Grants:Project/Rapid/Suyash Dwivedi/11th World Hindi Conference 2018/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2018-19 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Suyash Dwivedi/11th World Hindi Conference 2018.
You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

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

We planed, to participate in this upcoming World Hindi Conference to represent Hindi Wikipedia, as It gives an important opportunity for us to promote Hindi Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in Hindi like, Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikiversity etc. among large numbers of individuals and groups with similar interests from India, Mauritius and around the world. It also gives us an opportunity to interact with them in prospects for possible co-operative collaborations/agreements. Also, since this conference was about to be held in Mauritius, it also gave us a unique opportunity to popularise Hindi Wikipedia in Mauritius and search for possible collaborations with organizations working for the Hindi language, within Mauritius and around. Prime Ministers of India and Mauritius were likely to attend this event (Past event https://www.vishwahindisammelan.gov.in/Archive-10th-World-Hindi-Conference.htm ).

We are happy that we could achieve almost all goals however we find that bit more volunteers needed to cover such big event. We have tried to organize some hands-on workshop about Wikipedia but it couldn't happen because of organizers tight programme schedule and unplanned programme changes following the sudden demise of former Indian PM Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Outcome

Please report on your original project goal.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
To increase readership of Wikipedia	Yes	We have shown Hindi Wikipedia awareness video produced in collaboration with the Hindi Wikimedians User Group, Happy mcgarrybowen, and the Wikimedia Foundation. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_-_Ektara.webm) We also did one-to-one interaction with visitors at Wikipedia stall and cleared their doubts about how wikipedia works, through live demonstration, make them prepare small articles there and then. Pamphlets about Hindi wikipedia information were circulated to more than 2000 visitors and participants. Even the pamphlets were handed over to agreed upon World Hindi Secretariat and Hindi Pracharini Sabha at Mauritius, to distribute among their gatherings and relevant events afterwards also.
Expand network of potential partners	Yes	More than 20 individuals and Institutions (Names listed) interacted during conference and we have discussed about various possibilities about collaboration. We are in regular touch with a mailing list and dedicated and purposed Whatsapp groups.
Increase awareness of Wikimedia projects	Yes	Wikimedia’s other sister projects like, Commons Wikisource , Wikibooks, Wikiversity, Wikidata and others projects like GLAM, Internet in a box (IIAB) , WikiProject Medicine demonstrated and explained at length. Same were covered through the abovesaid circulated pamphlets also.

Institutions/ Representatives Contacted

Participant of WHC 2018 sharing view about Hindi Wikipedia

World Hindi Secretariat
Chairman, Commission for Scientific and Technological Terminology, Govt.of India.
Director, Central Hindi Dte.,Govt.of India
Jt. Director, Election Commission of India
Bharat Darshan, World’s first online Hindi literary magazine, Auckland
President, Hindi Speaking Union, Min.of Arts & Culture, Mauritius.
Aadi Anant Divya Jyoti Sansthan
Tatpar Bharti Editor magazine
Secretary, All India Ex MP’s Association
CEO, Hindi Book Centre
Editor, African Indian Ocean News agency, Mauritius
Director, Ravindra Nath Tagore Instt, Mauritius
Director, Hindi Sahitya Niketan, India Addl. Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dept.of School Education & Literacy, HR Ministry, Govt.of India
Director General, Indian Instt of Mass Communication, Min of Inf& Broadcasting, Govt.of India
Director, CDAC, Govt.of India, Pune
Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishvavidyalaya, Wardha,India
Vice Chancellor, Atal Bihari Hindi Vishvavidyalaya, Bhopal, India
Convener, Journalism & Mass Commn. Dept of Hindi, Delhi University.
General Manager, Oriental Insurance Company of India
Member, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Govt of India
Registrar, National Instt of Industrial Engg., Min of HRD, Govt.of India
Editor, Gagananchal magazine, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Foreign Min, Govt.of India
Representative form Microsoft
And representatives from many reputed institutions such as:
- Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy
- Rampur Raza Library
- National Open School Educational Institute.
- Diamond Pocket Books
- Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan
And a lot more out of which many names can’t be disclosed due privacy request

Learning

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? -

Spreading awareness about Wikipedia among dignitaries and Ministers and top officials of Government of India, Institutions and participants/ visitors. Ministry of External Affairs mentioned and appreciates about wikipedia efforts towards Hindi language and open knowledge promotion in their book named भोपाल से मॉरीशस^[1] (in Hindi language https://vishwahindisammelan.gov.in/writereaddata/images/pdf/Bhopal-Se-Mauritius-book-new.pdf ) 5 times.

