Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Rites and Rituals of the Niger Delta (Wiki Loves Africa ) 2026 (ID: 23628201)/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 Wiki Loves Africa 2026 in Niger Delta campaign was implemented through a multi-phase approach that combined community mobilization, capacity building, practical heritage documentation, and strategic partnerships to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the Niger Delta under the theme Rites & Rituals.
We began with an extensive regional mobilization campaign, engaging photographers, videographers, historians, artists, cultural practitioners, and young storytellers across the nine Niger Delta states through online outreach, community networks, and partnerships. This generated significant interest, resulting in over 200 people mobilized and 71 applications for the bootcamp. The campaign officially launched with a virtual event that introduced participants to Wiki Loves Africa, Wikimedia Commons, and the importance of documenting endangered cultural heritage, attracting 44 participants
Following a competitive selection process, 30 participants were chosen for a two-day residential bootcamp in Port Harcourt. The training combined technical skills in photography, videography, Wikimedia Commons contributions, ethical storytelling, and digital archiving with discussions on heritage preservation, community engagement, and culture as a tool for peacebuilding. The practical cultural photowalk to Barako Kingdom in Ogoniland during the Umu-La-Gia (new planting season) celebration enabled participants to apply their new skills by documenting authentic cultural practices and engaging directly with local communities.
To extend the project's reach, we replicated key elements of the programme in Calabar through partnerships with the Peter Bello Foundation and the Cross River Carnival Commission, combining heritage documentation training with a photowalk of Old Calabar's historic sites.
These activities resulted in 1,446 images, 10 videos, and 3 audio files being uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, while 61 new contributors joined the Wikimedia movement. Beyond the numbers, the project successfully documented cultural traditions that were previously underrepresented online and strengthened a network of young heritage advocates committed to preserving the region's cultural identity.
The most effective approaches were building strong local partnerships combining classroom learning with practical field experiences, and engaging host communities throughout the documentation process. Rather than limiting training to technical Wikimedia skills, integrating cultural experts, traditional institutions, and heritage practitioners helped participants better understand the significance of the traditions they were documenting. Another important lesson was that practical, community-based documentation significantly improved both the quality and authenticity of contributions.
For future projects, we would begin community engagement even earlier, allocate more time for field documentation, and strengthen post-training mentorship to support continued contributions to Wikimedia projects. These experiences demonstrated that successful heritage documentation depends not only on technical training but also on trust, collaboration, and meaningful engagement with the communities whose stories are being preserved.
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://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m8fOk0aivrggaUVPoHeEiIBt8tDx2pZW?usp=drive_link
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
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m8fOk0aivrggaUVPoHeEiIBt8tDx2pZW?usp=drive_link
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 | Strongly agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Strongly agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Strongly agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Strongly agree |
| 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: We hope to learn how to effectively document the rites and rituals of the Niger Delta region in a way that preserves authenticity and respects cultural values.
Our main learning questions include: How can traditional rites and rituals be documented and shared while respecting cultural boundaries?
What storytelling approaches best integrate cultural practices into Wikimedia platforms?
How can partnerships with traditional custodians, institutions, and NGOs support cultural preservation through open knowledge?
New editors will be retained through hands-on training, mentorship, and continuous engagement. By connecting their editing work to their own culture and heritage, they will feel a strong sense of ownership and pride. Regular workshops, follow-up sessions, and peer support groups will keep them active and motivated to continue contributing.
Community members will stay motivated through:
Recognition and visibility for their contributions on Wikimedia projects.
Ongoing collaboration with cultural institutions and traditional custodians.
Skill development opportunities such as advanced training and leadership roles.
Community events like edit-a-thons and storytelling sessions that celebrate their work.
The implementation of Wiki Loves Africa 2026 in Niger Delta provided valuable insights into documenting living cultural heritage in ways that are both respectful and accessible. One of our key learning questions focused on how to document rites and rituals while preserving their authenticity and respecting cultural boundaries. We learned that building trust with traditional custodians and community leaders before documentation was essential. Early engagement, obtaining community consent, and allowing local custodians to explain the significance of cultural practices ensured that participants documented heritage accurately and respectfully.
We also explored storytelling approaches that best integrate cultural practices into Wikimedia platforms. We found that combining high-quality photography and videography with contextual descriptions, oral histories, and local narratives produced richer and more meaningful documentation. Training participants to understand the cultural significance of what they were documenting—not just the technical process of uploading files—greatly improved the quality of contributions.
