember regardless of the circumstances that although you are an American (or other citizen of any other country for that matter)when you are in a foreign country you are bound by the law in that country.

United States Passport:
Page 3, section 6: “Remember while in a foreign country you are subject to its laws.”  It sounds obvious, but people often commit acts in foreign countries that they would never think of doing in their native country.  I think the American Missionaries is one of these sad events.  In an ideal world we would have the ability to dismiss cases like this one, where the main crime seems to be ignorance of the law and poor decision making.

Although many people feel an instinctual response to help natural disaster victims in any way possible, it is important to remember that agencies often don’t need even the most highly qualified personnel, let alone ordinary volunteers. The lack of usefulness has to do with accommodating incoming volunteers and the limited resources available to handle incoming supplies.

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post has an excellent opinion article on the American Missionaries saga.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/02/09/politics-and-the-haitian-kidnapping-case/tab/comments/