Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Documenting Maasai Rites and Rituals in Laikipia for Wiki Loves Africa 2026 (ID: 23746371)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Nehelymo
- 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)
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Documenting Maasai Rites and Rituals in Laikipia for Wiki Loves Africa 2026
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-04-06 - 2026-09-30
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Kenya
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Wiki Loves Africa
- 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 primary challenge this project addresses is the severe underrepresentation of authentic, high-quality media documenting the living rites and rituals of the indigenous Maasai communities in Laikipia North on Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia. Despite the global recognition of Maasai culture, most existing images in the Category:Maasai on Commons are tourist snapshots or outdated, with very limited coverage of deeper intangible heritage elements such as initiation ceremonies like Eunoto and Emuratta, the Adumu jumping dance, blessing rituals, beadwork creation and symbolism, oral storytelling, manyatta daily rites, marriage customs, and healing ceremonies. This gap perpetuates superficial or stereotypical portrayals and restricts accurate, diverse knowledge about contemporary Maasai life in Laikipia North. The change I seek to bring is to add over 600 new, freely licensed photos, short videos, and audio recordings of Maasai rites and rituals from authentic local perspectives to Wikimedia Commons, directly contributing to the Wiki Loves Africa 2026 thematic contest “Rites and Rituals” with its upload period from March 1 to April 30, 2026. While the contest deadline is April 30, the project will continue to document and upload rituals through September to ensure deep and comprehensive coverage beyond the contest period. Our goal is 600 total media files by September, we will use the Wiki Loves Africa 2026 contest (ending April 30) as a strategic launchpad. A targeted portion of our most culturally significant rites and rituals media 150 files will be prioritized for upload begining in April 6 to ensure our community is represented in the international competition. The remaining 450 files will be uploaded, categorized, and integrated into articles systematically from May to September to ensure deep, high-quality documentation that isn't rushed. These contributions will significantly improve Wikipedia articles on Maasai culture, promote knowledge equity for African indigenous communities, empower local Maasai youth to document and preserve their own heritage, and recruit and retain new editors from underrepresented groups. To achieve this, I will conduct three to four practical training workshops and guided photowalks in and around Laikipia North Maasai communities during April 2026, with prior consent and involvement of elders and community leaders to ensure cultural respect and sensitivity. I will train 45 participants, primarily Maasai youth and women, in ethical photography and videography, Wikimedia Commons uploads, free licensing, and respectful documentation. I will facilitate documentation and direct uploads of ongoing rites and rituals throughout April 2026 for submission to the international Wiki Loves Africa contest. Follow-up sessions from May to August 2026 will focus on additional uploads, detailed categorization, integration into Wikipedia articles, local prize jury, and impact measurement. Throughout, I will promote inclusivity and safety in line with the Universal Code of Conduct and Friendly Space Policy. As someone born and raised within the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North, this project is profoundly personal to me. I grew up participating in and witnessing these very rites and rituals, and I am driven to ensure they are documented accurately and respectfully by our own people for future generations, while sharing our living heritage with the world through Wikimedia.
- 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.
The main planned activities begin with community outreach and partnership building from April 6th to May 2026. I will secure permissions and active involvement from local Maasai elders, community leaders, and cultural groups in Nanyuki and surrounding Laikipia areas to ensure respectful and authentic participation. Potential partners include local manyattas, youth groups, and cultural preservation organizations in the region, which will assist in identifying ongoing rites and rituals and recruiting participants. This foundational step leverages my local connections in Laikipia to build trust and enable smooth access for documentation. In April 2026, aligning with the Wiki Loves Africa contest upload period, I will organize three to four hands-on training workshops and guided photowalks in Maasai communities around Nanyuki. These sessions will train over 40 participants, primarily Maasai youth and women, in ethical photography, videography, audio recording, Wikimedia Commons uploads, and free licensing, while facilitating direct documentation of rites and rituals such as the Adumu jumping dance, beadwork ceremonies, blessings, oral storytelling, and initiation-related events. From May to July 2026, follow-up upload and editing sessions will process additional media, categorize files on Commons, and integrate them into relevant Wikipedia articles on Maasai culture, followed by a local jury event in July to award prizes to top contributors and encourage sustained engagement. From August to September 2026, the focus will shift to impact measurement, final article improvements, community feedback sharing, and preparing the project report. No public Meta-Wiki page or timeline document has been created yet, but I am open to guidance from the Rapid Fund team on setting one up if needed. This plan is feasible as an individual project, drawing on my personal ties to Maasai culture in Laikipia for effective partnerships and execution.
