We Are Women - Mamafubedu

The We Are Women edit-a-thon was a writing and translating workshop held on 11-12 August 2023 at Rhino Heritage Park in partnership between Wikimedia ZA and Elandskop Outdoor Museum, in Mamafubedu (previously known as Petrus Steyn). The aim of the event was to improve Wikipedia articles about notable SeSotho women, SeSotho content and SeSotho language.

Background

Participants at the Old Abartoir Rhino Park Museum

Rhino Heritage Park and Elandskop Museum, found in a town of Mamafubedu Petrus Steyn have always advocated and inspired others to explore their heritage and culture, fostering a true understanding of their origins. For years, Wikipedia has served as a valuable resource where communities unite to write and edit stories they deem essential for our collective knowledge. Yet, the African narrative and the comprehension of these stories still face limitations, with many remaining untranslated into our official languages. The two day workshop was also to celebrate Women's Month with the theme :"We are Women", by increasing the amount of South African Women content on Wikipedia in Sesotho and other African indigenous languages.

African languages are marginalized and there is  lack of proper representation as many articles are published or translated by Europeans.

By writing articles in our  own languages on Wikipedia is vital if we want to share important information and knowledge as well as  preserving African languages. We had over 50 people on attendance, mostly who were new to Wikipedia. They all came from Johannesburg, Vaal, Qwa-Qwa, Sasolburg and Reitz respectively.

On the evening before the event, Beyond The Outdoors film screened their winning documentary from the BANFF Mountain Film Challenge called :Thabana Ntlenyana Hiking 2023. This was shown around a campfire. In the morning Elandskop Outdoor Museum arranged a tour around the town of Petrus Steyn and a hike to the top of Elandskop Hill. First day was successful with new accounts created and Bobby Shabangu leading the processions as well as talks assisted by Twin Mosia, a museum curator from Elandskop Museum. Traditional food was served to emphasize the importance of local tradition, culture and values.

The second day started around midday and lead by Twin Mosia with Tumelo Mokoena, a museum educator and curator from Mafahlaneng Heritage in Tweeling. Prizes were given for participants on the two days, food was served at the end of the activities.

Outcomes

The outcomes were 4 Articles created with 12 articles edited. We had a total of 116 edits from 18 active editors and created about 30 new Wikipedia accounts.

A total of 2.97K words added as well as 40 references to already existing articles. We had 691K article views and 8 uploads on Commons.

This is a success as this was the first Edit-a-thon held in the Free State, in such a small town were Wikipedia is almost not known or unknown.

Dashboard viewed here.

Picture of event dashboard showing the metrix outcomes for the event

Media and Publication

Heilbron Herald which is a local newspaper from Heilbron advertised and marketed the event. Thabo Makhetha, a Basotho fashion brand as well as Veldskoen Shoes sponsored the main prizes. Beyond The Outdoors filmed the two day event and the footage or/ episodes will be available from their YouTube channel.