Africa Environment/Microfunding/Transforming Knowledge in the Igbo community by spreading Environmental insights through Translation
| Submit of request |
|---|
| This request for micro-funding to Africa Environment Wikifocus has just been submitted by Kingsley Nkem on 21-02-2023 and has been selected for support. |
Description[edit]
The title of this project is “Transforming knowledge in the Igbo community by spreading Environmental insights through translation”. The lack of local information on environment and climate change is a major problem that hinders the efforts to mitigate its impacts. One of the key barriers to accessing this information is language. In many regions, particularly in developing African countries, much of the information about environmental and climate issues is only available in the dominant language of the country, which may not be the native language of the local community. This can lead to a lack of understanding and engagement in environmental and climate initiatives, which is crucial in creating a sustainable future.
Limited language proficiency can also prevent local communities from participating in policy discussions and decision-making processes related to the environment and climate change. They may not be able to fully understand the proposals or share their own concerns and perspectives, leading to a lack of representation and ineffective solutions.
The proposed event aims at translating articles on the environment to Igbo language so that crucial environmental information and insights can be shared locally. By doing so, we can bridge linguistic barriers thereby promoting understanding and awareness of environmental issues, and bring people together to work towards a more sustainable future. The event will be a platform for exchanging ideas, fostering collaboration, and spreading environmental knowledge to a wider audience. Participants will however be enlightened on the latest scientific findings on climate change, showcasing innovative solutions for mitigating environmental impacts, examining the social and cultural dimensions of environmental challenges among others.
Team Members:[edit]
1.Kingsley Nkem (Organizer): A member of Igbo Wikimedians User Group, a University lecturer, an experienced Wikimedian and project facilitator. Contact email: nk.abasili@unizik.edu.ng
2. User: Olugold (Facilitator): Member, Igbo Wikimedians User Group; founder and coordinator IG Wiki Librarians Hub. She coordinated the 2022 WikiForHumanRights contest for Igbo Wikimedians User Group. She is an experienced Wikimedian.
3. User: Newtrains (Co-facilitator): Member, Igbo Wikimedians User Group and an experienced Wikimedian.
Context[edit]
This project will be hosted in an Igbo community in the South Eastern part of Nigeria and will recruit new editors, increase skills for existing editors, add or improve content on Wikipedia by translating climate and environment related articles from English to Igbo Wikipedia, create sensitization about environment, climate and Wikimedia in my community. It will be a two days Edit-a-thon event with a team of 3 facilitators and a target number of 20 participants making a total of 23 attendees.
The project aims at translating a minimum of 100 (one hundred) climate and environment related articles from English to Igbo Wikipedia and also on Wikidata. Articles will be tracked using Dashboard and Xtool.
Fallout[edit]
Actualizing this project will contribute in resolving the issues relating to lack of local information on environment and climate change, combined with language barriers which exacerbates the already pressing issue of mitigating the impacts of climate change.
It will create an informed and engaged local community that can effectively contribute to sustainable solutions. The event will sensitize attendees about environmental and climatic changes and increase information coverage by translating articles to Igbo in order to bridge the language gap.
The project will add or improve content on Igbo Wikipedia and Wikidata.
Budget[edit]
| Description | Unit price ($) | Quantity | Total ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet connection and data vouchers for participants | 80 | 2 | 160 |
| Transportation subsidy for participants | 10 | 20 | 200 |
| Data and transport subsidy for Facilitators | 25 | 3 | 75 |
| Rental of a space to organize an edit-a-thon | 110 | 2 | 220 |
| Gifts for participants | 5 | 20 | 100 |
| Food during the edit-a-thon | 230 | 2 | 460 |
| Rental of a projector | 35 | 2 | 70 |
| Advert and publicity | 50 | 1 | 50 |
| Logistics and exigencies | 100 | 1 | 100 |
| Total | $1435 | ||
Any changes made to the budget after the application is submitted will void the application. You will then need to submit an updated application.
Tochiprecious
Vote[edit]
- Obedmakolo:
Support - Tochiprecious:
Strong support - Olugold: Strong support
- Timmylegend Support
- AgnesAbah: Strong support
- Obuezie: Support I strongly support this project.
