This project is funded by a Project Grant

Report accepted

This report for a Project Grant approved in FY 2019-20 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/ISUR/Wikipedia women and ancestral knowledge from the global south in the Colombian context.
You may still review or add to the discussion about this report on its talk page.
You are welcome to email projectgrantswikimedia.org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Welcome to this project's final report! This report shares the outcomes, impact and learnings from the grantee's project.

Part 1: The Project[edit]

Summary[edit]

Wikipedia, women, indigenous languages and ancestral knowledge from the global south in the Colombian context is a public and open social project for people to participate on the internet, share knowledge, access knowledge, experiment, develop ideas and projects in a collaborative, free and open way through the projects of the Wikimedia Foundation. During the development of this project we have supported and strengthened the educational, social and cultural processes carried out by women leaders who are part of the Wayuu people. In the framework of this process, Wikipedia has been the means and also the way to empower women's voices and participation at the community level.

Project Goals[edit]

General goal[edit]

The promotion of new practices and incentives for participation, content creation and local visibility, as well as ways in which users can play a more contributing and informed role in the Wikimedia movement's projects.

Specific goals[edit]

Develop activities, integrations and workshops in which access to information technologies is democratized and Colombian indigenous peoples are integrated into the Wikimedia movement.
Encourage the creation of articles, the evaluation and editing of existing content related to Colombia's indigenous peoples, as well as the participation of new indigenous editors on Wikipedia in Spanish and indigenous language incubators.
To understand the motivations and interests that allow new opportunities for social and political participation of Colombian indigenous women in Wikimedia projects.

Project Impact[edit]

During the development of this project we have supported and strengthened educational, social and cultural processes carried out by women leaders from different indigenous peoples. Wikipedia has been the means and also the way to empower women's voices and participation at the community level. During the different activities we have called for meeting spaces of knowledge in which we have had discussions, reflections and training on different topics. Additionally, we have edited, created and improved articles in Wikipedia, both in Spanish and in the Wayuunaiki version - Wikiakua'ipa-. All the work done is supported by reliable sources on different topics that have been of interest at the community level and that have allowed a cultural and linguistic strengthening that has also served as input for Wikipedia.

Targets[edit]

Planned measure of success (include numeric target, if applicable)	Actual result	Explanation
Number of active editors involved	Existing active editors (more than 3 editions per month) involved in any capacity (planning, execution, participation) during the development of the project	There are 30 new editors for incubator projects (Wikiakuaipa) and official projects (Wikipedia in Spanish). The editors are able to mentor other people.
Number of new registered users	New users registered as a result of the project	Through campaigns and activities carried out at the Universidad del Rosario and ONIC - National Indigenous Organization of Colombia - we have more than 50 registered users.
Number of individuals involved	All the people involved in the project (organizers, users, assistants, etc.)	100 workshop attendees 10 organizations (Wikimedia Colombia, Wikimedia Venezuela, Wikimedia Argentina, ONIC, CRIC,Quiasma, Red de comunicadores del Pueblo Wayuu, Yanama, Fundación Karisma, Universidad del Rosario) +75 students +10 teachers and researchers +30 activists +15 Wikimedians +20 indigenous leaders
Cultures that participated in the project	All the cultures that participated through members or associates.	Wayuu people Nasa People Pueblo Arhuaco Sikuani people Free Software Community Hacker Community
Number of new images/media added to Wikipedia articles	Number of images uploaded to Commons that have been added to Wikipedia articles or other Wikiproject pages.	+50 images +30 audios +15 videos
Number of articles added or improved in the Wikipedia projects	By project (Wikiakuaipa and Spanish Wikipedia) the number of articles that were created or improved as a result of the project's efforts	+25 new articles for Wikiakuaipa +30 articles related to indigenous peoples and cultures in Colombia were improved in Wikipedia in Spanish.
Languages spoken by project participants	Languages spoken by project participants	Wayuunaiki Iku Nasayuwe Uitoto Chibcha Sikuani U'wa English Spanish
Project development locations	Places where activities were carried out and locations of the communities involved	Bogotá Maicao and Riohacha, La Guajira Valledupar San Jose, Guaviare Tame, Arauca Jambalo, Cauca (The project could not be continued or completed)

