WikiIndaba Conference 2019/Masssly/Report
Report by Masssly at Wiki Indaba conference 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria.
This page documents my participation around Wiki Indaba conference 2019.
I am one of the co-leads of Art+Feminism. My attendance was in that capacity.
Departing Accra - Thursday, November 7[edit]
My trip to Abuja was by air, lasting for about 1 hour 45 minutes on Thursday, November 11, 2019. Scheduled to take off from Kotoka Airport at 10:40 am, my flight delayed for more than 2 hours. I used the opportunity to catch up with 3 friends from Ghana who were also traveling to Wikiindaba. Also on the same flight was the Chief Operations Officer of Wikimedia Foundation, Jeneen Uzzel. To calm complaining travelers down, the airline decided to give us snacks, and I think that it worked because many people didn't have breakfast before leaving home. knowing the heavy traffic in Accra, breakfast at home was not an option for me too. Finally, the call for boarding came, and I was very excited; looking forward to seeing Abuja and participating in the conference.
Arrival - Thursday, November 7[edit]
The conference organizers had earlier mentioned that they would provide buses to convey participants to the conference venue. During conferences I had attended in the past, I usually had to find my own way to the hotel/conference venue. This was new to me, and so to ensure against "this" not happening, I made sure to buy some Naira in Ghana the night before. Aside from my friends from Ghana that just arrived, other Wiki Indaba attendees were also waiting for the bus which we learned was completing a trip. As we waited together, it was so good seeing old faces and meeting new ones for the first time. One such folk from the latter was Dr. Ngozi Osadebe from the University of Nigeria at Nsuka; organizer of the largest ArtandFeminism events in West Africa. We've been communicating for more than 2 years, even holding Skype Q&A sessions with her event participants; this was the first time we saw each other in person.
Fortunately, the pick-up bus did arrive, but, there were more passengers than seats. We learned that a round trip would take two hours, and I and another person decided to get a cab to the hotel. The ride to our hotel took about an hour. Instantly, Abuja felt so much like home; wide roads, overhead bridges, people running to cross the road at unofficial crossing points, posh neighborhoods immediately next to rough places, etc. In Abuja though, roads have fewer posters and advertisements than is visible on the streets of Accra, and there is much less traffic in Abuja.
Preconference - Thursday, November 7[edit]
I got to my room in the hotel by 6 pm and came down to participate in the Community Mixer & Dinner for event participants by 7 pm. Again, it was exciting to see old friends and get to meet new ones. At dinner, I felt so much at home with food. One of the conversations surrounded the raging Jollof battle between Ghana and Nigeria. I offered to be the one-person jury to taste the Jollof that was served and decide which was better; Ghana Jollof or Nigeria Jollof. My verdict was that I need to taste more samples in the coming days before concluding which was better.
The only agenda for the Thursday, November 7, was meetups. My self and the Walaa, ArtandFeminism regional ambassador for North Africa, decided to hang out and prepare for a presentation about ArtandFeminism we were scheduled to make on Friday, November 12. This meeting needed to happen because we had previously not had time to work on the presentation before the conference.
I spent some getting-to-know-each-other-time with my 3 other roommates, and I retired to bed around 12am, poised for action in the coming day.
Conference Day 1 - Friday, November 8[edit]
Confernece day 1