Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Maithili Wikipedia Meetup and Workshops (ID: 22214082)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
- ’’’The Maithili Wikipedia Meetup and Workshops’’’ project was all about energizing Maithili Wikimedians to boost the outreach activities in Nepal. The project aimed to exchange the WIki related knowledge and experience with other Wikimedia affiliates and inspire more Maithili speaking people, specially students, and lecturers, to get involved and contribute to Maithili Wikipedia through regular meetups, hands-on training, and thoughtful discussions. It was a mix of learning, connecting, and planning for the future.
The project helped us to bring back inactive MWUG community members, hosted an in-person meetup with Wikimedia Commons User Group members, welcomed fresh faces, and boosted everyone’s wiki knowledge. This project also helped us to set the stage for the long-term growth of Maithili Wikipedia. The practical training sessions, the guidance from experienced Wiki contributors, the energy of in-person meetups, and the focused efforts to reach out to college students who might want to join the initiative worked for us. Together, these efforts made the community stronger and activated the number of editors on Maithili Wikipedia.
- What We Did
- Community Meetups:
- In-person meetups of MWUG and CPUG members were organized. The community meetups provide a great chance for all the members to get together and exchange ideas amongst them.
- This also turned out to be an excellent venue for discussing the movement, challenges that we faced so far, and how to go ahead with this movement.
- Workshops:
- To encourage and include new students in Wikipedia contributions, we have conducted training sessions. In order for them to comprehend Wikimedia Commons, we trained them on every facet of creating and refining new articles. Additionally, these workshops have served as a gateway for new volunteers and a means of re-engaging long-time contributors.
- Community photowalk:
- We have organized a photowalk jointly with MWUG and CPUG memers around Saptari, Sunsari and Udayapur district of Nepal. We have explored and photographed the cultural and natural heritages and uploaded their photos to wikimedia commons.
- Networking & Collaboration:
- We have put a lot of effort into strengthening the bonds within our community. It's all about fostering a sense of togetherness and motivating everyone to collaborate.
- We have also engaged in open forums to talk about the future direction of Maithili Wikipedia and brainstorm ways to enhance it further.
- What We Achieved
- Community Revivification:
- More members started participating, both those who were already part of the Maithili Community and newcomer students who have joined the community.
- Skill Development:
- Each participant gets a better understanding of how to edit Wikipedia and upload the files to Wikimedia Commons effectively.
- Growth of Content:
- The more contributions in Maithili Wikipedia, the more the content for the readers.
- Roadmap for Future:
- A roadmap was drawn so that the momentum continues and the community starts sustaining itself by growing.
- What Went Well
- Hands-on Training:
- The interactive and hands-on sessions made the students have a feel of the editing work without any inhibition from the very first instance.
- Discussion with Regular Contributors:
- Knowledge and experience of experienced Wikimedians in mentoring others was of extreme value, helped the new entrants to feel supported and inspired through the insights.
- In-person Meetings:
- Face-to-face meetings are incomparable in some way. People's sense of community was strengthened by those meetings, which also made it much easier for them to express their thoughts and work on the current tasks.
- Targeted Outreach:
- Getting in touch with community members who aren't actively participating in the events and recruiting new volunteers broadens the community to encourage more participation.
- The Larger Context
This was beyond a project aimed at improving Maithili Wikipedia; it was all about community building. It proved how practical training, mentorship, and genuine connections can make a positive difference in cases where people were brought together and given mentorship that they needed. The story of collaboration, learning, and growth brought the project to an end.
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Maithili_Wikimedians_User_Group/Events/Inter-Community_Wiki_Meetup
The main goal of the meetup series is to promote and support cross-border collaboration between several Wikimedians and affiliate members in the SAARC region to find joint strategies to help each other's language communities. The meetup series is designed to engage the community and affiliate members in real-life discussions, Wikipedia workshops, photowalks, and social events. This event will help us strengthen the capacity of our community members and motivate Wikipedia workshop attendees (newbies and students) to contribute to Wikimedia projects.
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
We have prepared a presentation for the students to aware about Wikimedia projects.