Story[edit]

This project was thought by, for and from women. Although in the world, and particularly in the Colombian context, there are currently movements demanding women's rights, the development of their rights is still a task that requires many more concrete actions. This project arises as an action and a proposal that is thought from the local, in order to empower women through their participation in the most consulted platform on the Internet : Wikipedia. Wikipedia - the largest and most popular reference work on the Internet - reflects in a dominant way the places of enunciation and the perspectives of the community that originated it, so that, on some occasions, it ignores other realities and ways of being and being in the world. This means that many articles present a view that is out of context, information that is out of date or in which only knowledge that is external to local realities has been included. Additionally, it reinforces the characters of linguistic asymmetry, that is to say, the most robust and complete encyclopedias are those written in languages spoken by majority groups (English : +6'056.000 articles, German: +2'419.000 articles, French: +2'201.000, Spanish: +1'590.000 articles...), which necessarily impacts on the desirable purpose of the conservation of linguistic pluralism . With this project we achieved that more than 20 women from indigenous communities participated in society as agents of change and with active roles in the formulation, design, entrepreneurship and inclusion of Wikipedia within community activities. In 2019 we started a cycle of workshops with Wayuu women leaders. We currently have 17 new female editors for the Wikiakua'ipa project and 525 articles on Wikiakua'ipa [+25 created by different editors]. We developed our own research processes within the different communities involved and reached agreements to continue the project from the local level.

Eight workshops were held with a gender approach and 15 on digital literacy, with the participation of between 80 and 100 people. The initial plan of activities focused on participation in Wikipedia and the creation of articles in indigenous languages for the incubator projects, however, prior to the workshops, in meetings with some leaders, issues such as the questions of what the internet is, how it works, what are the sources of information and what categorization to use, what is digital security or digital literacy, what is an archive, what types of archives exist, and many more questions were raised. Our initial bank of questions led us to believe that Wikipedia was our medium but that, in addition to this, the workshops should address and develop other previous and simultaneous themes that would provide information and clear up participants' concerns about the use of technology and the impacts it has particularly on traditional cultures. In this way, we developed planning and methodological guidelines to carry out workshops on research and digital literacy, among other topics. All the activities incorporated a cross-cutting component promoting the use of indigenous languages on the Internet.

Prior to the development of this project ISUR had had relationships and meetings with different leaders in order to build a collective agenda of activities. We presented the project by planning the work with the Nasayuwe people in the department of Cauca and with the Wayuu people in the Guajira. For the specific case of these communities, we found that there were previously consolidated incubator projects to which we, together with the communities, could give continuity. We began our activities in the Cauca. However, in the territory we found difficulties of a social nature, the security of the research team, mobility and also lack of interest on the part of the people with whom we had initially reached agreements, with whom, surely, there had been misunderstandings regarding the expectations of the project's development, which is why we decided not to suspend the activities with the Nasa people. Based on this experience, the ISUR team proposed and executed ethics and safety protocols that have been implemented in all projects with indigenous communities.

Later on, we started the work plan with the Wayuu people in La Guajira. At the same time and on the occasion of these workshops, we held meetings with young people and leaders to make the project visible in San José del Guaviare and Tame, Arauca. These last workshops were informative and also explained how to contribute to the Wikimedia Movement's projects. However, given that the participants were speakers of other indigenous languages and that there are no incubator projects for these languages, their contributions in indigenous languages were nil.

Wikiakua'ipa is, without a doubt, the exemplary and best consolidated project. In all the workshops interesting situations occurred. However, during the second meeting, when we talked about publication policies and roles within the encyclopedia, all the rules and the very purpose of Wikiakua'ipa were restructured. This was because, at the time, some people interested in having Wikipedia in wayuunaiki had already taken this path. There were two different alternatives at that time: that Wikiakuaipa was a Wayuunaiki translation of, for example, Wikipedia in Spanish, or that Wikiakuai'pa was an encyclopedia from the Wayuu worldview.

