Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Swahili Wiki Audio:Documenting and Inserting audio of lakes in Tanzania (ID: 23941270)
This is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the web service of Wikimedia Foundation Funds, where the user has submitted their application. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.
Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Husseyn Issa (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)
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.
Swahili Wiki Audio: Documenting and Inserting audio of lakes in Tanzania
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-09-01 - 2026-10-01
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Tanzania
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Other (please specify) Wiki Audio
- 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 are trying to bring is to fill a clear gap on Swahili Wikipedia where many lake articles in Tanzania have no audio pronunciation at all. Today, important articles like Ziwa Victoria, Ziwa Tanganyika, Ziwa Nyasa, Ziwa Manyara, Ziwa Eyasi, and Ziwa Natron are only available in written form, meaning readers cannot hear how these names are correctly pronounced in Swahili. This is a problem especially for new learners, students, and non-native Swahili speakers, because pronunciation is a key part of understanding language and local geography. Currently, a large number of Swahili Wikipedia place articles still lack audio check more here [1], so this project will help make knowledge more accessible, inclusive, and easy to learn.
Our approach is to record clean and high-quality pronunciation audio of these lake names in a controlled studio environment using proper recording equipment and silence to ensure clarity and consistency. Each lake name (for example “Ziwa Nyasa”) will be recorded clearly in natural Swahili pronunciation and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, then linked directly to the corresponding Wikipedia articles. We chose this studio-based approach because it ensures professional quality, avoids background noise, and creates standard pronunciation files that can be reused across Wikimedia projects. In addition, we will build a small set of trained contributors who can continue recording missing pronunciations for other Swahili Wikipedia articles beyond lakes, making this a scalable and long-term solution.
Through this project, we directly contribute to both Swahili Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons by creating free, reusable audio files that can be used across multiple articles and educational platforms. Every recorded lake name will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons with proper metadata, licensing, and categorization, then linked to its corresponding Swahili Wikipedia article using audio templates. This will improve article quality, make learning more interactive, and help standardize pronunciation across Wikimedia projects. By doing this, we are not only adding missing content, but also strengthening Commons as a rich library of African language audio resources, making Swahili Wikipedia more complete, professional, and useful for education, research, and everyday learning.
- 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 1. Online launch and coordination meeting
We will hold an online session to introduce the project, confirm targets and agree on roles, timelines, and recording standards.
2. Studio recording sessions
We will conduct recording sessions in a quiet studio environment using proper audio equipment to capture clear and high-quality pronunciation of each lake name in Swahili.
3. Uploading to Wikimedia Commons
All recorded audio files will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons with correct licensing, metadata, and categories to make them freely usable across Wikimedia projects.
4. Linking audio to Swahili Wikipedia articles
We will integrate the uploaded audio files into the relevant Swahili Wikipedia lake articles using audio templates, improving article quality and learning experience.
5. Online follow-up and support
We will hold follow-up sessions to check progress, fix missing links, and support contributors in adding audio to articles and identifying other missing pronunciation pages.
6. Documentation and learnings sharing
We will document project results, lessons learned, and recommendations, and share them with the Wikimedia community to help scale similar audio projects in other topics.
- 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.
1. Hussein (Wikimedia User: Husseyn Issa) – Project Lead / Coordinator
He will be responsible for overall project coordination, planning activities, managing timelines, and reporting. He will also oversee the recording process, ensure quality standards, and lead community engagement. He is an active Wikimedia contributor and community organizer in Tanzania, working mainly on Swahili Wikipedia and open knowledge projects.
2. Josh (Wikimedia User: Joshua Beatus) – Audio Recording & Technical Support
Josh will support the studio recording process, including setting up equipment, ensuring high-quality sound capture, and assisting with audio editing before upload to Wikimedia Commons. He will also help maintain consistency and clarity in pronunciation recordings.
3. Pellagia (Wikimedia User: Pellagia Njau) – Wikimedia Commons & Wikipedia Integration Support
Pellagia will be responsible for guiding the team and participants in uploading audio files to Wikimedia Commons, adding proper metadata and licensing, and linking the audio to the correct Swahili Wikipedia articles. She will also help track which articles still need audio and support follow-up improvements. This role is also voluntary.
- 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 target participants for this project are members of the Swahili Wikimedia community, especially active contributors to Swahili Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, as well as new volunteers who are interested in open knowledge and audio content creation. A key group will also be top contributors from GWEI who have shown interest in contributing to Wikimedia and other open knowledge initiatives. These participants include students, young volunteers, and Wikimedians who are willing to dedicate time to recording audio, editing Wikipedia articles, and improving Commons content. All participants are volunteers from the open knowledge community and will not be salaried, but they will be supported through training, coordination, and access to tools during the project.
Before the activities, we will engage participants through online outreach, including WhatsApp groups, Wikimedia community channels, and an online launch meeting where we explain the project goals and assign roles. During the activities, participants will be actively involved in studio recording sessions, Wikimedia Commons uploads, and linking audio to Swahili Wikipedia articles, with hands-on guidance and teamwork support to ensure quality contributions. After the activities, we will conduct online follow-up sessions to review progress, fix missing links, and encourage continued contribution, especially in identifying other Wikipedia articles that need pronunciation audio. We will also share project outcomes and learning notes with the community to strengthen future collaboration and expand audio contributions beyond lake articles.
- 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 came after we participated in the Wiki Digi Youth Program (Quest 03), where we noticed that many Tanzanian geography articles had no audio on Wikimedia Commons, especially city articles, and later we realized lake articles also had the same gap. We discussed this idea with Swahili Wikipedia admins, members of GWEI, and other community contributors through WhatsApp and community channels, and they agreed it is an important gap to fill for improving Swahili Wikipedia accessibility. Our earlier youth program work can be seen here: [2], and these discussions helped shape the project into focusing on structured pronunciation audio for lake articles in Tanzania.
- 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)
Geography
- 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)
Linguistic / Language
- 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)
From this project, we hope to learn how much adding structured pronunciation audio improves the usability and learning experience of Swahili Wikipedia articles, especially for geography topics. We want to understand whether having clear audio helps new users, students, and non-native speakers better recognize and pronounce Swahili place names, and how often these audio files are actually used once added to Wikipedia and Commons.
We also want to learn what is the most effective and sustainable way to produce high-quality Wikimedia audio content whether a small studio setup, community volunteer recording, and structured upload process can be scaled to other topics beyond lakes. In addition, we aim to understand how well contributors can be trained to continue producing and linking audio independently, and what challenges they face in maintaining consistency, quality, and participation over time.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 15 | |
| Number of editors | 10 | |
| Number of organizers | 3 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 200 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 200 |
| 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)
-Event tool
- Outreach Dashboard
- Categories
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/177K9Y0kDy3nzMgN-t9pplaEE9NPeUMnm-euWbivHM9c/edit?usp=sharing
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
10200000 TZS
- 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.
3879 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.
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).