Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Lubombo-Maloti Wikipedia Basics Training and Outreach Initiative in Lesotho and Eswatini (ID: 23939024)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
ZS Khumalo (talk • accounts • contributions • edit count)
- 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)
I'm a group leader of an informal Wikimedia group.
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
I am a Group Secretary for the Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group (informal Wikimedia community group) as well as founding member.
My main duties is to assist the group with administrative work, communications, reporting, research and record keeping.
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Lubombo-Maloti Wikipedia Basics Training and Outreach Initiative in Lesotho and Eswatini
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-09-12 - 2026-09-27
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Regional (more than one country in the same continent or region) The project will be implemented in Southern Africa, specifically in Eswatini and Lesotho. The activities we envision will take occur through in-person workshops at the Lobamba Community Hall and Lobamba Primary School in Eswatini as well as at the Mafeteng Basic Hall in Lesotho, supported by online coordination and follow-up sessions. The project focuses on strengthening Wikimedia skills, including Wikipedia editing, Wikimedia Commons contributions, contributor cross-border retention, advocacy and understanding of free knowledge principles among participants from both countries. The initiative is coordinated by the Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group, which operates across the Lubombo and Maloti regions connecting Eswatini, Lesotho, and surrounding areas of South Africa.
- 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 project wants to address issues of limited participation on Wikimedia projects. It is meant to address the skills gap, awareness and underrepresentation of Southern African knowledge and languages on Wikimedia platforms, particularly in Eswatini and Lesotho.
Many potential contributors, including students, archivists, educators and cultural heritage workers, are not yet familiar with Wikipedia editing, Wikimedia Commons or the principles of free knowledge such as verifiability, collaboration, sourcing and the entire mission of the Wikimedia Foundation.
There is a need for huge presence and stronger community capacity in editing practices to enhance local content relevance on the histories, cultures and the heritage of the Lubombo and Maloti regions (Eswatini, Mpumalanga & Free State (South Africa) and Lesotho)..
The main change this project aims to bring is to increase the number of trained Wikimedia contributors in Eswatini and Lesotho who will be able to confidently create and improve high-quality, well-sourced content on Wikipedia and related projects such as Wiki Commons for intents of documentation and digitalization of their heritage.
The project aims not only to train participants but also to build a sustainable cross-border Wikimedia community connecting contributors from Eswatini, Lesotho and relevant provinces of South Africa with Siswati and Sesotho speakers (Mpumalanga and Free State).
To achieve this, the project will conduct a series of in-person weekend training workshops and follow-up support sessions led by the Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group. These workshops will introduce participants to Wikipedia editing, Wikimedia Commons uploads, sourcing and verification practices and the reasons behind the formation of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Participants will be supported to create their first edits during training and continue contributing after the workshops through mentorship and community follow-up. The expected outcome is a stronger, cross-border Wikimedia contributor community capable of producing sustainable, high-quality content about Southern African topics.
- 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.
PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR LUBOMBO-MALOTI WIKIMEDIA USER GROUP
1. PREPARATION PHASE (1–11 September 2026) - ESWATINI & LESOTHO
- Confirm workshop venues in Eswatini and Lesotho.
- Finalise participant lists and registration.
- Prepare training materials and presentations.
- Establish communication and coordination channels (WhatsApp groups and email lists).
2. WEEKEND 1 TRAINING WORKSHOP – ESWATINI (12–13 September 2026)
- Introduction to the mission and objectives of the Wikimedia Foundation
- What Wikipedia is and what it is not.
- Introduction to Wiki Commons
- What are the other Wikimedia projects.
- How articles are created, expanded or improved and photos added onto articles
- Learn about neutrality, verifiability and notability with examples from existing English and Siswati Wikipedia articles
- Importance of Siswati content on Wikimedia platforms.
- Awareness and advocacy session, including distribution of project materials (Tshirts, certificates, etc) and participant engagement.
3. WEEKEND 2 TRAINING WORKSHOP – LESOTHO (19–20 September 2026)
- Introduction to the mission and objectives of the Wikimedia Foundation
- What Wikipedia is and what it is not.
- What are the other Wikimedia projects.
- How articles are created, expanded or improved and photos added onto articles
- Learn about neutrality, verifiability and notability with examples from existing English and Sesotho Wikipedia articles
- Importance of Sesotho content on Wikimedia platforms.
- Awareness and advocacy session, including distribution of project materials (Tshirts, certificates, etc) and participant engagement.
4. ONLINE MENTORSHIP AND FOLLOW-UP (21 September – 11 October 2026)
- WhatsApp group mentorship and support sessions.
