Community Resources and Partnerships/India Rapid Project/Mara Wikipedia Mobile First Growth and Keyboard Rollout India 2026
Applicant
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Laitei
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
N/A
Project
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Mara Wikipedia Mobile First Growth and Keyboard Rollout India 2026
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-06-01 - 2026-11-20
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Regional (more than one country in the same continent or region) India and Myanmar
Primary implementation in Siaha District, Mizoram, India through in-person workshops, QR poster drives, and mobile editing training. Online onboarding and editing support will include Mara-speaking communities in Chin State, Myanmar and the global diaspora.
All grant funds will be received and managed in India. Cross-border activities are online only, no funds will be transferred to Myanmar.
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
The change: Mara speakers can edit Wikipedia on their phones using their own language, ending the 20+ year absence of active Mara editors.
Main challenges:
- No mobile input method: Mara uses unique Unicode characters not supported by default Android keyboards. No Mara keyboard existed on Play Store until 2025. Without typing, there is no editing.
- Zero active editors: Mara Wikipedia has had 0–1 active editors since Incubator approval. The language community is offline, mobile-first, and lacks onboarding in Mara language itself.
- Low digital literacy for Wikimedia: Potential editors don’t know Wikipedia exists in Mara, how to create accounts, or that mobile editing is possible. There are no local how-to materials or community leaders. [mrh]
Main approaches to achieve change:
- Remove the technical barrier: Deploy and document the Mara Keyman keyboard for Android + XKB layout for Linux. Create 3-minute install videos and QR code posters so anyone can start typing in minutes.
- Direct mobile onboarding: Run 4 small workshops in Siaha District + weekly WhatsApp office hours. Target 20 new editors with incentive: $30 after 30+ mainspace edits and verified keyboard install.
- Localize the interface: Complete 100% translation of 400 core MediaWiki messages on Translatewiki.net so new editors see Mara UI, not English. This increases retention and ownership.
- Seed content + visibility: Create 200 short, high-demand articles about Mara culture, towns, and local topics. Add QR codes to posters in schools/churches linking directly to Mara Wikipedia edit pages.
Result after 6 months: 20 new active mobile editors, 200+ new articles, 100% core message localization, and a documented playbook for other Northeast India languages to replicate.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
Main activities, June 1 to November 30, 2026:
- Keyboard deployment + documentationPublish Keyman Mara keyboard to Play Store. Create 3-minute install video in Mara + English. Design/print QR posters linking to keyboard + Wikipedia app. Distribute in 4 towns across Siaha District. Outcome: Remove typing barrier for 100% of Android users.
- Translatewiki.net localization sprintComplete 100% translation of 400 core MediaWiki interface messages to Mara. Recruit 3 volunteers from Mara language committee for quality review.Outcome: New editors see Mara UI instead of English.
- Mobile editor onboarding programRun 4 in-person workshops in Siaha teaching account creation, mobile editing, and citation basics. Weekly Telegram/WhatsApp office hours for questions. Provide $30 incentive after 30+ mainspace edits + verified keyboard install. Outcome: 20 new editors retained for 60+ days.
- Content creation driveFacilitate creation of 200 short articles on Mara culture, geography, churches, schools, and notable people. Provide lists of red-links + simple templates. Track edits via Outreach Dashboard. Outcome: Mara Wikipedia reaches 500+ articles, doubling size.
- Outreach + QR campaignPartner with local schools, churches, and Mara Students Organisation for poster placement. Distribute small data packs to editors who complete first 10 edits. Outcome: Public awareness that “Wikipedia exists in Mara”.
- Documentation + reportingMaintain public project page on Meta-Wiki with monthly updates. Submit final report + expense receipts within 30 days of end date. Create 2-page “Mobile-First Language Playbook” for other Northeast India languages. Outcome: Replicable model + full accountability.
Partnerships: Informal partnership with Mara Students Organisation for venue access and volunteer outreach. Mara Language Committee for linguistic review of interface translations. No funds will be transferred to partners.
Timeline document: Will upload Timeline_Mara_6mo.pdf tagging as Timeline in this form.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc.
Project lead — User: LaiteiI am the sole organizer and will carry out all project activities myself.
Roles: Technical development of Keyman Mara keyboard and XKB layout; 100% translation of 400 core MediaWiki messages on Translatewiki.net; creation of install videos and QR posters; organizing and facilitating 4 workshops in Siaha District; running weekly online office hours; tracking editor incentives; budget management; and all reporting.
Wikimedia affiliation: Mara Wikipedia community. Status: Volunteer, individual grantee. No contractors, staff, or co-grantees are involved.
Experience: I developed the Keyman Mara keyboard for Android, contributed 200+ translations to Translatewiki.net for language code mrh, and have been the primary organizer for Mara Wikipedia since 2024. I am the test-admin for the Mara Incubator project.