- 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. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
I am applying and will lead this project as an individual grantee. There is no formal team at this stage. The project will be coordinated solely by myself, born and raised in the indigenous Maasai community of Laikipia North. As a member of this community, I bring lived experience and trusted relationships that enable genuine access and cultural depth. I will handle all responsibilities including community outreach, securing permissions from Maasai elders and leaders, organizing workshops and photowalks, delivering training, facilitating documentation and uploads, managing follow-up sessions, organizing the local jury, impact measurement, financial administration, and reporting. My involvement is entirely voluntary; I will not receive any salary, stipend, or compensation from the grant funds. Local Maasai elders, community leaders, youth, and women from Laikipia North in short my own community will participate as voluntary collaborators and cultural advisors. They will provide guidance, permissions, and support to ensure everything remains respectful and true to our traditions. This individual-led structure is strengthened immeasurably by my identity as a born member of the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North.No consultants, contractors, salaried staff, or members of any Wikimedia affiliate are involved. This individual-led structure is appropriate for the small-scale, community-driven nature of the project and is supported by my strong local connections within the indigenous Maasai communities of Laikipia North.
- 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)
The target participants are primarily youth and women from my own indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North, particularly in areas around Doldol and Chumvi where I was born and raised. This includes young people aged 18–35 who are interested in preserving their cultural heritage, as well as women who play central roles in many Maasai rites and rituals such as beadwork, storytelling, and family ceremonies. I also aim to include a smaller number of community elders and leaders as advisors to ensure cultural accuracy. The total target is over 40 participants, with priority given to those who have limited prior exposure to Wikimedia projects in order to recruit new contributors from underrepresented groups. Engagement before the activities will begin with personal outreach using my deep connections as someone born and raised within the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North. I will visit local manyattas, meet directly with elders and community leaders to explain the project and obtain their consent and guidance, and work through youth groups and women’s networks to identify interested individuals. Promotion will also take place through word-of-mouth, local WhatsApp groups, community gatherings, and announcements at cultural events to build trust and enthusiasm. During the activities, participants will be actively involved through hands-on, respectful training workshops and guided photowalks held in familiar community settings. Sessions will be conducted in a mix of Swahili, English, and Maa as needed, with strong emphasis on practical learning, group discussions about cultural sensitivity, and immediate application by documenting ongoing rites and rituals. Refreshments and safe transport support will be provided to encourage full and comfortable participation. Follow-up after the activities will include dedicated upload and editing sessions in May–June 2026 to help participants continue contributing, a dedicated WhatsApp group for ongoing support and questions, and a community celebration with local prize awards in July 2026 to recognize their efforts. I will track participant contributions on Commons and Wikipedia, provide individual feedback, and invite retained editors to future local Wikimedia activities to sustain long-term engagement and skill development.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
No
- 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.
N/A
- 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.
As someone born and raised in the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North, the idea for this project emerged naturally from ongoing conversations within my own community about the need to preserve and share our living rites and rituals in an accurate, respectful way. Over the past several months, I have discussed the concept informally in person with Maasai elders, youth, and women in local manyattas and community gatherings in Laikipia North. These discussions focused on the importance of documenting elements like the Adumu dance, beadwork ceremonies, blessings, and initiation rites through photography and video by community members ourselves, rather than outsiders. Community members expressed strong support for the idea, emphasizing that it should be led by someone from within the community and done with full respect for cultural protocols. Elders have already indicated their willingness to grant permissions and provide guidance to ensure authenticity and sensitivity. I have also shared the project idea with several young Maasai community members who are active on WhatsApp groups and expressed interest in learning digital skills to contribute to preserving our heritage. These early conversations have directly shaped the project design, including the focus on training youth and women, holding activities in familiar community settings, and prioritizing ongoing rites that elders deem appropriate to document. At this stage, no formal on-wiki discussions have taken place on Meta-Wiki or other Wikimedia spaces, as this is my first grant proposal and the project is still in the planning phase. Once the proposal is submitted and published on Meta-Wiki, I plan to share the link with the Wikimedia Community User Group Kenya and other relevant African Wikimedia communities for feedback and potential collaboration. I am also open to guidance from the Sub-Saharan Africa Rapid Fund team on the best ways to notify and involve the broader Wikimedia community.
