any aid groups go to Africa and never make it off the main roads and big cities because they just don't know where the smaller villages are and it is too dangerous to just go exploring down random roads to find what is out there," Buck says. "By mapping out these smaller, rural villages it brings light to their situation and makes it easier for aid to be brought to them."

The maps have been crucial for the volunteers and aid workers working on the Ebola crises, says Dale Kunce, a senior geospatial engineer for the American Red Cross.

"It allows a lot of the guesswork that was happening 10 years ago to not have to take place," he says.

When aid workers trace the virus, they often need to visit small villages that aren't on a map to find out if anyone else is infected. Just getting to the village is half the struggle. Mappers use HOT try to eliminate that factor so workers don't worry about how to travel between locations.