Duala Wikipedia Project

About

Duala Wikipedia Project is a project initiated in August 2024 by a group of Cameroonian Wikimedians members of the Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group in order to create and promote Duala related content and topics on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects and start a Duala Wikipedia. Duala is one of the most spoken ethnic language in Cameroon with an estimated 2 millions speakers.

Context

There are over 260 languages spoken in Cameroon which has contributed in Cameroon been classified by UNESCO as cultural density on the linguistic map of the world. However, many of those languages are disappearing. The National Institute of Statistics of Cameroon reported that four percent of the indigenous languages have disappeared since 1950 and that ten percent of them are neglected, and seven percent of them are considered as threatened. Despite its rich cultural diversity and a growing local Wikimedians community, there is currently no Cameroonian local language Wikipedia in September 2024.

Objectives

The objectives of this project include:

Introducing Wikimedia projects to people that are literate in Duala language and encouraging Duala people that are literate in Duala language at any level to become contributors
Starting the Duala Wikipedia
Creating and promoting Duala related content and topics on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects
Recruiting teachers, authors and native speakers of the Duala language.
Creating a Duala Wikimedians Community

Activities

Translating the user interface with translatewiki
Building partnerships to collect ressources on Duala language and recruits teachers and scholars
Audio recordings of Duala words and expressions with Lingua Libre
Editathons
Conferences and outreach sessions

Participants

Partners

Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group