- Participants continue editing and uploading images
- Encouraging continued participation and recruitment of new volunteers through established communication channels
- Monitoring participant contributions and addressing challenges.
5. EVALUATION AND REPORTING (12–31 October 2026)
- Review of participant contributions and project outcomes.
- Reports compilation and submission
- 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.
The Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group is a volunteering group of individuals, driven by a zeal to document/digitalise the histories, cultures and heritage of Eswatini, Lesotho and relevant parts of South Africa (Mpumalanga and Free State Province).
The group can be found here on its Meta page https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lubombo-Maloti_Wikimedia_User_Group#
All team and supporting members are volunteers and receive no salaries, stipends, or consultancy fees for their participation in Wikimedia activities. The team brings together diverse skills in research, writing, translation, event coordination, heritage documentation, journalism and museum curation.
Project Leadership
NAME Twin Mosia
USERNAME (User: KeMang??)
ROLE Group Chairperson & Project Lead
LOCATION Free State, South Africa
EXPERIENCE
- Wikipedia editor since 2017 •Experienced facilitator, heritage researcher and event coordinator •Museum curator and founder of Elandskop Museum and Rhino Heritage Park. •Led Wikimedia projects including "We Are Women" (2023), "BaseSotho 200 Years Project Workshop" (2024), and "BaSesotho 2.0 PHASE 1" (2025) •Has facilitated multiple edit-a-thons and training workshops.
WIKIMEDIA PROJECTS Wikipedia (Sesotho, Afrikaans, English), Meta-Wiki, Commons, Wikidata.
ROLE IN THIS PROJECT Overall project leader, event facilitation, community engagement and multilingual content oversight.
NAME
Zama Khumalo
USERNAME (User: ZS Khumalo)
ROLE Group Secretary & Content Lead
LOCATION Mpumalanga, South Africa
EXPERIENCE
- Wikipedia editor since 2020 •Extended confirmed user and pending changes reviewer. •Completed one Wikimedia Rapid Fund grants: "Documenting the Precolonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini" (2025) and currently busy on another, "Phase II: Documenting the Precolonial and Colonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini" (2026). •Experienced in archival research, article creation and content development.
WIKIMEDIA PROJECTS Wikipedia (English), Wikimedia Commons, Meta-Wiki.
ROLE IN THIS PROJECT Content development, research, article creation and improvement, quality review and reporting.
NAME
Dieketseng Cindi
USERNAME (User: Mmaditopo)
ROLE Lead Coordinator
LOCATION Free State, South Africa
EXPERIENCE
- Wikipedia editor since 2024 •Background in content development, translation, and community coordination. •Passionate about improving representation of underrepresented communities on Wikipedia.
WIKIMEDIA PROJECTS Wikipedia (English, Sesotho).
ROLE IN THIS PROJECT Event administration, logistics coordination, participant support and translation oversight
Specialised Support Team
Name Piet Lombard
Username (User: SimonéDW)
Role Language support & Afrikaans translations
Location Free State, South Africa
Experience Farmer and museum curator at Riemland Museum. Joined Wikimedia in 2025 with a focus on Afrikaans translations and South African history.
Role in this project Afrikaans language translation, content review, and museum partnership support.
Name Tumelo Mokoena
Username (User: Mpipesi)
Role Language coordination & translation support
Location Free State, South Africa
Experience Wikipedia editor since 2024.
Role in this project Translation oversight and Wikimedia Commons uploads.
Additional Contributors
The following members support the group's activities:
- Banele Mthembu – Supporting member, Eswatini
- Ntokozo Mamba – Supporting member, Eswatini
- Mkolishi Dlamini - Supporting member, Eswatini
All team members are volunteers and have been informed of their involvement in this grant application. The group operates under the governance structure outlined in our constitution, with leadership roles defined to ensure clear accountability and coordination.
The Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group is committed to transparent, collaborative and sustainable Wikimedia work in the Southern African region.
- 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 primary target participants are emerging and existing Wikimedia contributors, students, educators, researchers, librarians, museum professionals, heritage practitioners and community members from Eswatini and Lesotho who are interested in free knowledge, digital heritage preservation and indigenous language content development.
Particular emphasis will be placed on recruiting Siswati-speaking and Sesotho-speaking participants, as well as individuals interested in documenting local history, culture, heritage, key sites and notable people on Wikimedia platforms.
We aim to train around 120 participants (60 from Eswatini and 60 from Lesotho), mainly new editors and aim for high retention.