Community awareness: While I am executing this project alone, I have informed the broader Mara-speaking community via the Mara Wikipedia Incubator talk page and local WhatsApp groups. No grant funds will be paid to other individuals.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
'Targ'et participants and community:
Primary participants are Mara-speaking youth aged 16–30 in Siaha District, Mizoram who own Android smartphones but have never edited Wikipedia. Secondary participants are teachers and students from Mara schools under the Mara Autonomous District Council, where Mara is a compulsory subject through Class VII. Total target: 20 new editors trained, with at least 10 becoming active contributors.
All participants are from the Mara Wikipedia community on Incubator. No participants will be recruited from outside the Mara language group.
Engagement before activities:
- 1 month before: Distribute 200 QR posters in Siaha town, colleges, and churches. QR links to a 1-page install guide for Keyman Mara keyboard + a WhatsApp invite.
- 2 weeks before: Post announcements in 3 Mara WhatsApp groups with >800 total members. Run a poll for preferred workshop dates.
- 1 week before: Send direct messages to Mara school teachers asking them to nominate 2–3 students each. Cap workshop at 25 people for quality.
Engagement during activities:Each of the 4 workshops follows the same model:
- Hour 1: Install Keyman + practice typing 10 Mara words. Solve tech issues 1-on-1.
- Hour 2: Live edit on mobile: create user account, fix 1 typo, add 1 sentence to Mara Incubator. Every person leaves with 1 edit.
- Incentive: $30 paid only after 5 total edits across 2+ weeks, to prevent 1-time edits.<br>WhatsApp group runs daily “office hours” 7 – 8pm IST for questions. I will answer within 12 hours.
Follow-up after activities:
- Weekly: Check <code>Special:RecentChanges</code> on Incubator and post “Editor of the week” in WhatsApp to recognize contributors.
- Monthly: Export edit counts using Quarry query. DM inactive editors: “Stuck? Need help?” + resend keyboard video.
- End of grant: Create <code>Wp/mrh/Active editors</code> page listing usernames + edit counts. Invite top 5 editors to co-organize future events. Goal: 10/20 editors still active 3 months after grant ends.
- Long-term: Keep WhatsApp group open indefinitely. Mara Language Committee will be given admin access to continue mentoring.
How we track it: All edit counts will be documented via public Incubator history + shared spreadsheet linked on Meta project page. No private data collected.
- 9.1. If your project includes in-person activities, are there any international participants travelling to India for them? (required)
- No
- 9.1.1. List all countries of participation. (required)
- 9.2. Will the project be transferring funds to any international participants? (required)
- No
- 9.2.1. List all international participants receiving funding and their countries. (required)
N/A
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
- Yes
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Mara_Wikipedia_2026/Youth_Safety_Policy
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
I discussed this project with the Mara Wikipedia community and relevant groups in 3 steps before submitting the grant:
1. On-wiki notification — 17 April 2026
Posted a full project summary on the Mara Incubator community talk page for feedback. The post includes budget, timeline, and activities. Community members were invited to comment for 7 days before submission. Link: [1]
'2. Direct consultation with Mara Language Committee'
Spoke with 2 members of the Mara Language Committee in Siaha on 10 April 2026. They confirmed the need for mobile keyboard training and agreed to help identify schools for workshops. They will be given admin access to the WhatsApp group after the grant for long-term mentoring. No opposition was raised.
'3. Community polling in existing groups'
Posted a poll on 12 April 2026 in 2 Mara WhatsApp groups with ~800 members total, asking: “Would you attend a free Mara Wikipedia editing workshop on mobile?” 37 people voted “Yes”. Dates and venue suggestions were collected. Screenshots of poll results can be provided on request.
Alignment with other projects
I checked Meta and the CIS-A2K project list. There are no other active Wikimedia projects in Siaha District or for the Mara language as of April 2026. This project will not duplicate efforts. I informed CIS-A2K program officer by email on 15 April 2026 about this submission to ensure coordination.
Community involvement in planning:
Workshop locations and dates will be finalized based on teacher nominations from schools, as described in field #9. Top 5 new editors will be invited to co-plan any follow-up events after the grant ends, to build local leadership.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Language
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Education
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Linguistic / Language
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Invest in Skills and Leadership Development
Metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
We will track these 5 questions to test if mobile-first training + Keyman keyboards can create sustained Mara-language editors:
1. Can Keyman mobile keyboards remove the main technical barrier for new Mara editors?
Data to collect: Pre/post survey asking “How hard was typing in Mara?” on 1–5 scale. Count of participants who successfully install Keyman and make ≥1 edit on Day 1.Success = ≥70% of participants rate typing “easy” after workshop vs ≤30% before, and ≥15 participants make first edit.
2. What retention rate is achievable with WhatsApp support after in-person workshops?
Data to collect: Count of participants still active on Mara Incubator 30 days and 90 days after their workshop. “Active” = ≥5 edits in that month. Track via WhatsApp check-ins + Incubator user contributions.Success = ≥8 of 20 participants = 40% still editing at 90 days.
3. How many new content pages can 20 trained mobile editors create in 6 months?
Data to collect: Count new articles created by participants on Wp/mrh between June–Nov 2026. Exclude test edits. Log titles + URLs in spreadsheet. Success = ≥60 new articles and ≥400 total edits across all participants.
