#46-Here's How Humanitarian Toolbox Is Saving Thousands of Lives Every Year

Millions of people lose their lives every year due to natural disasters. An estimated 1,000,000 to 4,000,000 people died in 1931 China floods. Around 900,000 to 2,000,000 people died in 1887 Yellow River flood in China. In 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, 830,000 people died in China. In 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China, 450,000 people died. In 1970 Bhola cyclone, 375,000 people lost their lives in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In 1839 India cyclone, around 300,000 people died. In 526 Antioch earthquake, around 250,000 to 300,000 people of Byzantine Empire (now Turkey) lost their lives. In 1737 Calcutta cyclone in India, 300,000 people died. In 2004 Tsunami, 280,000 people lost their lives. In 1920 Haiyuan earthquake in China, 273,400 people lost their lives. These are just a few of many such natural calamities. People who lose their relatives in such disasters know how a family can be completely devastated in a few days. Due to these disasters, millions of parents lose their sons and daughters, millions of children become orphans, and property worth millions of dollars gets damaged and destroyed every year.

There are humanitarian organizations all over the world which use their resources to help people when calamities strike. The organizations like American Red Cross, Americares, CARE, Direct Relief International, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Feed The Children, Food for the Poor, Habitat for Humanity International, Heifer International, International Federation of the Red Cross, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief USA, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Partners in Health, PSI, Salvation Army, Save the Children, UNICEF, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), United Way, World Food Programme, World Vision, & Yéle are helping people for years with admirable track records. While it is definitely admirable that so many organizations are busy in helping people during the disasters, it would be a travesty if we say that it's enough, because it simply isn't, not even close. When these organizations go to work in a disaster situation they often face problems which are too complicated for the systems they use. The disasters often require ad-hoc solutions which must be developed fast and which are capable of making the relief efforts more effective. This is where Humanitarian Toolbox comes in. Humanitarian Toolbox helps responders by developing software solutions to make the relief process more streamlined. In their words, "The Next Big Storm is a Coding Challenge."

Humanitarian Toolbox connects talented people with organizations who are in need of smart solutions. Innovators here build next-gen life-saving tools and keep updating them to meet new challenges. Humanitarian Toolbox maintains and deploys this solution 'toolbox' and also makes sure the organizations can use them when they want them the most. Every solution built in Humanitarian Toolbox is completely open-source and is part of an open-source ecosystem where everyone can contribute. The sole focus of Humanitarian Toolbox is building a sustainable future through the development of open-source software and services for disaster situations. The requirements gathering part is handled by Humanitarian Toolbox and as a result, developers do not need to worry about requirements gathering. This allows talented developers to put their hundred percent focus on developing innovative and impactful solutions which help in saving millions. The projects handled by Humanitarian Toolbox can be classified into two broad categories. In the first category falls the projects which are developed from the scratch. These solutions are developed after Humanitarian Toolbox gathers the requirements from the organization which wants the solution developed. The solutions are broken down into manageable units and then developed by volunteers through code-a-thons and test-a-thons. The second category consists of updating already-built software so that they do not become obsolete and unusable. Humanitarian organizations develop software when they face a particular crisis. When the crisis is over, the software is often not maintained and it starts to lose its edge. Volunteers at Humanitarian Toolbox take the software and maintain and improve them to keep them future-ready.

AllReady is creating waves in disaster relief software circles already. AllReady is being developed by the volunteers of Humanitarian Toolbox. AllReady aims to make our communities more resilient from the impacts of disasters through advanced preparedness activities management. AllReady was started by a group of developers from various open-source communities, software organizations, & non-profits who came together to build this amazing solution to increase community preparedness. It has been observed again and again that communities with stronger connections perform better in the face of a disaster than communities with weaker or no connections. If you are confused about the what's and how's of improving your connections in your community, AllReady has got you covered. Through this solution, you will be able to get familiar with the organizations which are helping out in your community and what steps you can take to help your family be better prepared for a calamity. AllReady empowers people to work together and enables campaign coordinators to bridge the demand-supply gap by connecting volunteers with the areas needing their services. AllReady also enables the users to track progress toward preparedness, to stay aware of other neighborhoods' events, and to focus on areas of importance. AllReady was recently highlighted on ASP.NET Community Standup as an elegant example of an open-source solution developed in public. AllReady uses ASP.NET Core 1.0 inside. The project is available on GitHub.

CrisisCheckin is another exciting solution offered by Humanitarian Toolbox. The solution is primarily focused on enabling data sharing at the time of natural disasters. The solution will highly  improve coordination at the time of calamities which will lead to increased effectiveness of resource delivery mechanisms. Simplicity and ease of use are the key focuses of the solution. The project is under development at the moment and is available on GitHub.

Humanitarian Toolbox has already received wide acclaim from all over the world including the organizations which participate in disaster relief operations and beyond. If you are a programmer, tester, or designer interested in using your talent to make a difference you may join Humanitarian Toolbox. The Humanitarian Toolbox repositories are publicly available on GitHub. To get the latest updates from Humanitarian Toolbox , you may follow their blog or you may follow them on Twitter. Humanitarian Toolbox is a registered 501(c)3 charity and you may donate to Humanitarian Toolbox on their donations page.