ENGAGEMENT BEFORE THE ACTIVITIES
A list of participants has already been compiled, especially from Eswatini since May 2026.
An Eswatini support member named Mkolishi Dlamini will inform the participants about the day of the event as our Eswatini appointed organiser, through Whatsapp, Facebook, direct call, person-to-person and email before the workshop.
Also in Lesotho, our chairperson Twin Mosia is working on a powerful list of participants which include museum curators and archivists to form part of the Workshop scheduled for Wikipedia basic editing training and awareness.
ENGAGEMENT DURING THE ACTIVITIES
The two-day Eswatini event will be held at the Lobamba Community Hall and Lobamba Primary School while the Lesotho leg will be held at the Mafeteng Basic Hall.
During the activities, participants will receive introductory training on the Wikimedia movement, particularly its mission, the Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and other Wikimedia projects.
They will also learn -
1.) About why Wikipedia should exist (mission) 2.) About who founded Wikipedia and why (objectives) 3.) The policies of Wikipedia on neutrality, verifiability, copyright, reliable sourcing and notability. 4.) About how to identify Wikipedia speciality topics 5.) About how to upload images on the system (Wikimedia Commons) and then on articles 6.) About image licensing 7.) About indigenous language content development, particularly Siswati and Sesotho and statistics of overall articles written in English compared to those in Siswati and Sesotho and ways to improve that 8.) About recruitments by participating in advocacy sessions.
The workshops will be highly interactive and participants will receive hands-on support from facilitators and experienced Wikimedia contributors.
FOLLOW-UP and POST-WORKSHOP SUPPORT
After the workshops, participants will continue to receive support through a dedicated WhatsApp mentoring group managed by the Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group and through involvement as active members of the User Group which will monitor ongoing contributions.
The project aims not only to train participants but also to build a sustainable cross-border Wikimedia community connecting contributors from Eswatini, Lesotho, and neighbouring regions of South Africa.
- 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.
The idea for this project developed through ongoing discussions among members of the Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group.
It has always been a dream since our first meeting at the WikiIndaba 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
We felt that a lot was needed for us to collaborate and digitalise our histories on Wikipedia and train a lot of editors to help fill the contents gap.
We are a group of individuals that is interested in documenting the histories, cultures, languages and heritage of our people and we read a lot about these topics.
The project was informed by practical experiences gained during Wikimedia-related research and outreach activities.
While conducting archival research at the Eswatini National Archives in Lobamba between April and June 2026, the Group Secretary, Zama Khumalo, regularly engaged with community members about Wikipedia and the history of Eswatini. These conversations showed a general lack of awareness about Wikimedia projects and the need for training opportunities in the region.
The proposal was further discussed between key members of the Lubombo-Maloti Wikimedia User Group, particularly Twin Mosia, Dieketseng Cindi and myself. Through these discussions we identified common challenges facing both Eswatini and Lesotho, including limited Wikimedia participation, underrepresentation of local history and culture on Wikimedia platforms, and the need to encourage cross-border community contributions in indigenous languages such as Siswati and Sesotho.
The group agreed that a collaborative cross-border approach would be beneficial because the communities share historical, cultural and linguistic connections and face similar challenges in contributing to Wikimedia projects.
The proposed activities were therefore designed to focus on Wikimedia awareness, advocacy, editor recruitment, basic training, mentorship and long-term collaboration.
Matured discussions have also taken place with our support members and prospective participants in Eswatini and Lesotho.
- 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)
Geographic
- 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
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
Through this project, we aim to understand how structured, short-term Wikimedia training workshops in underrepresented regions (Eswatini and Lesotho) can contribute to long-term editor retention and cross-border collaboration.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 80 | We aim to train approximately 80 participants across Eswatini and Lesotho through our weekend workshops to be held in September 2026.
We will train around 40 participants from Eswatini and 40 from Lesotho. |
| Number of editors | 32 | Out of approximately 80 workshop participants, we expect over 30 individuals to become active Wikimedia editors as a direct result of the training activities |
| Number of organizers | 5 | The project will be implemented by a core team of 5 organizers responsible for planning, coordination, training, facilitation and reporting across Eswatini and Lesotho.
They are 1.) Twin Mosia User Group Project Leader 2.) Zama Khumalo User Group Project Administrator 3.) Dieketseng Cindi User Group Project Coordinator 4.) Mkolishi Dlamini Regional organiser (Eswatini) 5.) Banele Mthembu Regional support staff |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
N/A
- 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)
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)
- 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.
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.
No
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).