Grants:Wikimedia UG Nigeria Grants/Wikimedia User Group Nigeria Community Support Fund/Wiki Loves Africa 2024 Campaign in Gombe State

Project summary

Briefly summarize your project proposal.

Background Statement:

This Wiki Loves Africa 2024 Campaign in Gombe State aims to address the crucial need for increased awareness and participation in Wikimedia projects within the region. Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, serve as invaluable repositories of knowledge, fostering a collaborative environment where individuals from diverse backgrounds can contribute to the creation and dissemination of information. However, despite the global impact of Wikimedia projects, there exists a significant gap in awareness and participation within Gombe State. Gombe State, situated in the northeastern region of Nigeria, boasts a rich cultural and historical heritage that deserves to be documented and shared on a global scale. Recognizing the untapped potential for local communities to contribute their unique perspectives, the Wiki Loves Africa 2024 Campaign aims to bridge this awareness gap and empower individuals in Gombe State to actively engage with Wikimedia platforms through photography. The campaign seeks to introduce Wikimedia projects and the Wiki Loves Africa photography contest to the residents of Gombe State, emphasizing the importance of preserving and sharing their cultural, historical, and regional knowledge through visuals. Through a series of photography workshops, outreach programs, and community engagement initiatives, the campaign aims to build skills in capturing and contributing photographs to Wikimedia Commons, ensuring that even those with limited technical expertise can participate. Moreover, the campaign will highlight the global significance of Gombe State's visual narratives, encouraging a sense of shared responsibility for the representation of diverse perspectives on these platforms. The ultimate goal of the Wiki Loves Africa 2024 Campaign in Gombe State is to create a sustainable and vibrant community of contributors from Gombe State who actively submit photographs depicting the region's cultures, people, and places to enrich Wikimedia projects. By amplifying local visual perspectives, this campaign not only enhances the global Wikimedia community but also ensures that the visual wealth and stories from Gombe State are preserved and shared with a worldwide audience. Through this initiative, Gombe State will become an integral part of the global tapestry of knowledge, fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and continuous learning through visual storytelling.

Wikimedia Project

Please state the Wikimedia project your project will focus majorly on (e.g. Wikipedia, Wikidata, etc). It is advisable to focus on one Wikimedia project, but a maximum of two projects is allowed.

Wikipedia and wiki-Commons

Contact person and Location

Please state the contact details of the contact person(s) for this project including email(s) and location. For more than one contact person, indicate same details for everyone

• Username: User:Umar2z
• Email: wikigombenetwork@gmail.com
• Address: Gombe State
• Location of Project: Gombe, Gombe State

Project class

Please state if you are applying as an individual or a network/club

Gombe Network

Timeline of activities

Please state the timeline of your activities, and include the start and end date for your project

1st March - 31st March, 2024

Project Goal

Choose one or more of the following goals. Feel free to add or delete goals as required by your project.

1. Increase awareness and participation in Wikimedia projects, particularly the Wiki Loves Africa photography contest, within Gombe State
2. Create a sustainable community of contributors from Gombe State who actively submit photographs depicting the region's cultures, people, and
3. Preserve and share the visual wealth and stories from Gombe State with a worldwide audience through Wikimedia projects

Project Plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?

The Wikimedia UG Nigeria will be notified on Talk page. Furthermore, a WhatsApp group will be created for continuous engagement for sustainability of the initiative.

3. How will you let participants know about the edit-a-thon? In what ways will you be communicating with them?
For example, these can include on-wiki spaces, social media channels, mailing lists, messaging apps, or physical/online gatherings.

There will be an an open call for participation, using social media platforms and students broadcast channel will be utilized to target specific and wide range coverage and awareness about the project

4. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event? Please provide links to the usernames of these individuals. (NOTE: all experienced Wikimedia editors MUST endorse your proposal as proof of availability)
For example: User:Kaizenify

• User: Umar2z: Project Lead, a certified Wikimedian trainer with expertise in project leadership, driving innovative solutions for community advancement.
• User:Meritkosy: Is an experienced Wikimedian and will be serving as communication officer
• User:Atibrarian: Facilitator, an experienced Wikimedian and pioneer of Gombe Wikimedia Community.
• User: Ibjaja055 Facilitator, an experienced Wikimedian and pioneer of wiki Afrodemics.

5. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?

Yes, they have equipment. Training will be conducted to enhance their skills.

6. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?

Post training evaluation using Google forms will be conducted to measure impact and learning which will form strategy for future engagement. The project’s WhatsApp group will serve as a venue for continuous engagement and communication.

7. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:

1. Number of events - 2
2. Number of participants - 30
3. Number of new editors - 20
4. Number of Commons upload - 120+

Metrics tracking

How do you plan to track your project metrics?

The Programs & Events Dashboard tool will be used to track users contribution

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

• Lunch with water 2000 per person × 30x2days =: ₦120,000
• Hall for the physical session × 2days: ₦60,000
• Promotional Materials like Banner, e-flyers: ₦20,000
• Rental of projectors : ₦10,000
• Generator and fuelling × 2days = 20,000
• Rental of public Address system × 2days  : ₦10, 000
• Branded souvenir for top 3 editors: ₦30,000
• Logistics ₦15,000
• Total budget: ₦285,000

Endorsements

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

 Strong support: This will enable community members to fully participate and contribute quality media content relating to this year theme of the Wiki Loves Africa - Africa Creative. Atibrarian (talk) 21:59, 17 February 2024 (UTC)