We began to review and found that, in principle, the encyclopedia had been consolidated as a platform for translating the contents into Wayuunaiki. At this point, many ideas changed. For example, in the beginning, many leaders had thought about the topics or articles they were going to write, about the sources (we also had a discussion about how the topic of sources of information works from the Wayuu worldview) and to consult and the topics that were "relevant". However, there was a restructuring of ideas from what Wikiakua'ipa should really be and what it should contain.

This project made it possible to achieve the objectives set according to the agendas of the participants: ISUR, Wikimedia Colombia and the indigenous peoples. In addition to this, the communities, researchers and organizations collectively constructed training modules on different topics related to social participation through Wikipedia and made use of participatory action research techniques and methods.

Survey(s)[edit]

Start-up survey
Survey of the closing of the cycle of workshops with Wayuu women
Prospective and continuity of the project in the Wayuu context

Other[edit]

During the execution of the project, a video was produced and numerous images were taken. We are working on a physical and digital publication on the experiences, challenges and lessons of the project, which is currently being revised. Likewise, during the second half of 2020, two contributions will be submitted for a scientific dissemination journal and for a book to disseminate the results of outreach and advocacy projects.

Methods and activities[edit]

The project is being developed in different territories where indigenous populations have been settled for hundreds of years. In principle, we carried out a bibliographical review with the aim of having a theoretical approach and identifying instruments, guides and methodologies of research for the development of tasks and achievement of the proposed objectives. However, taking into account that this is a project that bets on the model of participatory action research in a multicultural context and conducted by members of some indigenous communities, the number of bibliographic sources and input material in theoretical and methodological terms, as well as primary or secondary sources available, is significantly reduced. Specifically, in this project there are different knowledge systems: the academic or western one and that of the indigenous peoples. These systems have differences in terms of norms, definitions, concepts, objectives and practices, among others. In general, different models developed from various social science disciplines have been applied with particular conceptual and methodological adaptations.

Some of the activities carried out so far are based on participatory action-research methods. Similarly, this project had as its foundation and central axis the educational component and media and information literacy from the perspectives, models and purposes promoted by UNESCO. The activities carried out sought, on the one hand, to revitalize, promote the use and recognition of the knowledge and skills of indigenous communities as a collective work and, on the other, to promote skills in relation to social participation through and for the use of digital platforms and the projects of the Wikimedia movement.

During this project, reflection revolved around its own, the recognition and documentation of local practices and knowledge, reflections on technologies and the use of platforms for strengthening and empowerment, dialogue with other knowledge, social participation, as well as possible ways of making culture known, preserving and protecting what exists and what is preserved in the territories.

This research had a social focus, with a deep theoretical concern for the knowledge of what defines the realities of the communities and participants. It sought to understand problems, conflicts, relationships and complexity from the local level in the area of use, knowledge and social participation through new information technologies.

It was necessary to undo the old hierarchy between investigators and researchers, to propose another model in which all the people involved were agents. Thus, the construction of a collaborative meeting space of mutual knowledge, of exchange under the premise of reciprocity, with shared rules, through which we seek to work as a team and considering the realities of the people involved, is carried out. These were spaces in which the word is exercised, there is a multiplicity of looks, knowledge and experiences.

This project is part of an exploratory research project. The first approach consisted of meetings with the leaders in spaces where the initiative, the areas of work of the research centre, the work agendas as well as the interests and challenges involved in carrying out this project were presented. During these conversations, agreements were reached and objectives were established that were prioritized according to their importance and urgency within the agendas of all participants.

Initially, a space for training, article revision and text construction was proposed for Wikipedia in wayuunaiki, which was carried out through the planning and execution of workshops in the framework of a cycle organized in four moments. The themes, dates, as well as the schedules were agreed upon in discussions and approved by all the participants.

