This is the central documentation page for the mentorship relationship between the Fante Wikimedia community and the Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub (LDH).

Overview

Mentored Language: Fante (fat)
Mentorship Start Date: March 2025
LDH Mentor(s): Sadik Shahadu
Primary Community Contact:
Key Institutional Partner: University of Education, Winneba (UEW)
Community Page:
Related Projects:
- Wikipedia: fat.wikipedia.org (Graduated)
- Wikiquote Incubator: Incubator:Wq/fat

Midterm Mentorship Check-in: Fante Community

Date: 29 June 2026

Mentor: Oscar Costero

Mentee: Emmanuel Assilidjoe

Facilitator: Tochi Precious

Participants:

Emmanuel Assilidjoe
Oscar Costero
Sadik Shahadu
Tochi Precious
Jon Harald Søby

Check-in Summary

The meeting focused on reviewing the progress of the Fante community during the mentorship programme, identifying key achievements and challenges, assessing community growth, and co-creating priorities for the next six months.

Biggest Wins

Emmanuel shared that the Fante community has made significant progress since joining the mentorship programme.

The most notable achievement has been successfully translating Wikidata properties from English into Fante. Initially, the community lacked the technical knowledge and workflow required to translate Wikidata properties effectively. Through training and technical guidance provided during the mentorship, members gained the necessary skills and confidence to complete this work.

This milestone has directly improved the Fante Wikimedia projects by making Wikidata more accessible in the language and supporting better integration with the Fante Wikipedia.

Additional successes include:

Strengthened leadership capacity within the community.
Increased confidence in collaborating with other Wikimedia communities.
Improved community organisation and coordination.
Better editor retention through increased engagement and clearer community leadership.
Online community events have proven easier to organise and sustain than in-person activities.

Biggest Challenges

The discussion highlighted several ongoing challenges:

Balancing mentorship activities with personal and professional commitments. ** Emmanuel noted that encouragement and flexibility from his mentor helped him remain engaged throughout the programme.
Translating highly technical concepts into Fante. ** The community often needs to consult Fante language experts to agree on accurate terminology for technical Wikimedia concepts.
Limited funding for community activities. ** While online events are manageable, organising in-person events remains difficult without financial support.

What Surprised You Most?

Emmanuel appreciated the collaborative and flexible nature of the mentorship.

He noted that his mentor understood the realities of balancing multiple commitments and adapted meeting schedules when necessary. This supportive relationship created a positive learning environment and also strengthened his understanding of the Wikimedia Friendly Space Policy and collaborative community practices.

Recommendations for the Language Diversity Hub

The mentee suggested several ways the Hub could strengthen future mentorship cycles:

Organise regular peer-learning sessions where mentees can exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and share successful approaches.
Continue offering micro-grants to enable more local and in-person community activities.
Provide additional technical support focused on Wikidata, particularly advanced training for the Fante community.

Community Health

Overall community morale was described as very positive.

The community is motivated, collaborative, and optimistic about future growth.

Progress Review

Area	Current Status	Assessment
Active editors	Increased from 2 active editors to 5 active editors.	🟢 Green
Content growth	Number of articles has increased and article quality has improved.	🟢 Positive
Technical milestones	Successful translation of Wikidata properties into Fante.	🟢 Significant progress
Community structure	Leadership capacity has improved and community coordination is strengthening.	🟢 Positive
Retention	Existing editors are remaining active and contributing consistently.	🟢 Positive
Partnerships	Community collaborations are developing, although no formal institutional partnerships were reported during this check-in.	🟡 In Progress
Funding	Micro-grant requested. Community is also exploring additional grant opportunities.	🟡 In Progress
Communication	Regular mentorship meetings have been maintained throughout the programme.	🟢 Positive

Six-Month Co-Created Action Plan

Priority 1

Expand the translation of Wikidata properties from English into Fante by an additional 500 properties.

Priority 2

Increase the number of active community volunteers from 5 to 15 through outreach, training and continued engagement.

Priority 3

Expand the number of Fante Wikidata Lexemes by 500 lexemes to support the development of a standardised Fante terminology glossary for Wikimedia projects.

Support Requested from the Language Diversity Hub

The community requested:

Continued mentorship and technical guidance beyond the initial six-month mentorship period.
Additional technical support for Wikidata capacity building.
Continued access to micro-grants to support community events and local engagement activities.

Success Indicators (Next Six Months)

The community considers the mentorship successful if the following outcomes are achieved:

A significant increase in translated Wikidata properties in the Fante language.
Growth in the number of active contributors.
Expanded Fante Wikidata Lexemes supporting terminology development.
Stronger community leadership and sustained editor retention.