4. Does Translatewiki.net completion improve editor confidence and system usability?
Data to collect: Before/after screenshots of interface in Mara. Post-survey: “Can you understand the Edit/Save buttons?” Yes/No. Track % of core 200 messages translated.Success = 100% of core interface in Mara by end of project, and ≥80% of participants say interface is “understandable”.
5. What support methods do new mobile editors actually use post-workshop?
Data to collect: Weekly WhatsApp poll: “Did you need help this week? Where did you ask?” Options: WhatsApp, Incubator Help, YouTube, Gave up. Count response types.Success = We identify top 2 support channels to invest in for Phase 2.
How we’ll collect data: Attendance sheets, pre/post Google Forms, Incubator contribution logs, WhatsApp polls, before/after interface screenshots. All anonymized in final report except usernames with consent.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 20 | 20 new participants total. All are first-time Wikimedia participants from Mara community in Siaha District, Mizoram.
Breakdown: 20 new participants, 0 returning participants. These are the trainees attending 4 in-person workshops who will receive mobile data packs, Keyman keyboard training, and WhatsApp follow-up support. No prior Mara Wikipedia editors exist — this is the first organized editing effort for the language. |
| Number of editors | 20 | 20 total editors.
Breakdown: 20 Newly Registered Users - All 20 workshop participants will create new Wikimedia accounts and make their first edit during in-person training in Siaha District. This is the first organized editing effort for Mara language. 0 Returning editors - No existing Mara Wikipedia editors prior to this project. All editors will be trained on mobile editing using Keyman keyboards for Mara language. Success = 100% conversion from participant to editor on Workshop Day 1. |
| Number of organizers | 3 | 3 organizers total, all volunteers.
Roles: 1. Lead coordinator & trainer - project management, Keyman installation, Wikipedia training delivery 2. Local liaison - venue coordination, participant recruitment in Siaha, language support 3. Technical support - Translatewiki.net interface translation, WhatsApp group moderation, edit tracking All organizers are experienced Mara speakers. No paid staff. This core team will implement 4 in-person workshops and 6 months of follow-up support. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | 40 |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | 60 |
| Translatewiki | 300 |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
Primary contributions to Wikimedia Incubator: 60 new encyclopedia articles in Mara language (Wp/mrh) created by 20 new editors trained in Siaha District. Topics: local villages, Mara culture, biography stubs, basic science.
Secondary contributions to Translatewiki.net: 300 most-used interface messages translated to Mara to enable mobile editing. This unblocks editor retention — currently 0% of MediaWiki UI is in Mara.
No contributions planned to Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, or other projects in this 6-month scope. Focus is establishing core Wikipedia content and interface.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
Main learning questions for this project:
1. Editor recruitment & retention'''''
Q: What workshop format most effectively converts Mara-speaking students with no prior editing experience into active contributors?
Data to collect: # of participants per workshop, # who make ≥5 edits during event, # who make ≥1 edit in the 30 days after, retention rate at 90 days. Will compare school-based vs church hall venues.
2. Technical barriers
Q: Is the lack of Mara-language typing the main barrier, or do content/understanding barriers remain after Keyman is installed?
Data to collect: Pre-workshop survey on typing ability, post-workshop survey on “What was hardest: typing, finding topics, or citing sources?” Track # of support questions in WhatsApp group by category.
3. Content creation patterns
Q: What topics do new Mara editors choose first when given no restrictions, and what support do they need to create articles that meet notability standards?
Data to collect: List of first 3 articles created by each new editor, % kept vs deleted after 30 days, reasons for deletion from admin logs, time taken per article.
4. Mobile-first contribution
Q: Can a Wikipedia community be built and sustained using only mobile phones, without laptops/desktops?
Data to collect: % of edits made via mobile vs desktop, types of edits possible on mobile (new article, infobox, references), participant feedback on mobile limitations.
5. Incentives & motivation
Q: Do small data pack incentives increase retention, or is community recognition more effective for Mara speakers?
Data to collect: Compare 90-day retention of incentive recipients vs non-recipients, post-grant survey asking “Why did you keep editing?” with options: data, certificate, community, pride in language.
6. Leadership pipeline'''''
Q: What factors predict whether a new editor will take on organizing/mentoring roles after initial training?
Data to collect: Track which of the 20 participants volunteer to help others, speak in workshops, or admin the WhatsApp group. Correlate with age, education level, prior leadership in school/church.
How data will be used:'''''
All data will be anonymized and shared in the final report on Meta. Findings will inform:
1) design of any follow-up Mara Wikipedia project,
2) recommendations for other Incubator language communities facing similar barriers,
3) feedback to CIS-A2K on mobile-first training models for Northeast India.
Budget
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in Indian Rupees. (required)
326157 INR
- 22.1. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD. (required)
3500 USD
- By submitting this proposal request you agree with the Institutional Partner Privacy Policy, Application Privacy Statements, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
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