Workshop cycle Wayuu indigenous people[edit]

Goals[edit]

In this cycle, several topics were addressed that seek to train, inform and empower leaders through technical knowledge to participate in the Internet in indigenous languages. In this sense, we seek to support the different social, educational and cultural processes that are carried out by the Wayuu people to empower the voices and participation of women leaders through the use of Wikipedia, so that participants know about the project and, additionally, other activities were carried out to promote the development of digital skills with them.

In the same way, the workshops were meeting spaces for knowledge building where edits were made, Wikipedia articles were created and improved with reliable sources on a specific topic.

Thematic plan[edit]

The project was developed in accordance with the Workshop Plan for the technological empowerment cycle with the Wayuu people.

Methodology[edit]

The workshops included presentations, research activities, teamwork, discussions and methodological planning. The participants received lectures, workshops, orientations and, during the cycle, each participant published at least one article in their language on Wikipedia in Wayuunaiki. During the development of the workshops, exercises of own research on topics of free choice were carried out. The genre (e.g. essay, story, play, etc.) and format (e.g. billboard, comic strips, oral presentation, etc.) of the final article was freely chosen.

Research and strengthening your own[edit]

Taking into account what was agreed upon with the participants in these spaces, two axes of development of the project were established: 1) Training and media and information literacy, and 2) Research and strengthening of their own.

The research design was developed incorporating the use of methods and tools from the research tradition (empirical methods: participant observation, interviews, documentary review, among others), as well as the fundamentals of community research (social mapping, own orality, own history and culture, among others). Each workshop had a name, learning objectives and sought to have participants apply the knowledge directly to writing articles for Wikipedia. In addition to this, each module invited experts who have experience working from the local level and who have been nominated by the network and support arising from this project, who provide accompaniment and advice within and outside the workshops. The objective was to provide community spaces with quality education that allowed the empowerment of people as the driving force of the project. Similarly, during the workshops different types of mapping and diagnostics were carried out in terms of gaps in content, participation and access, and lack of information. It was also identified that the contents being consulted have been constructed from places of enunciation that do not necessarily have the opinion of the inhabitants of the territory themselves or the practitioners of the culture, so that sometimes they are inappropriate, which is why within the programmed activities is the review of articles.

15 Digital literacy workshops[edit]

Topic 1: Introduction to the Wikimedia Foundation's projects (Wikipedia, Wikcionario, Wikisource, Commons, Wikiviajes, Wikibooks, Wikispecies, Meta-wiki, Wikidata, Wikiquote, Wikinoticias, Wikiversidad y Mediawiki). This introduction took place in four scenarios: the Wayuu group of publishers (20 people), at FLISoL -Festival Iberoamericano de Instalación de Software Libre- with 30 people, with students from the Universidad del Rosario (25 people) and with eleven grade students in San José del Guaviare (50 people). The participants explored the projects, created accounts and also started contributing to some of them, such as Wikipedia and Commons.
Topic 2: What is Wikipedia and how does it work?This workshop was introductory in 5 workshops: 1) with the group of Wayuu publishers (20 people), 2) at FLISoL - Ibero-American Free Software Installation Festival - with 30 people, 3) with students from the Universidad del Rosario (25 people), 4) with eleventh grade students in San José del Guaviare (50 people), with participants from an editatona (15 people) and in the meetings held in Arauca ( 30 eleventh grade students). In the end, we had about 160 people who knew how Wikipedia worked; 50 of them created their profiles and started contributing by editing Spanish Wikipedia and Wikiakua'ipa; 30 are still contributing.
Topic 3: Evaluation of contents. This activity has been developed in all the activities carried out. At least 50 people involved in the activities of this project have done content evaluation exercises under the questions: Does it represent us? Does it express what we are and our history? Are the local realities visible? Is the information true, reliable and valid?
Topic 4: Internet infrastructure and operation. This workshop was held with the group of Wayuu publishers (20 people) and also with the group of students from the Universidad del Rosario (15 people). As a result, the participants understood the functioning and infrastructure of the Internet, protocols and also the logic and mechanisms of access to information.
Topic 5: Digital security. This workshop was held with the Wayuu publishers (20 people). At the end of the workshop, the participants learned about recommendations and safety protocols in their browsing, good practices, and discussed the possibility of anonymity also within projects of the Wikimedia movement.

