Movement Strategy Implementation Planning for Hausa communities/Engagements

The Hausa Wikimedians User Group has set a plan to engage with the Fulfulde and Kanuri communities as part of its strategic planning. It is an effort to increase engagement and awareness as well as to strengthen the group's relationships with other local communities. The aim is to introduce the Fulfulde and Kanuri communities to Wikimedia projects in their respective languages, increasing the number and diversity of contributors on Wikimedia projects, and raising awareness about the importance of creating and improving content in Hausa, Fulfulde, and Kanuri languages as well as making information available in their languages. The outreach engagement will also raise awareness of the mission and work of the Hausa Wikimedians User Group. By encouraging others to join and support their efforts, which the group hopes to expand its reach and impact within the local communities and Wikimedia movement at large

Objectives

• Introduce the local communities to Wikimedia projects in their language
• Increase the number and diversity of contributors on Wikimedia projects and raise awareness of the importance of improving content in Hausa, Fulfulde, and Kanuri languages.
• Encourage a range of learning methods, such as training, mentoring, consulting, online learning, peer-to-peer support, and events.
• Raise awareness of the mission and work of the Hausa Wikimedians User Group, encouraging others to join and support the group's efforts.
• Establish a service to facilitate peer-learning, networking, and information sharing with other partners and allies in the Wikimedia movement.

Fulfulde community

On December 24, 2023, the Hausa Wikimedians User Group seized the opportunity of the holidays and held one of its community outreach with the Fulfulde community in Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria as part of its strategic planning project. The goal of the project is to create awareness and help revive and develop Wikimedia projects in the Fulfulde language by providing training, support, and mentorship opportunities to the interested community members.

The engagement with the Fulfulde community in Gombe was well attended and it provided a valuable opportunity for community members to learn about Wikimedia projects and how they can contribute to their language projects. The representative of the Fulfulde community (Hajiya Khadijah Ardido Haruna Ardibe Ardake) has engaged with the fulfulde community with presentations about Wikimedia projects in Fulfulde language, where she reiterated the importance of Wikimedia platforms and why the Fulfulde community should not left behind, she also talked on the importance of preserving and promoting the Fulfulde language and culture through the use of technology and members of the Hausa Wikimedians User Group led training sessions on various topics, including editing Wikipedia articles, creating new content, and using online resources to support their efforts as Wikimedia projects are sourced from verified secondary sources. Additionally, mentorship opportunities were available for participants to receive one-on-one support as they develop their skills through the network of their community leads.

During the interactive session, the participants asked a lot of questions on how to they can be involved, creating accounts, start editing, citing and creating content pages. The participants also pledged to strengthen the community by recruiting other people to join the cause. They showed so much enthusiasm that wiki accounts were created for some of them instantly.

Gallery

• Hausa Wikimedians Movement Strategy Community Engagement with the Fulfulde community in Gombe, Gombe State. December 2022
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Kanuri community

Hausa Wikimedians User Group has also had it another community engagement with the Kanuri community in Maiduguri, Borno State. It is a part of the organization's Strategy planning project. The main aim of the event is to create awareness and help develop and revive Wikimedia projects in Kanuri language by introducing the people to their language projects and also provide opportunity for them to be trained, supported and got mentored in developing their skills to contribute positively in the Wikimdeia movement.

The engagement was well attended and it provided a valuable opportunity for the Kanuri community members to learn more about Wikimedia projects and how they can contribute to the projects in their language. The Kanuri community representative (Mohammed Bulama MohammedBama123) has engaged with his community with presentations about Wikimedia projects in Kanuri language, where he reiterated on the importance of Wikimedia projects and why the Kanuri community should get involve. He also talked about the importance of preserving and promoting the Fulfulde language and culture through the use of technology by making information of the language and its people available to everyone. The Hausa Wikimedians User Group members led the training sessions on various topics, including editing Wikipedia articles, creating new content, and using online resources to support their efforts as Wikimedia projects are sourced from verified secondary sources. Additionally, mentorship opportunities were made available for participants to receive one-on-one support as they develop their skills through the network of their community leads.

During the interactive sessions, the participants asked a lot of questions on how to they can be able to get involved, creating accounts, start editing, citing and creating content pages. The participants also pledged to strengthen the community by recruiting other people to join the cause. They showed so much enthusiasm and wiki accounts were created for some of them during the event.

Gallery

• Hausa Wikimedians Movement Strategy Community Engagement with the Kanuri community in Maiduguri, Borno State. December 2022
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Outcomes

The engagement with the Fulfulde and Kanuri communities were a great success, with many participants expressing interest in contributing to Wikimedia projects and continuing to develop their skills, this has led to creating Wikimedia accounts for the interested participants. The training sessions has also provided valuable knowledge and resources, and the mentorship opportunities helped build confidence and skills for those who had participated. The event also helped raise awareness of the mission and work of the Hausa Wikimedians User Group to supporting Wikimedia movement mission in the Hausa speaking world, attracting new members and supporters from both communities as well as energizing them to emulate same.

Challenges from both engagements include:

• Most of the participants do not know about Wikimedia projects prior to the outreach
• Limited internet connectivity in their localities is making it difficult for them to use the internet or access Wikimedia projects.
• Some participants had limited experience with technology, which made it challenging for them to fully participate in the training sessions.

Recommendations

• To improve internet connectivity for future events or provide support for it.
• Offer basic computer training for participants who have limited experience with technology to improve their ability to participate in the training sessions.
• To organise more similar events in the future to make more people aware of the Wikimedia projects and to boost the community engagement.
• Follow up programs, Online and offline meetings/trainings in both Gombe and Borno States.