Another important lesson was the value of partnerships. Collaborating with traditional institutions, cultural organisations, the Cross River Carnival Commission, the Peter Bello Foundation, and other stakeholders expanded community access, increased credibility, and created opportunities to document heritage that would have been difficult to access independently. These partnerships also strengthened community ownership of the project.
Regarding editor retention, we learned that participants remained more engaged when they saw a direct connection between Wikimedia and their own culture. Hands-on field experiences, mentorship, peer support, and recognising contributors' work created a stronger sense of belonging than classroom training alone. Many participants expressed pride in knowing that the heritage of their communities was now visible to a global audience through Wikimedia Commons.
Going forward, we will build on these lessons by strengthening long-term relationships with cultural institutions and traditional custodians, expanding mentorship programmes for new contributors, organising regular heritage documentation activities, and creating community heritage documentation hubs. We also plan to deepen the integration of oral histories, local languages, and indigenous knowledge into Wikimedia projects to ensure that the cultural diversity of the Niger Delta continues to be preserved and shared through open knowledge for future generations.
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. One of the most positive surprises was the level of enthusiasm and community support we received throughout the project. Although we anticipated interest from photographers and Wikimedians, we were encouraged by the participation of cultural practitioners, historians, traditional leaders, youth groups, and creative organisations who saw the project as an opportunity to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the Niger Delta. This broad community ownership strengthened the quality and authenticity of the documentation.
Another unexpected outcome was the success of our partnerships. Collaborations with organisations such as the Peter Bello Foundation and the Cross River Carnival Commission enabled us to replicate aspects of the project in Calabar, extending our reach beyond the original implementation plan. This demonstrated how strategic partnerships can significantly increase both impact and sustainability.
We also encountered challenges. Coordinating participants from different states required considerable logistical planning, and internet connectivity occasionally affected Wikimedia uploads and online training sessions. In addition, documenting certain rites and rituals required patience and sensitivity, as some cultural practices are sacred or restricted. We learned that building trust with traditional custodians and respecting community protocols is essential before any documentation takes place.
Another lesson was that participants benefited most from practical, hands-on learning. The cultural photowalk and field documentation exercises generated greater confidence, higher-quality contributions, and stronger engagement than classroom sessions alone.
These experiences reinforced the importance of flexibility, early stakeholder engagement, strong partnerships, and community-led approaches. In future projects, we will invest more time in pre-engagement with host communities, strengthen post-training mentorship for contributors, and allocate additional time for field documentation to improve both participation and the quality of Wikimedia contributions.
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)
Sharing knowledge and building community capacity has been a core objective of the Wiki Loves Africa 2026 in Niger Delta campaign. Throughout the project, we shared updates, photographs, learning resources, and participant experiences through our Wikimedia community channels, social media platforms, partner networks, and community events to encourage wider participation in open knowledge and cultural heritage preservation.
One of the most significant outcomes of the project is that it has strengthened and expanded the Wikimedia community in the Niger Delta. Through the success of the campaign, we now have vibrant Wikimedia hubs in Calabar, Delta State, Bayelsa, Uyo, and Warri, with active community members who continue to organize activities, recruit new contributors, and document local heritage. These emerging hubs have become focal points for collaboration, mentorship, and the continued growth of the Wikimedia movement in the region.
The training materials, presentations, Wikimedia Commons guides, photography resources, and heritage documentation tools developed during the project will continue to be used by the Wiki-Niger Delta User Group to train new contributors and support future campaigns. We also plan to publish our impact report and learning resources so that other Wikimedia communities can adapt our approach to documenting cultural heritage in their own regions.
Going forward, we will continue organizing edit-a-thons, photowalks, storytelling sessions, and mentorship programmes to retain contributors and strengthen community leadership. We will also deepen partnerships with cultural institutions, traditional custodians, educational institutions, and civil society organisations to expand heritage documentation across the Niger Delta.
Our long-term vision is to establish a sustainable network of community-led heritage documentation hubs across the region, where local volunteers can continue documenting festivals, oral histories, indigenous knowledge, languages, and cultural practices while mentoring the next generation of Wikimedians. By sharing our methodologies, lessons learned, and resources with the broader Wikimedia movement, we hope to inspire similar heritage documentation initiatives across Nigeria and Africa and demonstrate how community-led documentation can preserve cultural heritage while strengthening open knowledge.
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 | 30 | 71 | |
| Number of editors | 30 | 61 | |
| Number of organizers | 3 | 3 |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |||
| Wikimedia Commons | 1000 | ||
| 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)
4985260
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
3500
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sKvCKq0MVEDUriMQLXKIr_8yEO_1c8Ulr9DOdwbznoQ/edit?usp=sharing
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)