Topic 6: Audiovisual creation and production. The workshop was given with the Wayuu Publishing Group. The objective was to give tools and also to introduce the participants to aspects of audiovisual production such as formats, contents, other narratives and material that can enhance local practices and can be included in Wikipedia. At the end there were audio, video and photographic records of both the workshop and some local practices and knowledge. Videos of all participants were also compiled about the project and the experience.
Topic 7: Writing editing plans and web projects. This workshop was developed with the Wayuu group of publishers (20 people). The objective was to introduce and guide from the local agendas and possibilities, the incorporation of wikimedia projects to make visible in other spaces the dynamics and knowledge of the context. In the end, the publishers built educational, cultural, and economic plans, among others, in which the main axis is editions and projects on the web.
Topic 8: Grammar. Workshop developed with Wayuu publishers. It was undertaken by the participating linguists and aimed at consolidating rules for writing and editing articles within Wikiakua'ipa.
Topic 9: oral expression. Workshop developed by a Wayuu leader. In this workshop tools and methodologies are presented that strengthen oral expression and give it value as a system of knowledge transmission.
Topic 10: Digitality. Workshops to think about and address the digital context and development of community practices and activities.

Activities implemented[edit]

Consolidation of work agenda based on the interests of Wikimedia Colombia, ISUR and indigenous communities.
Consolidation of the agenda for the continuity of the project in the Mojana with the Zenú people.
Consolidation of the agenda for the continuity of the project in Valledupar with the Arhuaco people.
Consolidation of the agenda for the continuity of the project in Bogotá with the indigenous students' council in alliance with URIntercultural - Interculturality project in which indigenous students from all over the country participate-.
Consolidation of the agenda for the continuity of the project in Bogotá with the Muysca people*
15 Workshops on research methods with the participation of 20 Wayuu leaders, a group of 25 students from the Universidad del Rosario, 50 eleventh grade students in San José del Guaviare, 30 participants from the Ibero-American Free Software Installation Festival -FLISoL- and 15 participants from an Editatona. The themes and specific results of these workshops are listed below.
- Topic 1: Social mapping. Three workshops were held: one with the Wayuu group of editors (20 people), another with students from the Universidad del Rosario (25 people) and another with eleven grade students in San José del Guaviare (50 people). In these activities, mappings were made about internet connectivity in the context, places and use of Wikipedia, profiles and interests of Wikipedia users, places and ways in which information is shared and also the cultural dynamics in which knowledge is built and shared.
- Topic 2: Interview. A workshop was held with the Wayuu publishing group (20 people). The objective was to provide a basis for conducting interviews as a system for obtaining oral information and a formal approach to a specific topic. Subsequently, the editors conducted interviews with people in the community to approach issues and life stories.

- Topic 3: Documentary review.Three workshops were held: one with the group of Wayuu publishers (20 people), one at FLISoL - Ibero-American Free Software Installation Festival - with 30 people with different profiles and one at Editatona held at the Universidad del Rosario with 25 people in attendance. The objective was, on the one hand, to collect the necessary documentation for the development of subsequent editing activities; and also, in practice, to develop the necessary skills for research and later participation in Wikipedia.
- Topic 4: Participatory design. This workshop was held with the Wayuu women (20 people). During this activity, scenarios, actors and users of Wikipedia were proposed in the Wayuu context, taking into account the needs and uses that can be given to it.
- Topic 5: Ethnography, participant observation and field diary. This workshop was held with the Wayuu group of publishers (20 people). The objective was to introduce participants to research techniques that can be used in their context and to strengthen locally relevant documentation and information. After the workshop, the editors made plans to include these techniques as an approach and systematization of knowledge.
Editatonas online about the current context of pandemic and strengthening of practices and activities themselves.