Bhopal-Se-Mauritius-Book Cover Page

Hindi Vishwa Daily News Paper of 11th World Hindi Conference

Hindi Vishwa Daily News Paper of 11th World Hindi Conference Wikipedia Coverage

Those group of people who were doubtful in the spread of knowledge and language through this medium (Wikipedia) and its authenticity, were convinced to much extent.
Arrangement of presentation through video projector and live explanations impressed the people to much extent deeply.
In such a short period we were able to share the knowledge and information to such depth and a vast expanse of people at an international platform, that needs be encouraged in forthcoming such programmes.
We got printed about 1000 pamphlets from home thinking a less count enough to save the freight charges of air journey and a large count enough to save enormous printing charges at a foreign nation what were incurred by us there for additional prints, This count needs be judiciously estimated caring both the aspects. Same applies for the banners and other swag materials.
Carrying wikipedia SWAG material and distributing to the visitors there as a goodwill gesture, helped connecting people to a large extent and branding of Wiki projects as well. Many people came searching the stall seeing these and were found interested in our projects. This aided in searching the interested people without a much of effort.
A large benefit of foreseeing and planning the jobs and work there and estimating the pre-programme time to reach there helped us a lot.
- We got ample time to search for the printers for addl pamphlets, flex-banners (finding options of printers and investing printing duration), visit different institutions and meet some people personally.
- Off course pre-visiting the location to select the best corner(2-side open) and bigger stall, apart from other lesser known stalls, in the mid of reputed international stalls.
- We were able to arrange for the video projector options and additional Laptops there and then with self made links (as one of our laptops failed).
- Getting some additional limited benefits which can be acquired on first-come-first-serve basis.
- We were able to meet exclusively with some people of repute, by reaching early, that helped us a lot.
- We were able to search for cheap currency conversion spot so as to save on bucks.
This way we were benefited for reaching in estimated advance time.
- Invested the additional time afterwards the programme to cover the Mauritius famous spots as photo walk session, thereby benefiting commons.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:11th_World_Hindi_Conference_2018,_Mauritius

What did not work so well?

We were planning to do a hands on workshop about Wikipedia but it couldn't happen because of organisers preoccupied tight programme schedule.
Utter lack of manpower restricted the interaction with many dignitaries and many occasions were left unattended (like online parallel sessions) due to short of count. Better we could have been a team of four (04) members, working in coordination could aid us a lot.
Heavy custom duties levied on Swag material that disturbed our budget. It is suggested whenever such swag material be sent to India, remarks (or mention in Invoice that material is sent as a gift/ charity and have no commercial value) be put suitably so as to exempt such levies and charges (approximately ₹ 11,000).
People with liberal food habits, weather bearing and worsted travel savvy may be preferred for international international travels, otherwise they may have bitter experiences leading to rotting of experiences.
Luggage amount may be well calculated with a margin to get some addl increment while on return, which we were good at.

What would you do differently next time?

We would prefer

A well in time programme and
Effort to accompany more team members,
Organise the workshop and take printed matter as far as possible with us from India, as this demanded an extensive survey there consuming much of time and money in that expensive country. We thought of saving the freight charges, but it costed more to print pamphlets and flex there.
Plan the international flights directly as far as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary transit time wastage. Same we had experienced at Mumbai in Delhi-Mumbai-Mauritius flight.
Will try to arrange a visitor’s log book and if possible a digital database of visitors be prepared, that may help in future.

