ABSTRACT
Mapping place is hard not to do, when even the most ordinary topographic survey sheet, created with the maximum dispassion, can turn into what Brian Harley called 'a subjective symbol of place' when scanned by a human eye. Youth Voices is 'A digital literacy and civic engagement program that invites youth on an exploration of their neighborhood, where they investigate the social, cultural, and political history and take a critical look at the issues facing their community'. For the past few years maps have been an important part of this process. In India a campaign called Humara Bachpan has organized 35,000 slum kids into more than 300 clubs in better than a dozen cities, all across India, for whom mapping is a central activity: Teams of young mappers and adult facilitators spend roughly 45 days traversing their slums. They learn the shape of their neighborhood, how streets interconnect (or do not), and the density of homes there.