Project resources[edit]

Each of the sessions has involved the planning of guidelines for the development of activities and the achievement of objectives. Each workshop has had its planning, documentation and also collective construction of a memory. The activities documented and in which the methodological guides are found are below.

What is the Internet and Wikipedia and how does it work?
Read, write and participate with Wikipedia
Documentary and documentation sources
Audiovisual tools, practices and knowledge for the digital context
Social research
Social mapping
Ethical considerations
Informed Consent Format
Letter of submission
Description sheet of the ethical approaches of both the research and the research centre.
Security Protocol
First Wikipeetia editing workshop with Wayuu women in Guajira
“Wikipedia, women, indigenous languages and ancestral knowledge from the global south in the Colombian context” -Second project workshop report.
Midpoint report
Workshops’s plan
Workshop cycle component
Workshop 1 plan
File evaluation
Workshop 1 schedule Nasa community
Presentation activity. Workshop 1 Nasa community
Certificate of participation in the cycle of workshops
Wikipedia, Introduction.
Weaving the net. Activity with Wayuu Community
Social research. Presentation.
How the Internet works. Activity
Social mapping, presentation.
Workshop 1 materials.
Workshop 2 materials.
Workshop 3 materials.
Workshop 4 materials Taller 4.
State of the art
Bibliography

Learning[edit]

The realities and dynamics of each indigenous people are different, as diverse as they are among themselves, so it is necessary to set achievable objectives in terms of any project proposed for those contexts. In the case of the indigenous languages spoken in Colombia, having a version of Wikipedia in each one is very costly to achieve because of the amount of economic, human and temporary resources needed. However, there are many indigenous peoples who are reflecting on the social changes that have occurred based on the use of new information technologies in the territories, so the work has to be done with peoples and communities that are organized and want to take action to promote their languages in digital environments.

Women have a fundamental social role, at least in the villages we have worked with. They are in charge of transmitting knowledge, teaching languages and safeguarding the identity of the peoples. They are agents of change, in charge of preserving, caring for and transmitting the legacy from generation to generation through orality. So, thinking, discussing and exposing from the context what happens from their realities, roles and voices has given a strength to the team of publishers. For the Wayuu group, we do not have desertion in participation in workshops and activities and, for this reason, it has allowed the generation of community commitments acquired by the women for the continuity of the project from a more local level.

Convening a space in which the participants are agents and have an active role, has been one of the added values of the project, since they are in charge of the formulation, design, undertaking of the projects and the inclusion of Wikipedia within their activities. It is possible to have versions of Wikipedia in all the languages spoken, however it is necessary to have technical support, economic and human resources and also to have time to continue undertaking actions together with the communities in favour of indigenous languages and cultures.

What worked well[edit]

Adaptability.
Knowledge of local dynamics.
Collective construction of work agendas.
Schedules and planning of activities.
Monitoring of participants' activities.
Evaluation of each module.
Consolidate profiles of the people with whom the activities will be carried out.
Commitment and individual and collective awareness of the participants about the importance of the project for the conservation of their culture.

What didn’t work[edit]

Insufficient time to work at a slower pace
Infrastructure and connectivity
Locations
Logistics

Next steps and opportunities[edit]

Taking into account the human team and also the demand in terms of workshops and activities of participation and contribution to the projects of the Wikimedia movement by indigenous leaders, it is expected to give continuity to the project through a program of literacy and contribution to Wikipedia. This project will be led by several of the Wayuu women, who will go to other communities to do knowledge transfer.

Likewise, taking into account that many of the projects or the way this initiative can be continued is through education, we will receive knowledge transfer from Wikimedia Argentina with two main objectives: 1) work and consolidation of initiatives from and for the educational field, and 2) development of proposals to be developed in contexts where connectivity is precarious.