Finances

Grant funds spent

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

S.No.	Category	Item description	Number of units	Cost per unit	Total cost in INR	Comments
1	International Travel	Two way travel from Mumbai to Port Louis for 2 participants.	2	MUR 20408	~ ₹96,325	Funded By CIS A2K
2	Domestic Travel	Cost of travel from individual Cities to International Airport for 2 participants.	2	₹17659+₹17933	~ ₹35,590	Funded By CIS A2K
3	Accommodation	Double bed sharing rooms	10	~ ₹5,240	₹52,430	more economical hotel
4	local transportation costs		Mix	~ ₹3,025	₹30,245	Average ₹3,025 per day Travelled by bus and taxi
5	Communication	Local Sim card and recharge	2	~ ₹590	₹1,180
6	Food	For 2 participants for 7 days (conference days food sponsored by organizers)	28	~ ₹353	₹9,887
7	Swag and advertising material for the conference.				₹38,558	Including rental for LCD Projector and Amplifier Systems for 3 days of the conference, storage device and power bank for IIAB
8	Custom Duty	Custom Duty charged on Swag material			₹10,382	Charged by Indian custom
9	Entry tickets		2	~ ₹590	₹1,180	Outreach activity for Commons
10	Contingency Fund	We have alloted ₹20,000 as contingency fund			- ₹7,261	Adjusted to pay custom and exceeding amount of other heads like accommodation, transport, advertising, customs charges etc. (Additional amount of ₹7,150 paid by us)
		Total (S.No. 2-10)			₹ 143,862	Amount received (local currency) ₹1,36,601INR

*International and Domastic Travel (1)+(2)=~ ₹ 1,31,915

Average Exchange Rate 1MUR=2.36 INR

₹=INR

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

No funds remaining, Additional ₹7,261 paid by us because of Customs charges paid on Swag material otherwise our final budget within the limit otherwise we could save ₹3,120. We request you to please reimburse the additional amount.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?

Credits to CIS A2K that helped us in covering our International and local air travel expenses. We are thankful to them from the depth of our heart.

Being both the participants pure vegetarian, it was hard to find a Vegetarian restaurant, so many times we cooked food (rice with spices, noodles etc.) ourself in Hotel's kitchen where we were staying.

Because of our pre-conference work and long stay, we have chosen much economic hotel our second hotel was near to the other participant's hotel so that we can discuss with them while traveling to the conference venue.

Winning price camera and lance Winner of Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 handed over to winner Prashant Kaharote at Mumbai while returning back to India, thereby saving the travel charges to hand over the camera to the recipient, this also had an interaction with the awardee for no cost. Same was covered in the newspapers^[2] also.

Photo Gallery

11th World Hindi Conference 2018 Welcome
Conference Stage
Hindi Wikipedia awareness video playing at stall
Participant of WHC 2018 sharing view about Hindi Wikipedia
Hindi Wikipedia Sall
Pamplets and awareness material at Hindi Wikipedia Sall
Smt.Mridula Sinha (Hon. Governor of Goa)with Hindi Wikipedia pamphlet
Sir Anerood Jugnauth (Former President of Mauritius) visited Hindi Wikipedia Sall
Sir Anerood Jugnauth (Former President of Mauritius) visited Hindi Wikipedia Sall
Smt. Sushama Swarj (Minister of External Affairs of India) visited Hindi Wikipedia Sall
Participants and delegates reading Wikipedia pamphlet
Participants and delegates reading Wikipedia pamphlet
Participants and delegates reading Wikipedia pamphlet
Wikipedia Brochure at main Welcome desk
Delegats experiencing Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB)
Delegats experiencing IIAB and understanding about Wiki Project Med
Delegats experiencing IIAB and understanding about Wiki Project Med
One-to-one Interaction
Wikipedia Swag (Pin)
Delegats with Wikipedians
Sir Anerood Jugnauth in conference
World heritage signboard at Aapravasi Ghat Museum
Aapravasi Ghat Museum, Mauritius
Ramayan Aapravasi Ghat Museum, Mauritius
Hindi Wikpedia coverage