Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Rite and Ritual Wiki Loves Folklore Photography Rwanda 2026 (ID: 23643772)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Philemon Niyomwungeli
- 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.
Rite and Ritual Wiki Loves Folklore Photography Rwanda 2026
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-03-01 - 2026-04-30
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Rwanda
- 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 Folklore
- 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 we aim to bring is to preserve, document, and promote Rwanda’s diverse cultural heritage, with a special focus on traditional rites, rituals, and cultural expressions, by making them freely available through photos and videos on Wikimedia Commons. This initiative is important because many of Rwanda’s cultural practices are not yet represented online, and as a result, younger generations are gradually losing touch with their traditions and identity. By providing accessible digital content, the project will help people reconnect with their heritage, enhance cultural education, and ensure that this valuable knowledge is passed on to future generations. The main challenges we are addressing include the lack of visual documentation, limited awareness about traditional ceremonies, and the low participation of Rwandan photographers and communities in Wikimedia projects. These challenges have created a knowledge gap that threatens the preservation of Rwanda’s intangible cultural heritage. Without active documentation and community involvement, many unique cultural stories risk disappearing over time. To achieve meaningful change, the project will focus on building the capacity of Rwandan contributors through training on how to capture and upload cultural photos and videos, as well as on copyright awareness and storytelling through visual media. We will organize a national photography and videography contest to inspire participation and motivate individuals to share authentic cultural content. The project will also actively engage women and collaborate with volunteers from rural areas, where most traditional practices are still preserved, to ensure inclusiveness and diversity in representation. These approaches are based on proven experiences from successful Wikimedia initiatives such as wiki love africa, which have demonstrated the power of community engagement and open knowledge sharing in preserving local heritage. Our innovation lies in focusing specifically on Rwandan rites and rituals, combining digital preservation with local participation to create an authentic and sustainable contribution to Wikimedia projects.
- 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 planned activities are directly connected to our main strategies of capacity building, community engagement, and inclusive participation. Each activity is designed to ensure that Rwanda’s traditional rites, rituals, and cultural expressions are well-documented and freely accessible through Wikimedia platforms. The project will begin with a planning and coordination phase, where we will establish partnerships with local cultural institutions, youth organizations, and community radio stations. During this phase, we will identify key regions that still practice traditional rituals and prepare tailored training materials. This step is crucial because it builds a strong foundation for collaboration and ensures that activities reach both urban and rural participants. Next, we will conduct training workshops across selected districts to build participants’ capacity in photography, videography, and Wikimedia Commons contribution. These workshops will focus on practical skills such as uploading media, understanding copyright and licensing, and using storytelling techniques to preserve cultural meaning. This activity is aligned with our strategy of empowering local contributors and ensuring the sustainability of cultural documentation efforts. Following the training, we will organize a National Photography and Videography Contest that will encourage participants to capture authentic images and videos of Rwandan cultural rituals, traditional performances, and community celebrations. The contest is designed to motivate creativity, attract new contributors, and promote public awareness of cultural diversity. Recognizing and rewarding the best contributions will further encourage long-term participation and quality content creation. In addition, we will hold community engagement and follow up sessions to support participants in uploading their media files, sharing experiences, and improving the quality of documentation. These events will strengthen collaboration among photographers, cultural experts, and Wikimedia volunteers, fostering a network of cultural preservation advocates. The final phase will involve evaluation, documentation, and reporting to measure the project’s impact and share lessons learned with the broader Wikimedia community. The outcomes and visual content will be published on a public Wikimedia project page to ensure transparency and continued community engagement. We have chosen these activities because they combine education, creativity, and participation three elements proven effective in similar Wikimedia initiatives such as Wiki Loves Africa. By linking capacity building with a national contest and continuous mentorship, our approach ensures both high quality content creation and strong community ownership. These activities are expected to create a long lasting impact by inspiring Rwandans, especially youth and women, to contribute to preserving their culture through open knowledge platforms.
- 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.
