Grants:Project/Rapid/Art and Feminism in the Philippines Edit-a-thon/Report

Report accepted
This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2019-20 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.


Goals edit

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Yes, I was able to execute the project well. I have invited new participants which are mostly female students. There were also male participants who have actively joined the edit-a-thon. Two experienced editors have helped me throughout the duration of the project and they have reviewed and improved the articles created by the new editors. Here is the statistics of the edit-a-thon: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Kunokuno/Art_and_Feminism_in_the_Philippines_2020/home

The project have run smoothly. In fact we've been one week earlier from the scheduled start date of the project. However, I have received an email on March 12, 2020 regarding "COVID-19 Wikimedia Foundation Grants for public events" and for that reason events scheduled for March 14 and March 21 were cancelled. I have encouraged the editors to do the editing from their respective areas since there were still articles to be improved. Much of what hindered the full success of this program was the post-events. As I've previously stated on my email last April 2020, I was lock down far from my home where all the necessary requirements to complete this report was needed. I have only relied on the page I have created on BCL Wikipedia and some few documentations I had on my phone. Then as government protocols were not that tight already, the Philippines was a hit with a signal no. 5 typhoon, by which I had to ask for another extension due to the power interruptions, fluctuating data connections, and the worst part is having to fix my personal computer which was devastated by the typhoon. After all these obstacles, I guess we were able to meet our goals not only as online editors but as a community.

Outcome edit

Please report on your original project targets.


Target outcome Achieved outcome Explanation
Number of events:4 4 events Due to cancellation of meet-ups because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2 offline events were cancelled. However we were able to start a week earlier, which adds to our to scheduled event on February 29 and March 7. We were also able to do separate online meet-up to adjust with the COVID-19 situation. It was to do a final session of editing and wrapping things up before the government has finally declared the total lockdown.
Number of participants:20 18 participants 11 participants have joined the actual edit-a-thon. The other 7 have participated more on outreach and preparation of the event. Since there were 2 offline events that I cancelled, I opted to cancel my invitation for new editors.
Number of new editors:15 8 new editors The postponement of two events have hindered me on reaching for other interested participants. The prospected editors have however joined the next edit-a-thons that was held after things were a lot better in the Philippines.
Number of of articles created or improved:70 There were 66 new articles created and 86 articles improved. This has surpassed my target since I have the participants being tutored first before they do the actual editing. This strategy was efficient.
Number of repeat participants :10 6 repeat participants The postponement of two events due to COVID 19 pandemic have been a great factor on not achieving some of the project goals.


Art and Feminism in the Philippines Edit-a-thon 2020 edit

Learning edit

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

  • What worked well?

The participants were first taught with the basic editing before they were engaged into actual editing. Also, the articles to be created have been posted earlier the actual event. They have ample time to do the research and locate reliable references. They were also taught on how to use the translation tool since most articles are already available on English Wikipedia. This strategy proves to be efficient, making the total edits exceed my target.

  • What did not work so well?

Most of the events were conducted on a computer shop. We were in a coastal area and somehow the Internet signal is mostly down or slow. It takes a lot of coaching and follow-up for the new participants to do their editing even without the actual event. Mostly of the students have their doubts on using the Wikipedia. This is a common issue here in the Philippines. As the offline activities are cancelled, we have shifted to one online activity by which we are not yet used to. There were some technical difficulties that we went through.

  • What would you do differently next time?

I would always do the orientation on the background of Wikipedia so as for the participants to be made aware of the contributions they're doing for the entire community. Some articles can also be created beforehand so it would still be a productive edit-a-thon even with the slow internet connection. Moreover, there should always be an alternative plan for online meetings with the participants in order to accommodate them without actually having to do the face to face sessions. This is in connection with the emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Finances edit

Grant funds spent edit

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

1. Food and Drinks = Php 850.00 x 7 participants = Php 5,950.00 x 4 events = Php 23,800.00

2. PC Rentals = Php 500.00 x 5 participant = Php 2,500.00 x 4 days = Php 10,000.00

3. Internet Service = Php 3,000.00 x 4 days = Php 12,134.50

4. Communication Expenses = Php 5,100.00

5. Printing expenses = Php 2,500.00

6. Contingency Expenses = Php 1,684.00

Remaining funds edit

Do you have any remaining grant funds? There is remaining P 581.50.

Remaining funds have been used or will be used for other approved mission-aligned activities. This use has been requested in writing and approved by WMF.

Anything else edit

Anything else you want to share about your project?

The project have been carried out as planned and I hope I have contributed on bridging the gender gap through this edit-a-thon. I wish to do the same project next year.