I listened intently to Larry Brilliant’s conference call on investments made by Google.org last week, and heard about some pretty far-reaching goals using just a fraction of the search giant’s billions. But some of the best cause-related work in conjunction with Google is being done by its users. Witness Ushahidi, an online mapping project tracking both violent episodes and peace efforts in the sectarian disaster that is Kenya. Here’s how the site describes itself:

Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see. We are working with local Kenyan NGO’s to get information and to verify each incident.

What you can do is get the word out about Ushahidi so that it’s utilized to it’s full potential. This especially extends to talking to the people that you know who have seen things in Kenya and getting them to the site as well. You can also help by using the contact form to volunteer to help with the tracking and verifying of each incident.

Spend some time there and click on the some of the truly terrifying single incidents – I honestly didn’t have as much of a feel for what’s happening in Kenya before this site complemented the coverage I get in the Times. Something about a map and the personal stories of real people and citizen journalists.

Google, Kenya, Ushahidi Google, International