Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Voices Unveiled:Documenting the Untold Stories of Agikuyu Women (ID: 23600954)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Mimiwamb
- 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.
Voices Unveiled: Documenting the Untold Stories of Agikuyu Women
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-02-01 - 2026-04-30
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Kenya
- 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) This project primarily belongs to Wikipedia’s categories on Kenyan women, Agìkūyū people, and African women by ethnicity, as it seeks to document the lives of Agìkūyū women who were prophets, leaders, and other notable figures often overlooked in mainstream historical narratives. It also aligns with WikiProject Women and Women in Red, which work to increase and improve content on women across cultures, as well as WikiProject Africa and WikiProject Kenya, which focus on African and Kenyan topics. Since the project centers on producing and refining biographies, it further connects to WikiProject Biography. By bridging these categories, the project contributes not only to preserving Kenyan cultural heritage but also to reducing systemic bias on Wikipedia, where women—especially African women—remain significantly underrepresented.
- 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 the recognition, preservation, and accurate representation of Agìkūyū women’s contributions to history, culture, and spirituality. For centuries, many of these women—whether prophets, community leaders, or figures of cultural importance—have remained undocumented, marginalized, or misrepresented in mainstream narratives. Their stories are often absent from written archives, overshadowed by patriarchal traditions, or limited to oral accounts that risk being lost with the passing of elders. The main challenges we are addressing include:
- Historical invisibility: Many notable Agìkūyū women are missing from academic records and global platforms like Wikipedia.
- Bias and misrepresentation: Existing articles are often incomplete, inaccurate, or written through a colonial or patriarchal lens.
- Loss of oral heritage: Valuable oral histories held by elders and communities are at risk of disappearing without documentation.
Our approach to solving these challenges involves:
- Conducting fieldwork and oral history interviews with elders, descendants, and community historians.
- Cross-referencing oral traditions with archival and scholarly research to ensure accuracy and reliability.
- Revising and creating high-quality Wikipedia articles and other accessible records to make this knowledge available globally.
- Community engagement and workshops to validate findings, honor local custodians of knowledge, and ensure the stories remain rooted in cultural context.
Through these methods, the project will bring visibility to Agìkūyū women, enrich Kenyan historical narratives, and contribute to correcting systemic bias in digital and public knowledge spaces.
- 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.
Main Activities
Literature Review and Planning
Compile and analyze existing written sources (books, archives, previous articles) on Agìkūyū women.
Identify gaps, inaccuracies, and areas where new or revised documentation is needed.
Community Engagement and Partnerships
Build partnerships with local cultural organizations, elders’ councils, women’s groups, and community historians.
Engage universities or research institutions in Kenya for academic support and verification.
Work with experienced Wikipedians to align outputs with Wikipedia’s content standards.
Fieldwork and Oral History Collection
Travel to key communities to conduct interviews with elders, descendants, and local custodians of history.
Record oral histories using audio and video equipment.
Transcribe and translate materials where necessary.
Research Verification and Content Development
Cross-check oral narratives with archival and scholarly sources.
Write new profiles and revise existing Wikipedia articles on notable Agìkūyū women.
Ensure articles meet Wikipedia’s notability, neutrality, and sourcing guidelines.
Digital Archiving and Knowledge Sharing
Create a small digital archive (website or repository) where oral histories and research can be preserved.
Publish findings on Wikipedia, in community booklets, and in open-access platforms.
Host community workshops and presentations to validate content and share results locally.
Capacity Building and Sustainability
Train community members, especially young women, on documenting oral histories and editing Wikipedia.
Establish ongoing collaboration with WikiProject Women in Red and WikiProject Kenya to continue improving representation.
Planned Partnerships
Community Elders and Oral Historians: Custodians of local knowledge who will provide oral histories.
Kenyan Universities/Research Institutions: For academic validation and possible student involvement in transcription or research.
Local Cultural Organizations/Women’s Groups: To assist with community mobilization and dissemination of findings.
Wikipedia/Wikimedia Community: To guide contributions, ensure compliance with editorial standards, and amplify the reach of the content.
- 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.
The project will be led by Miriam Njoroge (username: Mimiwamb), who coordinates the overall work, including research, reporting, and partnerships. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Nairobi, where she is researching Agìkūyū culture. Miriam is an active Wikipedia editor and a member of the Wikimedia Community User Group Kenya.
She will be supported by Lucy Gichane (username: Giluwa), a Master’s student at the University of Nairobi specializing in Religion and Culture. Lucy will contribute to literature review, oral history collection, and data verification. She is also an experienced Wikipedia editor.
Another team member is Beth Kimani (username: Thebmans), a Master’s student at the University of Nairobi. Beth’s work will focus on conducting community interviews, transcription, and supporting article writing. Like her colleagues, she is a dedicated Wikipedia editor.
Finally, Michael (username: LeloLake) joins the team as a Wikimedia editor. A recent graduate with a degree in Information Science, Michael will lead content creation and improvement on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, ensuring the project’s outputs meet platform standards.
All members serving as volunteers wiill have stipends supported by the project to facilitate their work.
- 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 primarily community elders, women’s groups, cultural historians, and researchers from the Agìkūyū community. Elders and oral historians will provide firsthand knowledge and oral traditions about notable Agìkūyū women, while women’s groups will help in mobilizing community members and validating stories. Researchers, particularly those with interest in history, culture, and digital documentation, will be engaged as part of capacity building for future sustainability.