- Udehb: Strong support
- Timzy D'Great: Strong support
Final Report[edit]
| Final Report |
|---|
| This is the final report on micro-funded project for Africa Environment Wikifocus. |
Guidelines[edit]
- Format of the report : the report must be provided as a wiki page on meta
- Where to submit your report : linked to your request for micro-funding. A link has been added to your request for micro-funding. Please provide your report on that wiki page
- Deadline to submit the report : 15th May 2023
- Language : English or French
Summary[edit]
- Name of person/s compiling final report:
- Kingsley Abasili
- Goodness Ignatius
- Usernames of person/s compiling final report:
- Usergroup (if applicable): Igbo Wikimedians User Group
- Country: Nigeria
- Project name/title: Transforming Knowledge in the Igbo Community by Spreading Environmental Insights through Translation
- Link to project page (if applicable): Transforming Knowledge in the Igbo community by spreading Environmental insights through Translation
- Link to dashboard: :Event dashboard
- Organising team (usernames):
- Other stakeholders (if applicable):
Activities Record[edit]
Consider including the following information:
What did you do?
- Translating articles on African environment to Igbo language.
- Sharing crucial environmental information and insights locally.
- Bridging linguistic barriers and promoting understanding/awareness of environmental issues.
- Bringing people together to work towards a more sustainable future.
- Establish a platform for exchanging ideas, fostering collaboration, and spreading environmental knowledge to a wider audience.
- Enlighten participants and the general public on the latest scientific findings on climate change and showcasing innovative solutions for mitigating environmental impacts.
- Examining the social and cultural dimensions of environmental challenges among others.
- Who organised it all? Who was on your team (who did what?)?
- Kingsley Nkem - Organizer/Project lead
- Olugold - Facilitator
- Newtrains- Program Assistant
- Did any organisations or associations or groups partner with you to make it happen? If so, who are they?
- None
- When did you hold events, where and how? How did you let people know about it?
- The event timeline was from 4th to 30th April, 2023. There was also a 2-day in-person event held at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Sensitization was done at the university. Information was passed across via several community communication channels
- Day-1 (Discourse, campaign & Editathon - Wikipedia: 4th April 2023
- Day-2 (Wikidata - Editathon: 7th April 2023
- Who attended your event/s? What did they do at the event? What did they think of the event you held?
- The project team
- Members of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group
- Students and staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University
- There was a campaign at the university, followed by an expository session on climate change and its effects by the resource person. Also, a 2-day edit-a-thon was done on Wikipedia and Wikidata.
- Resource person: Dr. Chikodili G. Anaukwu, an Environmental Microbiologist and lecturer in Applied Microbiology and Brewing at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Anambra State, Nigeria. She explained what climate change and the environment mean, the causes and impacts of climate change on the environment, and what can be done to mitigate these effects. The event/edit-a-thon aimed to spread environmental insights through translation, and the results were impressive.
- See the list of participants here
Documentation of activities[edit]
Consider including the following information:
- Photo gallery of the events
- Quotes reflecting participant experiences
- "The ozone layer depletion is caused by the emission of harmful gaseous fumes and carbon monoxide into the air. When the ozone layer is depleted, it can cause a series of change in rainfall and also other weather conditions. To this, I suggest the use of less combustible energy sources like the solar power and also wind energy instead of coal and petroleum as a better option and solution." - Ikekamma Nnamdi Emmanuel (Sayvhior)
- "What I think of the effect of climate change on the environment is that the environment is really being threatened by the changes in the climate, and there's need for immediate sensitization of people on the solution and adaptation activities that can help to control the effect of climate on the environment. Some of the activities to reduce effects of climate change includes
- Reduction in the use of electrical appliances
- Reduction in the burning of gasoline and diesel
- Reduction in the use of fertilizers
- Eat more plant based foods/vegetables to reduce your carbon footprint. Animals release methane and CO2. e.t.c." - Epiphanus Jidechukwu Obia (Epiphanus Jide)
- "Rising temperatures can lead to the melting of glaciers and warmer oceans nearby. This, in turn, can cause coral reefs to bleach and die. It makes the environment prone to flooding (especially the riverine areas). The melting glaciers and Ice leads to a rise in sea level. There is an increased risk of extinction as it makes it harder for some species to adapt."
- Solutions:
- Putting renewable energy sources to use
- Planting more Trees and plants
- To reduce biodiversity loss and shortage of farm produce, it is necessary to adopt agricultural practices that reduces, the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and bush burning." - Nwoyeka Charles Chiemerie (Lebron jay)
- "Climate change is a long term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. It is caused by cutting down forests, manufacturing goods and making use of transportation. Effects of climate change
- Flooding
- Drought
- Increases human health issues
- How to reduce climate change or solutions to it:
- Drive less
- Strengthening water conservation programs
- Plant a tree
- Switch the home’s source of energy to renewable sources such as solar or wind or bio-based sources" - Korie uchechi Jennifer (Bridget2023)
- Social media posts and/or reports
- Wikimedia Igbo - Africa Environment WikiFocus on Facebook
- Wikimedia Igbo - Africa Environment WikiFocus on Instagram
- Wikimedia Igbo - Africa Environment WikiFocus on Twitter
- Links to any media coverage
Goals and Outcomes[edit]
Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
- Yes, We are am pleased to say that we met our goals for the project. We successfully achieved the objectives we set out to accomplish, and the project was completed within the given time frame. I am also content with how the project went as we managed to overcome challenges and deliver the desired outcomes.
