Strategy/Wikimedia movement/2018-20/2019 Community Conversations/Strategy Salons/Reports/UG Guinée Conakry Youth Salon

Group photo at Kamsar Youth Strategy Salon

This report is available in French here.

Ce rapport est disponible en français ici.

Date and location[edit]

Location : Community Library in Kamsar, Guinea
Date : 20 July 2019
Time : 9am-4pm

Wikimedia Guinea User Group organized its second strategy salon in the industrial city of Kamsar, 300km away from the capital city.

Participant List[edit]

Eleven participants, three women.

Aboubacarkhoraa President of Wikimedia Guinea
Abdoulaye Ditin Camara, Writer and high school teacher in Kamsar
Mr Bangoura , Librarian and high school teacher in Kamsar
Milimono, President of students at Kindia University
Mohamed Distel sylla, Photographer
Falilou224 Note taker
Sayd224 representative of Kamsar's antenna.--Sayd224 (talk) 11:41, 5 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Aissatou Lamarana Diallo
Magassouba
Goullo
Mara

What happened[edit]

Falilou224 presented the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process.

Aboubacarkhoraa presented the thematic areas.

Then discussions started.

Summary of the discussion points[edit]

Since Kamsar youth are not experienced Wikimedians, this report will not be a succession of answer to strategic questions, but rather a way to depict the situation of young people in Guinea in respect to Wikimedia projects (awareness, needs...).

State of play[edit]

Internet[edit]

Young people (at least students in big cities) almost all possess a smartphone with Android, which they could use to contribute to Wikimedia project.

But they mostly use the internet to access social media (Facebook, Instragram,...) where they spend a lot of time. They only use information website when they have to do research for school or to find an answer during a conversation with friends.

Wikipedia[edit]

Young people all use Wikipedia, but often without realizing they are on Wikipedia. Sister projects are very little known. Overall, there is a lot of ignorance around Wikimedia projects : few people know they can be edited.

Kamsar[edit]

Kamsar contributors are not yet autonomous. They have the electricity and the internet, but sometimes lack computer equipment and decent connection (slower than in Conakry). Most of all, Kamsar members don't have sufficient skills around Wikimedia projects, especially young people.

Guinea User Group[edit]

Wikimedia Guinea User Group members are themselves very young (17 to 30 years old), with an average age around 20. Most of us are students.

This results in a lack of experience and skills. It is difficult to manage a group with heterogeneous skills, especially when it is a non-profit activity.

Even some active members of the User Group are not yet at ease with contributing to Wikipedia (publish an article, etc.).

Needs[edit]

Training[edit]

The first thing young people need is awareness about Wikimedia Projects, so that they want to participate. Then, we can train the most motivated ones.

In order to be able to do this, we need to have the User Group leaders better trained themselves.

We also need more online training resources so that we don't need to go back and forth between Conakry and Kamsar. Both cities need to be independent.

Girls[edit]

Girls are more addicted to social media and socially less inclined to do research. Few of them come to trainings and those who do remain very discreet.

Girls at Kamsar salon insisted that they needed trainings specifically intended for them (it is culturally difficult for them to blend in a mixed environment). We are thinking about creating a Wiki girls club.

Support from the Foundation[edit]

The User Group lacks credibility and legitimity. We could use Foundation support to help us contact universities and other organisations. And/or to create partnerships documents.

Note: since the User Group was officially recongnized as an affiliate, Kofi Annan University makes us pay for venues and equipment (it used to be free before). We thus need financial support.

Events[edit]

Young people need to be motivated by having the opportunity to participate in national or international wikimedian events.

User group Support[edit]

The User Group organizes trainings and awareness-raising sessions that help young people to discover that Wikipedia is a collaborative project they can contribute to. We try to demystify the platform and offer support.

We would like to be able to offer a place, internet connection and computers to those who have no access to it - but for now we don't have a locale.