Getting Started With The Outreachy Project Selection (DAY 1)

The Journey Started: A New Chapter in Open Source

On 4th March 2024, Outreachy approved my application. Yayyy!!

Embarking on my journey to contribute to an open-source project has been an entirely new and exhilarating experience for me. I’ve been diving in to the world of real world development, engaging with other developers, and it has been an amazing experience.

My journey began with a slight delay, as I had my practical exams from March 4th to 6th. However, once they were behind me, I eagerly started researching various organizations and their initiatives. Each project, with its specific objectives and communities, looked like a world to itself. However, one project stood out from the rest : Enabling Realtime Citizen Reporting Through The Integration Of WhatsApp In The Ushahidi. The reason I was attracted to this project is because Ushahidi has excellent documentation. Each line in the documentation was clear and simple, explaining what Ushahidi is about, how it works, and even an in-depth user manual. All these things impressed me, and so I decided to contribute to Ushahidi. In joining the community channel, one of my mentors, Cecilia Hinga, shared with me some links on Ushahidi documents, which helped me understand what Ushahidi really is.

Now let me give you a preview of Ushahidi. It is a global nonprofit tech organization that develops open-source solutions for four critical areas: promoting good governance, protecting human rights, aiding in humanitarian efforts, and advancing climate action. The organization aims to empower communities by providing tools to collect, analyze, and act upon data effectively, which leads to positive impact across the globe.