Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group/Wikidata Editathon 2018 (Buea)/Report
- Report accepted
- To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group/Wikidata Editathon 2018 (Buea).
- 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 edit
Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
Yes, we met our goal of bringing in editors who are willing to promote free knowledge despite the delay and postponing of the event dates. We are very delighted on how the event unfolded despite the hurdles. We prepared the event to get 45 new editors but had 36 new editors, even though we didn't meet the total attendance as planned, Indeed, the event went smoothly and the participants learnt how to add and edit Wikidata items, upload/categorize images on Commons and write/Translate articles on Wikipedia. The events started on time for the first two days and did not start on time on the third day due to heavy rains but the participants still came in their numbers (including unregistered participants sent by an NGO which did not register her participants for the event) and will not let the session end while their questions were not answered.
Furthermore, Participants came from Douala and Yaounde to learn about Wikidata, Commons and Wikipedia and also assist in the other sessions where they had a little more advanced experience. We discussed about opportunities, other projects of the movement and activities that will be taking place in Cameroon. We also discussed of the upcoming projects which will be launched as sustained by the developers in the user group.
Outcome edit
Please report on your original project targets.
| Target outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanation |
| 45 participants | 36 participants | Few days before the event, a lot of people sent mails to follow up with the event time and necessary preparations to make before the actual event days. Some participants even requested to attend within the event days and they were a good number of them most of who came from other NGOs and we saw that it was good to spread the word as their organization may consider to support free knowledge if they bring back what they learnt to their respective companies. Some members registered but did not finally make it and so were replaced with those who called abruptly on the event days. |
| Recruit new editors | Yes, most of attendees learnt how to contribute | The participants who attended from day one gained more and did not miss the following days. Those who did not attend the first day expressed their minds requesting for a recap and before the other sessions began,they were brought up to speed with the previous sessions and then followed up during the breaks and after each event day. Conclusively, everyone who attended the event learnt how to edit in at least two of the target projects. |
| Increase skills for existing editors | Yes, a few attendees (including organizers) improved their skills | The participants and organizers who had learnt how to edit other Wikis confirmed that they learned how to edit new wikis and found new ways to contribute which is more interesting. |
| Add or improve content | Yes, For each section content was added and others modified | In order for the participants to understand how to contribute properly, new content(Wikidata items, images and articles) was added and existing content was improved just so that participants understand how the cycle goes from adding their own contributions to improving the contributions made by others. |
| Introduce volunteers to APIs to be used for up-coming projects | Participants (especially business owners) were introduced to APIs | Throughout the sessions, both developers and business owners requested that a demonstration be made of the ways in which their projects and businesses can interact with these projects. To do so, The Wikidata API and Commons tool API were presented to them together with the usage and also sample projects which have been built using these APIs. |
| Planning and discussion on potential project ideas selected by the Affiliate committee and organizers | Yes, there was a discussion on potential projects which will be launched in due time by the User group. | On the first day, participants requested that we enlighten them on the kind of projects which Wikidata can be built around Wikidata and this was discussed. Finally on the last day, a group discussion was made where participants suggested projects which the community can engage in. |
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 communication to the participants and the other parts of the community was very well handled. We informed participants long before the event approached and also when there were change of dates, we made that known to all organizers and the participants. We faced little or no difficulties because the members who registered did that early enough.
- What did not work so well?
We were expecting more than 45 participants but due to the change in program, we lost a good number of participants who were interested. Also, we planned to have 3 - 5 new articles written on the last day but this was not possible due to time constraint.
Also, a few participants came who were totally not able to use computers to create an account or browse the internet and they could not be left behind as well. We had to take time for the basics to be taught to them before the sessions continued.
During the hands-on parts of the tutorials, few people did not quite get exactly what to do to follow up and felt belittled to express themselves.
Lastly, due to improper information, we had to transfer some funds which was allocated for a different task to another task and this brought some tension to the organizers as that was done within the event dates.
- What would you do differently next time?
Next time, before any session begins, we shall ensure that all that the participants require to work is all set up such as basic knowledge and setting up and recovering of user accounts.
We shall also consider organizing pre-event sessions to handle preliminary issues which the participants may face in the event day(s) just so that smaller issues don't appear to slow down the workshop.
Also, we shall provide little sticky notes where the participants who will not like others to know questions came from them will write those down and then the organizers will answer these questions to all participants after reading the question.
We will also confirm and publish the participants list two weeks before the event so that we don't rush into making reservations for those who will registered at the very edge of the event days.
Finally, we will do all calculations with the concerned venue service providers before writing the actual grant so as not to divert expenses or run out on planned budget.
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.
| Item | Spent Budget in XOF | Spend Budget in USD | Receipt Available | Comments |
| Hall(Venue for 3 days) | 600,000frs CFA | $1, 129.94 USD | Yes | |
| Food and entertainment Day 1 | 150,000frs CFA | $ 282.49 USD | Yes | This sum was spent all for just day 1 while it was budgeted for three days as we underestimated the amount. |
| Food and entertainment Days 2 and 3 (snacks) | 100,000frs CFA | $ 188.32 USD | Yes | Due the expensive nature of the food for day 1 which was wrongly estimated, 100, 000 frs allocated for internet was used to provide food for the second and third days. |
| Transportation of participants and organizers | 125,000frs CFA | $ 235.40 USD | Yes | We could collect all receipts from those whom we knew could provide. For those who came from Douala, emphasis was laid on the forms provided and signed by the User group organizers and participants. |
| Refund of Venue allocation fee to secure event dates. | 10,000frs CFA | $ 18.83 USD | Yes | This was provided by one of the organizers (@eugene233) and was later refunded at the close of the event. |
| Total | 985, 000 frs CFA | $1, 844.63 USD | Provided for some expenses | local agents. Those we could get receipts from, we did especially for standard items such as food and drinks (from restaurants), |internet connectivity etc. |
Remaining funds edit
Do you have any remaining grant funds?
Yes, the funds remaining were due to the following reasons:
- -> Transportation was allocated for a Wikimedian from Douala who fell sick and could not make it for the event. This saved us 10, 000 frs from the total sum.
- -> Also, One other Wikimedian coming from Yaounde Realized the good work done to supporting others to attend such even requested for half the sum and completed it by himself, saving us 5 000 frs from the total sum.
therefore, 15, 000 frs( $28.25 ) was the remaining funds.
Yes, just as participants are requesting that we organize editathons more often, we will be happy if we are granted the opportunity to use the remaining funds to organize these upcoming events.
Anything else edit
Anything else you want to share about your project?
- As noticed, the grant met the estimate stated even though a few adjustments were made while these expenditures were made. We think that subsequently, more information will be gathered before the grant is written and that things be done better and managed to a an extent greater than this one.
- Organizers gifted the sum of 35050 CFA to support for purchase of water and soft drinks to accompany the snacks given on days 2 and 3.
- Once more, we received goodies from WikimediaDE which were during the events days to prize winners and our visitors from Douala, yaounde and also to event participants. Everyone was happy about this and we also wish to thank Wikimedia DE so much for their support to make the event and other upcoming events very resourceful and enriching.
- To sum it all up, we were very excited to find out that participants were happy to have learnt how to promote free knowledge even without writing code while the developers and business owners are very happy about getting their hands dirty by building tools and using tools which have been built by others in the movement. We thank the Wikimedia Foundation and the grants committee for their huge support to make this event happen.