Wikimania 2022/Scholarships/Wikimedia Community User Group Kenya/Report

Goals

The 2022 Wikimania was a great connecting moment for members of the Wikimedia Community User Group Kenya. This was the second Wikimania we were participating as a UG after the 2021 edition and atleast this time the community was much aware about the conference and knew what to expect and how they could plug in.

We received a grant to facilitate members’ participation in Wikiminania that included data, childcare, photography and transport for the in-person events (post-Wikimania meet-up).

We supported a total of 23 participants who either attended only one day, 3 or all 4 days of Wikimania 2022.All participants received data allocation as per the days they attended Wikimania. A total of 10 pax received childcare support We had anticipated to support the other unknown group from our country that had applied for a scholarship for Wikimania, which was rejected but they never reached out and therefore our data allocation only benefitted 23 folks and not the total 40 pax that we had envisioned.

Outcome

What worked well? Planning ahead of time has always worked to our advantage and user:Cmwaura and User:Ms Kabintie supported the process from planning to completion with the goal of empowering the new organizers to learn more about organizing community events.

Wikimania Debriefing: We also had a debrief that created a platform for members to learn what to expect in this year’s wikimania, review the program and identify sessions of interest, how everyone could get involved? How the scholarships would be allocated and reporting requirements.

Post Wikimania Meet-up + watch party Due to Kenya’s general elections in August and the post-election tensions, we weren't able to convene for the Wikimania watch party during the conference as we had planned, we had to postpone it to September. This made it combine with our post-Wikimania meet-up.

Delayed funds:the funds delay also disrupted our planning and schedule but in the end we still managed to pull through.

We discussed the following areas during the Wikimania meet-up and watch party;

What worked well during Wikimania?
What didn't work well and how they can be improved?
Areas of participation in Future Wikimania?

Learning

What didn’t work well? Even though all events and activities went well, we had a bit of a coordination challenge this year, that ended up delaying our report submission for the first time. The affiliate leaders have however resolved the issue and learned on how to avoid such issues in the future.

Event platform: the platform was a major letdown for most folks, most gave up on day 1.

Finances

...Data support for 23 folks = KSH 61,237
...Childcare for 10 folks =KSH 40,000
...Transport for watch party and post meet up, KSH30,000
...Meals and refreshment = KSH30,500
...events Photography and videography KSH 50,000
...Wikimania Swag (branded hoodies) KSH24,000
...Administrative costs= KSH35,000
...Meals during the wikimania entertainment programming session 16,000 -
... Miscellaneous KSH37,050

Total Amount received = 338,3292

Remaining Funds We have a total of ksh 70,745 ($571) remaining funds from the data and meals due to the combined events (Watch part + post wikimania meet-up).

Request to Utilize Remaining Funds in Wikimania 2023 activities

User:Anitah Pezz, who we have tasked with taking lead in organizing and coordinating Wikimania 2023 local activities, is in custody of the remaining funds (ksh 70,745 ($571) and liaise with users Cmwaura and Ms Kabintie in the planning for accountability.

Comments from members

User:Queen Asali I confirm receipt of funds for the 2022 Wikimania conference that catered for data reimbursement, childcare, watch party transport and the hoodie.

My highlight during the 2022 Wikimania conference was being in the spotlight as a speaker where I got to share more on the Wikivibrance project ( International Youth Month) and other activities that the Kenya Community User Group is doing in the Wiki movement by tapping into the creativity and innovation of young people in Kenya to mobilize for change in shrinking the content gaps in Wikipedia while also empowering the Wikipedians in Kenya to be champions of free knowledge " leaving no one behind." I was also convinced and I do believe that it's very important for Africans to take a prominent role in the push for knowledge equity on Wikipedia and for us to achieve this we need greater collaboration from across the different regions.

Shalom Chepchumba I received the funds for data reimbursement of the Wikimania event, Reimbursement of hoodies, and transport facilitation. My Wikimania experience was good and very informative except for the few glitches here and there. My recommendation is if there would be another online Wikimania event would it be possible, for another platform to be used for it and a small short tutorial video so that it can help with navigation through the tents?

Samuel Kiongo I appreciate being part of the Wikimania2022 celebration in Kenya this being my first time. The experience for me was amazing, waiting for the next event. My biggest challenge was navigating through the Wikimania platform would like the next one to be more easier to navigate through. I acknowledge that I received reimbursement fund for transport, hoodie and data.