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Strongly agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Not applicable |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Not applicable |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Strongly agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Strongly agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Strongly agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: During the project timeline, we hope to have positive answers to the following questions;
- Were we engaged the existing Wikip(m)edians
- Were we successfully conducted the own UG Meetup and Affiliates Meetup
- Was the community awareness about Wikipedia successful
- Were we able to recruit new editors
- Were we reach to maximum number of interested persons during the project timeline
During the project timeline, we hope to have positive answers to the following questions;
- Were we engaged the existing Wikip(m)edians
- Yes, we were engaged with the existing as well as new Wikip(m)edians.
- Were we successfully conducted the own UG Meetup and Affiliates Meetup
- Yes, we did in-person meetup of Maithili Wikimedians and similarly we have also organized a meetup with Commons Photographers User Group.
- Was the community awareness about Wikipedia successful
- Yes, It was successful and we have recognized the students of different colleges of Rajbiraj, Nepal.
- Were we able to recruit new editors
- Yes there were few new editors who are continuously contributing on Wikimedia projects.
- Were we reach to maximum number of interested persons during the project timeline
- We have reached college students during the project timeline but due to the limited colleges opening, we have lagged to maximize the numbers.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
- Yes. below are the details:
- Unexpected Situations and Lessons Learned
- Positive Surprises:
- Enhanced Participation: There were more participants than expected because the community members showed overwhelming interest in the Maithili Wikipedia.
- Lessons: The need for more Wikimedia projects in the local language is steadily increasing, and consistent engagement will be a necessity.
- Nurturing Cooperation and the Networking Effect: The participants seem to have shown enthusiasm toward forging new partnerships and projects.
- Lessons: Face-to-face gatherings have been quite an effective means for sustaining the Wikimedia community.
- Negative or Tough Situations:
- Technical/Logistics Issues: There were issues like venue space, internet connectivity, or resource constraints that might have hindered some workshops.
- Lessons: Detailed event planning and backup strategies are required for better service delivery.
- Reactivating dormant members took longer than anticipated: Some of the previously active members took some time before they got motivated and went back into contributing.
- Lessons: Regular checks-in and designed engagement strategies will be required for sustaining the community population.
- Conclusions:
The project has probably reestablished the idea of in-person engagement, structured training, and continuous support as the way forward in building and sustaining the Maithili Wikipedia community. The various successes and challenges will be learning opportunities for similar future initiatives.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
Following the completion of the project, the Maithili Wikimedians Team conducted an initial review session with us to discuss key aspects of the initiative. The discussion covered the following topics:
- Community Engagement: Although we had expected a high level of participation by college students during the events of the workshop, in reality, it was less than expected. Part of this may have been because the academic session had just ended. In the future, we will extend greater outreach and proactive engagement, such as very specific workshops and the articulation of how the project could benefit the students.
- Project Reporting: We had agreed to make an in-depth report on the process of the project, challenges, successes, and key learnings. The preparation of the report was postponed because of other professional commitments. That remains on our agenda for coming projects-to ensure that these rich insights are captured systematically and shared.
- Workshops: We will share our findings and the implications in an interactive workshop with the community members. The interactive sessions will have Q&A sessions and discussions of specific topics for better understanding and participation.
- Community Meetings: The community meetings will be held on a regular basis to apprise and get the feedback from them. This would keep the ball of participation rolling and would provide an opportunity for the cross-fertilization of ideas among its members in real time.
- Case Studies: We are aware of the need to develop case studies in specific areas, which will be useful as a reference for other community members embarking on similar initiatives.
- Partnerships: Partnerships with institutions of higher learning and other related organizations will facilitate wider dissemination in both academic and professional circles of our findings and experiences.
Through these, we would be able to ensure that the knowledge generated within our Wikimedia projects is well shared and applied at the level of the greater community. This approach will contribute to continuous learning and improvement, reinforcing the impact of our initiatives.
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 200 | 73 | The total number of students are about 60, who participated in Maithili Wikipedia Awareness Program. |
| Number of editors | 100 | 54 | During the event timeline, there are total 54 new member created their account on Maithili Wikipedia.link |
| Number of organizers | 8 | 8 | MWUG members |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 100 | ||
| Wikimedia Commons | 100 | ||
| Wikidata | |||
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | |||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
4335
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
0
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report The financial report will be submitted soon.
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)
Review notes
[edit]Review notes from Program Officer:
N/A
Applicant's response to the review feedback.
N/A