Action Items

Action	Responsible	Deadline
Complete the Progress Review documentation.	Emmanuel Assilidjoe	1 July 2026
Review, approve and disburse the Fante community micro-grant.	Language Diversity Hub	Pending
Share meeting notes with participants.	Tochi Precious	Within 24 hours

Community Assessment Summary

The Fante community is working with students from the University of Education, Ajumaku campus, where Fante is taught as a course. They have challenges with mobile editing on Wikipedia. Most co

Current Status & Strengths

Stage: Recently Graduated (Wikipedia). Actively incubating Wikiquote.
Active Contributors: 15-20 active contributors, with structured leadership.
Strong Institutional Ties: Formal connection with the University of Education, Winneba, providing a base for recruitment and activities.
Content Output: ~2,000+ articles on Wikipedia. Focus on adding 1,000 more in 6 months.
Grant Experience: Has successfully applied for and used Rapid Grants.

Primary Goals

Add 1,000 new articles to Wikipedia in 6 months.
Graduate Wikiquote from the Incubator and reach 2,000 quotes in 12 months.
Increase active editors from ~20 to 30+.
Engage more schools, cultural institutions, and media partners.
Build advanced Wikipedia and Wikidata skills (e.g., creating templates for local languages).

Identified Challenges & Support Needs

[Critical] Volunteer Recruitment & Retention: The #1 challenge. Difficulty differentiating volunteer work from paid jobs; need for consistent activities to maintain engagement.
Funding for Capacity Building: Need funding for regular training and edit-a-thons to sustain volunteer activity and motivation.
Technical Skills Gap: Limited technical skills among most members, specifically for advanced templates and Wikidata.
Network Connectivity: Some contributors face internet connectivity issues in out-of-coverage areas.
Partnership Formalization: Desire to build stronger, more formal partnerships with existing and new institutions.

Mentorship Action Plan

Phase 1: Stabilize & Systematize Retention (Months 1-3)

Objective: Develop a structured system for integrating and retaining new volunteers, reducing reliance on one-off grant-funded events.

Action Item	Lead	Status	Notes/Deadline
1. Co-create "Fante Onboarding & Engagement Kit"	Community + LDH Mentor	Pending	A simple guide with welcome message, tutorials, and easy first-tasks.
2. Launch Bi-weekly "Skill Share" Sessions	LDH Mentor + Community	Pending	30-min sessions on basic skills (e.g., VisualEditor, sourcing).
3. Draft Partnership Proposal for UEW	Community + LDH Mentor	Pending	Formalize requests for in-kind support (e.g., computer lab access).
4. Develop Micro-grant Concept for Connectivity	Community + LDH Coordinator	Pending	Plan for a grant to address "network challenges" for active contributors.

Phase 2: Skills Application & Content Sprint (Months 4-6)

Objective: Apply new skills to achieve content growth targets.

Host a thematic "Content Sprint" (e.g., "Fante Educational Institutions Month").
Focus Skill Shares on Wikidata item creation and templating.
Submit a micro-grant application for data/connectivity support.
Progress significantly toward the 1,000-article goal.

Phase 3: Partnership Growth & Wikiquote Push (Months 7-9)

Objective: Leverage content success to expand partnerships and advance Wikiquote.

Approach media partners for coverage using success stories.
Plan a "Wikiquote Graduation Blitz" with UEW, engaging literature/language students.
Facilitate connection with Wikimedia Ghana User Group.
Increase Wikiquote activity and article count.

Phase 4: Sustainability & Legacy (Months 10-12)

Objective: Formalize community structure and ensure post-mentorship sustainability.

Review and update the "Engagement Kit" based on experience.
Community leads a workshop for another Hub community on volunteer retention.
Finalize documentation for Wikiquote graduation.
Develop a 12-month sustainability roadmap.

Meeting Notes & Logs

December 2025

Initial Assessment & Planning: Discussed the community's strong university partnership and the critical challenge of volunteer retention. Agreed to prioritize building a systematic onboarding and engagement program to create sustainable activity beyond one-off events.

Key Resources & Links

LDH Mentorship Program Page: Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub/Activities
University of Education, Winneba: UEW Website

Contact

On-wiki: Sadik Shahadu
Community Lead:
Institutional Partner: University of Education, Winneba

This page is maintained collaboratively by the Fante Community and the LDH team. Please feel free to add updates, notes, and reflections below.