- At the end of the event, which was 2 in-person events and a total of 32 participants recorded among which are 13 new participants, the event dashboard showed that 42 editors participated in translating content. This resulted in a total of 548 articles created and 1150 articles edited. In total, there were 1670 edits and 1150 revisions on Wikidata.
Please use the table below to report on the outcomes achieved, starting with the original targets you shared in your proposal for the microgrant.
| Proposed metrics | Anticipated outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 20 | 42 | The number of achieved participants exceeded the number of anticipated participants |
| Number of Igbo Wikipedia articles created | 100 | 548 | The number of achieved outcome exceeded the number of anticipated outcome |
| Number of Wikidata edits/revisions | 100 | 1150 | Participants translated labels, descriptions, and aliases. Images were also added to Wikidata items |
Learnings[edit]
What did you learn? What are you proud of? What was challenging? From this experience, what would you do differently if you had to do it again?
- Key Learnings
- Climate change is a change in the average climatic conditions over a long period of time.
- Human activities has been the major cause of climate change.
- Changes in weather pattern is as a result of rise in temperature which affects the environment.
- The heat waves is non-conducive for living things.
- Effects of climate change results in loss of lives, property and costly disruption to society.
- Human activities that release green house gases should be controlled.
- Likely effects of climate change should be anticipated in order to reduce it’s impacts on the environment by adaptation.
- What was challenging? From this experience, what would you do differently if you had to do it again?
- Several Igbo community groups expressed interest in joining the event, but enrolling additional participants posed a challenge due to project limitations. Based on this valuable experience, we have recognized the need to expand the capacity in order to accommodate a larger number of people for future events.
Finances[edit]
How did the initial proposed budget compare to the final costs of the project? Were there any unexpected costs or changes to your initial budget.
- The initial proposed budget for the project aligned well with the final costs. However, due to a higher number of participants than anticipated, we made adjustments to channel additional resources for unforeseen exigencies and to cater to the increased numbers. While there were no major unexpected costs, these modifications allowed us to successfully accommodate the excess participants and ensure the smooth execution of the event.
Use the table below to display your initial request, include the approved line items on your proposal and the proposed cost of these. Insert the real cost of each expected line. Add extra lines for additional expenses that were not anticipated in the proposed budget. If your budget is in local currency, please use the exchange rate on the date (or an average of the dates) that your money was transferred to your account. Historic mid-rates can be found here.
Please reuse your initial request, provide initial budget for each line, indicate actual expense for each line, and finally justify significant differences.
| Proposed line item | Initially budgeted $ | Actual spend $ | Explanations (of differences) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet connection and data vouchers for participants | 160 | 220 | The remaining funds for logistics and exigencies was added to internet connectivity cost to carter for more participants |
| Transportation subsidy for participants | 200 | 230 | $30 was used from the fund for gifts to carter for extra |
| Data and transport subsidy for Facilitators | 75 | 75 | |
| Rental of a space to organize an edit-a-thon | 220 | 220 | |
| Gifts for participants | 100 | It was used to provide more refreshments for extra participants and the remaining was used to subsidize transportation cost for more participants | |
| Food during the edit-a-thon | 460 | 530 | $70 from gift was used to provide more food and refreshment |
| Rental of a projector | 70 | 70 | |
| Advert and publicity | 50 | 50 | |
| Logistics and exigencies | 100 | 40 | The remaining funds was used to provide internet connectivity for more participants |
Total grant money agreed (in USD): $1435
Total grant money received (in USD or local currency): $1435
Exchange rate on day/s of receipt of funds: N460 per dollar
Total project spent (in USD or local currency): $1435
Unspent funds[edit]
If there are remaining funds, please list the amount here. Remaining funds should be discussed with the Wiki In Africa team. Think about what you would like to do with the remaining funds to further this project. Let us know your ideas below.
Unspent amount (in USD): None
Anything else[edit]
- Here you can include any information you think would be useful for the organising teams to know.
We appreciate the organizers of Africa Environment WikiFocus Campaign and their efforts in bringing together such an informative and engaging platform. We are truly grateful for the wealth of knowledge and insights we have gained through this platform. The diverse range of topics covered and the emphasis on promoting sustainable environmental practices in Africa have been both enlightening and inspiring.