To promote the improvement of the skills and technical capacities of the participants, storytelling, photography and video workshops will be developed, which, in turn, will enhance their active participation in other projects of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Part 2: The Grant[edit]

Finances[edit]

Actual spending[edit]

Expense	Approved amount	Actual funds spent	Difference
1. Consulting services and project coordination	41’042.000 COP / 13,740 USD	52'942.002 COP / 16,990 USD	-11'450.575 COP / -3,706.02 USD
2. Materials and inputs for workshops	2’000.000 COP / 647.34 USD	591.425 COP / 191.43 USD	1'408.575 COP / 455.91 USD
3. Travel (tickets, per diem and accommodation)	33’600.000 COP / 11,280 USD	27'730.280 COP / 9382.74 USD	5'861.720 COP / 1897.26 USD
4. Events and refreshments	10’450.000 COP / 3,382.35 USD	4'087.423 COP / 1322.98 USD	6'362.577 COP / 2059.38 USD
5. Papers, utensils and office supplies	960.000 COP / 330 USD	960.000 COP / 330 USD	0 COP / 0 USD
6. Administrative and unexpected expenses	13’208.000 COP / 4440 USD	13'208.000 COP / 4440 USD	0 COP / 0 UDS
Total	101’260.000 COP / 32,744 USD	100'730.180 COP / 32,572.51 USD	529.820 COP / 171,49 USD

Remaining funds[edit]

Do you have any unspent funds from the grant?

Please answer yes or no. If yes, list the amount you did not use and explain why.

Yes. We do have a surplus of funds. The funds were not spent because it was the value of the exchange rate that benefited us at the time of the transfer.

If you have unspent funds, they must be returned to WMF. Please see the instructions for returning unspent funds and indicate here if this is still in progress, or if this is already completed:

In progress.

Documentation[edit]

Did you send documentation of all expenses paid with grant funds to grantsadminwikimedia.org, according to the guidelines here?

Please answer yes or no. If no, include an explanation.

Confirmation of project status[edit]

Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement?

Please answer yes or no.

YES

Is your project completed?

Please answer yes or no.

YES

Grantee reflection[edit]

Being together with the Wayuu publishers has allowed us to strengthen, from our disciplines of interest and expertise, our contributions to society and the identity of the country. They are the ones who have become the protagonists, the experts, the people who have much to say and contribute to the consolidation of universal knowledge. Likewise, in the meeting spaces, they are the ones who have given order and hierarchy to the activities and initiatives, so that in the face of the different challenges that arise, creative and pertinent solutions or interpretations result.

From the beginning there was a strong concern for the construction of a space and activities in which trust prevailed. Then we asked ourselves questions such as how to relate to people in the community to talk about the knowledge they have, how to ask, or how to respond to the ethical imperatives of the communities.

Another important aspect is the work and cooperation network that has been consolidated with other researchers, organizations and institutions with which, within the framework of this project, we have consolidated support, advisory and work networks. The communities trust our team and our work, so other communities have been talking to us and have approached us to propose and implement the continuity of the project in their communities. We have also established alliances with other chapters of the Wikimedia Foundation, who want to work with us and support us to replicate this project in other countries.

Similarly, this project has answered many questions, but leaves us with many more. In the case of indigenous communities, the social, technological and infrastructural conditions in the territories. How can we contribute to Wikimedia and the projects of the movement? How can we bring the projects to other contexts? How can we make visible or audible the knowledge and languages of other communities that have not contributed but used projects of the Wikimedia movement?

This experience allowed us to know that many processes are fragile by external parties, in this case, we were able to achieve rapprochement, alliances and joint work with the communities. However, as there were interruptions and discontinuities in the work, in spite of the activities and progress made, we found fragilities, for the particular case, in the confidence of the communities. We therefore found the need to consolidate processes with the support and confluence of all actors: communities, researchers, scientists, organizations and states.