- 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)
Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Provide for Safety and Inclusion
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
Through this project, I hope to gain deeper insights into how community-led documentation can effectively preserve and share indigenous cultural heritage on Wikimedia platforms while empowering local participants. Specifically, I aim to answer the following learning questions:
To what extent can hands-on training workshops and guided photowalks enable Maasai youth and women from Laikipia North — many with limited prior digital experience — to become confident, active contributors to Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia? How effectively does involving Maasai elders and community leaders from the outset ensure cultural sensitivity, authenticity, and sustained community support for documenting rites and rituals? What types of support (e.g., ongoing WhatsApp follow-up, local prizes, in-person sessions) are most successful in retaining new contributors from indigenous Maasai communities beyond the initial contest period? How many of the uploaded media files depicting Maasai rites and rituals are reused in Wikipedia articles within the first six months after the project, and what does this reveal about their impact on improving knowledge about underrepresented African indigenous heritage?
As someone born and raised in the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North, I am particularly interested in learning how projects like this — led by community insiders — can serve as a model for other indigenous groups in Kenya and across Africa to take ownership of their own representation on global knowledge platforms. I will collect data through participant feedback surveys, tracking individual contributions on Commons, monitoring media reuse via Glamorous tools, and personal reflections to answer these questions and share the findings with the broader Wikimedia community.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 45 | This represents the total number of people actively involved in the project, primarily Maasai youth (aged 18–35) and women from the indigenous community in Laikipia North who will attend training workshops and guided photowalks, plus a small number of elders providing cultural guidance and permissions. |
| Number of editors | 20 | This is the expected number of participants who will create Wikimedia accounts and become active contributors by uploading media to Commons or editing Wikipedia articles, representing a realistic retention rate after hands-on training. |
| Number of organizers | 1 | This reflects the project structure as an individual-led initiative, with myself, born and raised in the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North serving as the sole coordinator responsible for planning, execution, and reporting. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | 600 |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
600 new content contributions in the form of high-quality, freely licensed photos, short videos, and audio recordings documenting Maasai rites and rituals from the indigenous community in Laikipia North. These files will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons during and after the project (primarily in April–June 2026) for direct contribution to the Wiki Loves Africa 2026 contest and long-term reuse in Wikipedia articles and other Wikimedia projects.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
Yes
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of media files reused in Wikimedia projects | Expected number of the 600 uploaded files that will be used in Wikipedia articles or other projects within 6 months after upload, improving coverage of Maasai culture and rites/rituals. | 50 |
| Number of new Wikimedia accounts created | Matching the number of new editors, focusing on first-time contributors from the indigenous Maasai community in Laikipia North. | 20 |
| Number of Wikipedia articles improved or created | We will create 20 or more articles (new or significantly improved). Tracking will be centralized via the Programs & Events Dashboard to capture global metrics like bytes added and editors involved. This will be supplemented by manual review of participant reports and XTools to verify the quality and indigenous accuracy of the content added to the Maasai heritage articles | 20 |
| 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)
To measure the project metrics, I plan to use the following standard Wikimedia tools:
Number of participants (45): Manual tracking through attendance sheets/sign-in lists at each workshop and photowalk, supplemented by a simple participant registration form (Google Form or paper-based). Number of editors (20) and Number of new Wikimedia accounts created (20): Wikimedia Foundation Dashboard (Programs & Events Dashboard) to track new accounts and individual contributions from participants, plus manual review of outreach dashboard if set up. Number of organizers (1): No tool needed; this is self-reported as an individual-led project. Number of contributions to Wikimedia Projects / Number of files uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (600): Wikimedia Foundation Dashboard (Events Dashboard) for real-time upload tracking, combined with Commons category monitoring (I will create a dedicated category for project uploads, e.g., "Maasai Rites and Rituals in Laikipia North 2026"). Number of media files reused in Wikimedia projects (50): Glamorous tool (GLAMorous/Requester tools on Commons) or Wikimedia Hashtags tool to track file usage across Wikipedia articles and other projects. Number of Wikipedia articles improved or created (20): We will create 20 or more articles (new or significantly improved). Tracking will be centralized via the Programs & Events Dashboard to capture global metrics like bytes added and editors involved. This will be supplemented by manual review of participant reports and XTools to verify the quality and indigenous accuracy of the content added to the Maasai heritage articles
As this is my first grant project, I am familiar with some of these tools but would greatly appreciate guidance and support from the Sub-Saharan Africa Rapid Fund team in setting up the Programs & Events Dashboard and any other recommended tracking tools to ensure accurate measurement and reporting.
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
520000 KES
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
4053.32 USD
- By submitting your proposal/funding request you confirm that you have read and agree to the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy, and the Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).