Philemon Niyomwungeli – Project Lead Active member of wikimedia Community user Group Rwanda Wikimedia Username: Philemon Niyomwungeli Philemon oversees the overall coordination of the project, including planning, reporting, budgeting, and partnership engagement. He ensures that all activities align with Wikimedia Foundation goals and the Wiki Loves Folklore initiative. (Volunteer)
Derrick Ndahiro – Advisor Wikimedia Username: [Add Derrick’s username] Derrick provides strategic advice and guidance on project design, cultural engagement, and compliance with Wikimedia community standards. He also supports the team in aligning activities with the Wiki Loves Folklore framework. (Volunteer)
Peace Batuma Organizer active member of wikimedia community user group Rwanda Wikimedia Username: Peace Batuma Peace coordinates the planning and implementation of events, manages communication with participants, and oversees logistics for the photowalk, documentation sessions, and community trainings. (Volunteer)
Jean Claude Culture expert Wikimedia Username: [Add Jean Claude’s username] Jean Claude organizes and supervises the judging process for the contest, ensuring fairness and transparency. He works closely with experienced Wikimedians to evaluate submissions and select winners. (Volunteer)
Adygrafix25o wikimedia Community user Group Jury Coordinator & Technical Support Wikimedia Username: Adygrafix250 Adiel assists with the evaluation process, provides technical support during uploads to Wikimedia Commons, and ensures all entries meet quality and copyright standards. he is actively wikimedia Volunteer
All team members are active volunteers in the Wikimedia community and contribute their time and skills without salary. The project will collaborate with local Wikimedia groups and cultural communities to ensure inclusive participation and accurate representation of Rwandan traditions
- 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)
Our target participants are children, youth, women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, elders, and cultural experts from Rwandan communities. The project will be carried out in Rwanda, with most cultural documentation photos, videos, and stories captured in the districts of Gasabo, Nyanza, Huye, and Musanze, where traditional rites and rituals remain vibrant. Before the activities, we will hold orientation and training sessions to explain the aim of the project, its importance for future generations, and the meaning of free knowledge. Participants will learn how to upload, caption, and edit cultural materials on Wikimedia Commons, and understand how their contributions help preserve Rwanda’s heritage and connect it to a global audience. During the activities, participants will document, photograph, and record traditional rites and rituals under the guidance of elders, museum experts, and cultural custodians. They will receive data refunds to stay connected and continue uploading and editing their contributions throughout the project. After the activities, we will follow up through review meetings, museum exhibitions, and continuous mentorship, encouraging participants to keep contributing to Wikimedia Commons. This ongoing engagement will help them recognize that their work not only protects Rwanda’s cultural identity but also adds lasting value to global knowledge, inspiring others around the world to learn from Rwanda’s traditions.
- 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.
Youth Safety Policy Rite and Ritual Project
The Rite and Ritual project is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all participants, including young people aged 15–24. We follow the Wikimedia Foundation Friendly Space and Youth Safety Policy (https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Friendly_Space_Policy_for_Wikimedia_Foundation_Events#Youth_Safety) and comply with all relevant local laws regarding the protection of children and youth.
Key area to tackle on
Supervision: Participants under 18 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult during all project activities.
Content: Mature or sensitive content will not be displayed in areas accessible to youth.
Safety Plan: Event organizers will provide clear contact methods for reporting safety concerns and ensure young participants are supervised at all times.
Consent: No personal information or images of minors will be collected or shared without explicit parental or guardian consent.
Compliance: All project volunteers will be briefed on youth safety guidelines and expected to follow ethical and legal standards for working with young participants.
This policy ensures that youth involvement in the project is safe, ethical, and empowering, while enabling meaningful participation in documenting Rwanda’s cultural heritage.
- 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 shared the idea of the Rite and Ritual project with my team and other Wikimedia volunteers . I explained the goal of documenting Rwanda’s traditional rites and rituals and asked for their feedback on the project plan, contest rules, and participant involvement.
The feedback from the team and volunteers helped improve the contest activities to make sure they are culturally respectful, collaborative, and connected with Wiki Loves Folklore 2026. Involving the community in planning ensures more participation, better coordination, and alignment with other Wikimedia projects in the area.
A summary of the planning and volunteer input will be shared on the Meta-Wiki page of the Wikimedia Community User Group Rwanda.
- 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)
Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
Through the Rite and Ritual project, we hope to learn how community led documentation can help preserve and promote Rwanda’s traditional rites and rituals while making this cultural knowledge freely accessible to the world. We aim to understand how inclusive participation especially involving youth, women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, elders, and cultural experts can strengthen cultural preservation and build pride in identity.
We also hope to learn how volunteers can effectively use Wikimedia Commons to share cultural materials and what motivates them to stay engaged beyond the project period. By observing participants’ experiences, we want to explore how training and mentorship in uploading, captioning, and editing content can improve digital literacy and confidence in sharing free knowledge.
In addition, we seek to understand the challenges participants may face when documenting and uploading cultural content, and how to make this process more supportive and rewarding. Overall, we want to learn how local cultural documentation can inspire intergenerational collaboration, promote intercultural understanding, and ensure that Rwanda’s rites and rituals are preserved and valued by future generations around the world.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 40 | |
| Number of editors | 40 | |
| Number of organizers | 5 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 129 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 95 |
| Wikidata | 128 |
| 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)
We will measure the success of the Rite and Ritual project using three main tools By
Wikimedia Commons statistics to see how many photos, videos, and other media are uploaded.
Surveys and feedback forms to hear from participants, volunteers, and community members about their experience.
Expert review by cultural advisors and jury members to check that the content is accurate, high quality, and culturally respectful.
These tools will help us track participation, engagement, and the quality of the project’s outputs
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11rOkVSd54BSus6uyumK54WkQ5lWdAvA_MDCWGB-PH40/edit?gid=0#gid=0
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
7007500 RWF
- 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
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and 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).