Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Saving the Knowledge of Endangered Hausa Expressions and Idioms Through Wikimedia Projects (ID: 23756760)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
M Bash Ne
- 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.
Saving the Knowledge of Endangered Hausa Expressions and Idioms Through Wikimedia Projects
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-04-03 - 2026-06-30
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Nigeria
- 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 change this project seeks to bring is the preservation and open documentation of endangered Hausa expressions and idioms that are rapidly disappearing from everyday use. Although Hausa is widely spoken, much of its rich linguistic and cultural knowledge—especially traditional expressions passed down orally—is poorly represented or completely missing on Wikimedia projects .This project aims to shift this knowledge from vulnerable oral transmission into reliable, freely accessible digital resources.The main challenges the project addresses include the loss of indigenous linguistic knowledge due to modernization, urbanization, and reduced intergenerational knowledge transfer. Many elders who hold this knowledge are not digitally connected, while younger generations increasingly adopt simplified or mixed language forms. Additionally, there is a lack of structured, high-quality Hausa idiomatic content on Wikimedia projects, as well as limited local capacity for documenting language knowledge in line with Wikimedia policies.
The lack of documented Hausa expressions and Idioms affects:
- Language learners and educators
- Translators and researchers
- Cultural preservation efforts
- Access to indigenous African knowledge online
Without intentional documentation and open access publishing, this valuable cultural knowledge may be permanently lost. To achieve this change, the project will combine community engagement, capacity building, and structured content creation. Local Hausa-speaking contributors will be trained to document expressions and idioms accurately using Wikimedia standards. Knowledge will be collected from credible sources and community knowledge holders, then published on Hausa Wiktionary and Hausa Wikipedia, Hausa Wiktionary and Wikimedia Commons supported by audio recordings on Wikimedia Commons to enhance accessibility. Through edit-a-thons, peer review, and mentorship, the project will ensure content quality while building a sustainable community of contributors committed to preserving Hausa linguistic heritage through open knowledge 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.
- Project Preparation and Community Outreach
- Set up a public project page on Meta-Wiki to document goals, activities, and results.
- Community outreach to recruit Hausa-speaking contributors, including experienced editors, new volunteers, and language educators.
- Identification of knowledgeable community members (such as elders, teachers, and linguists) to support accurate documentation.
- Capacity-Building and Training Workshops
- Organize in-person and/or online training sessions on Wikimedia projects (Hausa Wiktionary, Hausa Wikipedia, and Wikimedia Commons).
- Train participants on documenting expressions and idioms, including definitions, usage examples, neutrality, sourcing, and copyright.
- Introduce audio recording and upload processes for Wikimedia Commons.
- Documentation and Content Creation
- Collect endangered Hausa expressions and idioms from reliable written sources and community knowledge holders.
- Create and improve entries on Hausa Wiktionary, including meanings, usage contexts, and examples.
- Develop supporting articles and sections on Hausa Wikipedia related to Hausa language and expressions.
Audio Recording and Accessibility Enhancement Record correct pronunciations and example usage of selected expressions.
- Upload audio files to Wikimedia Commons and link them to relevant Wiktionary entries to improve accessibility for learners and readers.
- Edit-a-thons and Content Review Sessions
- Organize structured edit-a-thons to expand and improve content collaboratively.
- Conduct peer review sessions to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with Wikimedia policies.
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Documentation
- Track metrics such as number of entries created or improved, audio files uploaded, and participant engagement.
- Document lessons learned and challenges on the project page.
- Share results with the wider Wikimedia community for learning and replication.
- Partnerships and Collaboration
- Collaborate with local Hausa language educators, cultural groups, and Wikimedia community members to support content accuracy and outreach.
- Leverage informal partnerships with community knowledge holders and experienced Wikimedia editors for mentorship and review.
- 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.
- 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)
- Target participants for this project are Hausa-speaking contributors from the Hausa Wikimedia community in Northern Nigeria, including both experienced Wikimedia editors and new volunteers interested in language and cultural preservation. The project will particularly engage youth, educators, students, and community members with knowledge of Hausa expressions and idioms, as well as elders and language resource persons who can support accurate documentation.
- Before the activities, participants will be engaged through community outreach on Wikimedia channels, social media platforms, and local networks within the Hausa-speaking community. Announcements and calls for participation will be shared in Hausa and English to ensure inclusivity. Interested participants will be onboarded through orientation sessions, where project goals, expectations, and Wikimedia contribution guidelines will be explained.
- During the activities, participants will take part in structured training workshops, edit-a-thons, and documentation sessions focused on collecting, verifying, and publishing Hausa expressions and idioms. Experienced Wikimedia editors and facilitators will provide hands-on support, mentorship, and peer review to ensure content quality and active participation. Both online and in-person collaboration will be encouraged to accommodate different access levels.
- After the activities, follow-up will focus on sustainability and continued engagement. Participants will be added to communication channels (such as WhatsApp or Telegram groups) for ongoing mentorship, support, and knowledge sharing. Outstanding contributors will be encouraged to take on mentorship roles, continue editing beyond the project period, and participate in future Wikimedia activities. Project outcomes, learning resources, and documentation will be shared publicly to maintain engagement and support long-term community growth.
- 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 project idea was developed through ongoing discussions with members of the Hausa Wikimedia community Hausa Wikipedia Discussion Page and the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria I have notified via Wikimedia User Group Nigeria Discussion Page . Initial conversations identified major gaps in the documentation of Hausa expressions and idioms on Wikimedia projects and a shared concern about the loss of traditional language knowledge. The idea was shared with community members through online communication channels, where feedback and suggestions were collected and used to refine the project design, activities, and focus areas. Community input helped shape the emphasis on capacity building, collaborative documentation, and the use of multiple Wikimedia projects.
- 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)
Content Gender gap
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Gender and diversity
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Digital Access
- 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, we hope to learn how community-driven approaches can effectively preserve endangered indigenous language knowledge on Wikimedia projects. Specifically, we aim to understand what methods are most successful for documenting Hausa expressions and idioms in ways that are accurate, sustainable, and aligned with Wikimedia standards.
- Key learning questions include:
How effective are community trainings and edit-a-thons in enabling new and existing contributors to document idiomatic language content on Hausa Wiktionary and Hausa Wikipedia? What types of support and mentorship help participants continue contributing after the project activities end? How does the inclusion of audio recordings improve accessibility, understanding, and reuse of Hausa expressions and idioms? What challenges arise when translating oral language knowledge into verifiable, encyclopedic content, and how can these challenges be addressed? How can this project model be adapted or scaled to document other underrepresented indigenous languages and cultural knowledge? Data such as participation rates, number and quality of entries created, contributor retention, and feedback from participants will be collected to help answer these learning questions and inform future Wikimedia language preservation initiatives.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 50 | The total number of participants |
| Number of editors | 40 | This is the Total number of editors |
| Number of organizers | 3 | The total number of organizers |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 300 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 150 |
| Wikidata | 100 |
| Wiktionary | 200 |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
This is the Wikimedia project activities which we will expect to achieve
- 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 use the Wikimedia Foundation Outreach dashboard to track our project metrics
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)
NGN
- 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).