Open-source website Ushahidi (the Swahili word for "testimony" or "witness") launched a platform this weekend that makes it faster and easier for eyewitnesses to report developments on the ground in Haiti based on mobile text messaging.

If you are in Haiti, report emergency info and location by texting 4636.

As one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti doesn't have the kind of infrastructure that more developed countries do. But in a crisis situation like this one, their needs are still the same--people needing to locate triage centers, hospitals, and food and water. But an old map would be useless with road closings. Enter Ushahidi's online crisis-mapping tool--which could very well be the future of crisis response.

Using the SMS short code 4636, survivors, aid workers and others can text their info and location to #4636, which allows Ushahihi to map out where there are Haitians in need of medical assistance and make sure that there is action being taken on the emergencies/needs reported into the system.

How does it work? Survivors, aid workers and others can text their info and location to #4636. A web interface then allows Creole-speaking "dispatchers" -- from anywhere on the Internet -- to take the SMS messages off the queue to organize and tag them. The shortcode is operating as a PeopleFinder, with reports of emergencies & missing persons going straight back to the organizations on the ground, translated and with geocoordinates where possible.

SEIU is in collaboration with our friends at MIT and Ushahidi to publicize and recruit translators to transcribe data for the emergency text message service, which groups like FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard task force (amongst others) are using on the ground.

With help from SEIU's volunteers and others, close to 2,000 text messages have been translated and entered into national people finder database. Thanks to the service, people have been able to get through to relatives overseas and let them know they are okay for the first time. Ushahidi's blog gives some touching examples of the success stories from 4636:

"peter mwen pale avek minouche yo bien 1 317xxxxxxx"

Translation: (Peter, I am talking with Minouche. All are well. 1 317xxxxxx)

And this one, which people were responding to yesterday morning:

"Men se Jean Wani�re m,ap travay lan Unic�f mwen abite kafouf�y ri bredi nimero 11 alentery� mwe gen 2 moun ki anba kay la toujou ?"

Translation: My name is Jean Wani my brother is working in Unicef and I live in Carfour 11 Alentyerye I have 2 people that is still alive under the building still! Send Help!

* TRANSLATORS URGENTLY NEEDED *
A key part of this online crisis response process is online volunteers who are translating the incoming SMS messages from Creole into English--and many more people are needed as requests for help continue to pour in at a rapid rate.

How to volunteer: If you are a computer-literate Creole speaker and want to help with the #4636 Haitian shortcode initiative, we want and need your assistance. Please send an email at volunteerhaiti@seiu.org with your name, email address and phone number, telling us you want to translate text messages.

» Download a flyer detailing how to volunteer here.

How to use #4636 to Report
Anyone, anywhere in Haiti can text messages to #4636 with their location, report a problem or send information about the missing or those found.

1. Local, send a text to 4636.
2. International, send a text to 447624802524.
3. By sending an email to haiti@ushahidi.com
4. By sending a tweet with the hashtag/s #haiti or #haitiquake
5. Filling out this form

More at http://haiti.ushahidi.com/.