Before the activities begin, we will engage participants through introductory meetings in their communities, outlining the goals of the project and inviting input to ensure inclusivity and cultural sensitivity. We will also collaborate with local organizations and networks to build trust and secure consent from knowledge holders.
During the activities, participants will be directly involved in interviews, oral history sessions, workshops, and validation meetings. Community members will be invited to contribute perspectives, review collected narratives, and participate in Wikipedia editing workshops where they can learn how their knowledge contributes to global documentation.
After the activities, we will maintain follow-up through community feedback sessions, sharing the published outputs both online (Wikipedia articles, Wikimedia Commons uploads, and a digital archive) and offline (community presentations and booklets). We will also establish ongoing communication channels with participants, ensuring they are recognized as co-custodians of the knowledge and are kept informed about the project’s impact and future opportunities for collaboration.
- 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.
We introduced and discussed the idea of this project with members of the Agìkūyū community and relevant Wikimedia editors in several ways. First, we held informal consultations with elders, women’s groups, and cultural historians to confirm the importance of documenting the lives of notable Agìkūyū women and to ensure that our approach is culturally sensitive. These conversations highlighted the urgency of preserving oral histories before they are lost. On the Wikimedia side, we shared the proposal concept with wiki editors who are part of an ongoing project under Women in Religion. Feedback from these editors helped refine the focus on creating and improving Wikipedia articles, aligning with the global effort to reduce systemic bias in representation of women and African topics. In planning the proposal, we also reviewed similar initiatives that have been carried out within the region, such as oral history documentation and women-in-history edit-a-thons, to ensure that our work complements existing projects and builds on their strengths. We plan to maintain transparency and collaboration by continuing these conversations during implementation. Once the draft proposal is finalized, we will post it on relevant Wikimedia discussion platforms such as the Meta-Wiki grants discussion page and the Wikimedia Community User Group Kenya talk page to gather further input and strengthen alignment with ongoing community efforts.
- 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)
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)
Identify Topics for Impact
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 more about both the process of documenting underrepresented histories and the impact of making these contributions visible on Wikipedia and related platforms. Our main learning questions are:
How can oral histories and community knowledge be effectively collected, verified, and translated into reliable Wikipedia content while maintaining cultural sensitivity?
What are the most effective ways to engage community elders, women’s groups, and researchers in collaborative knowledge production?
To what extent does documenting notable Agìkūyū women contribute to bridging the gender and cultural content gaps on Wikipedia?
What challenges arise when converting oral narratives into encyclopedic content, and what strategies best address them?
How do community participants perceive their involvement in the project, and what long-term impact does this have on their willingness to engage with Wikimedia projects in the future?
By answering these questions, we aim to generate insights that will not only strengthen this project but also inform similar cultural heritage and gender gap initiatives in other communities.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 20 | This project will engage a total of 20 participants through workshops, interviews, and editing sessions. Of these, 10 will be new participants, mainly community members and researchers engaging with Wikimedia projects for the first time, while the other 5 will be returning participants, including experienced editors and collaborators from related initiatives such as Women in Religion. Within this group, 5 participants will actively edit Wikimedia projects—1 newly registered editors and 4 returning editors—while the remaining 10 participants will contribute through oral history sharing, transcription, validation, and community engagement activities.
The project aims to create or improve 10 Wikipedia articles, primarily biographies and cultural entries about notable Agìkūyū women. In addition, at least 5 Wikidata items will be created or enhanced to ensure structured data on these women is widely accessible. To complement this, 5 media files—such as photographs, audio recordings, and other documentation from fieldwork—will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. To support these outcomes, we will host 3 workshops and training sessions, both online and in-person, focused on oral history documentation, editing Wikipedia, and validating content, ensuring participants gain both the skills and confidence to contribute meaningfully to Wikimedia platforms. |
| Number of editors | 5 | Out of the 20 total participants in this project, 5 will actively edit Wikimedia projects by creating or improving content. Of these editors, 1 will be a newly registered user who will create accounts during the workshops and begin contributing for the first time. The remaining 4 will be returning editors, already registered on Wikimedia projects, who will contribute through editing, uploading media, and improving structured data on Wikidata. |
| Number of organizers | 4 | This project will have a total of 4 organizers. These include the project lead, two researchers, and one Wikimedia editor. Together, they will coordinate planning, facilitate workshops, conduct outreach, collect and validate oral histories, and ensure smooth implementation of all activities. The team members are primarily volunteers, with stipends supported by the project to recognize the time and expertise they contribute. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 10 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 5 |
| Wikidata | 5 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
Number of new content contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikipedia: 10 articles created or improved (focused on biographies and cultural entries about notable Agìkūyū women)
Wikimedia Commons: 5 media files uploaded (photographs, audio recordings, or other fieldwork documentation)
Wikidata: 5 items created or improved (structured data on the documented women for discoverability)
- 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)
•Participants (total, new, returning): Event registration forms and participant sign-in sheets for in-person sessions, and the Outreach Dashboard (Programs & Events Dashboard) for online activities.
- Number of editors (newly registered and returning): Outreach Dashboard will capture account creations, editing activity, and disaggregated data between new and returning editors.
- Content contributions (Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons): Outreach Dashboard and Wikimetrics will be used to track created or improved articles, Wikidata items, and media uploads.
- Workshops and training sessions (online and in-person): Attendance sheets for in-person workshops and event pages on Meta-Wiki for online sessions will be used to document and verify activities.
- Qualitative outcomes (oral histories and cultural documentation): Project notes, interview transcripts, and community feedback forms will help assess the quality and cultural sensitivity of contributions.
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)
513460 KES
- 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.
3315 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).