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Summary

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The WikiPack Africa Project is a WikiAfrica project launched in 2016. It amalgamates:

  • the coding of a software environment, WikiFundi
  • the creation of action packs for use by local Wikimedia chapters, user groups or isolated individuals in Africa, and
  • a Writing Contest to be run in African Schools : WikiChallenge Ecoles d'Afrique/en.

It rolled out in two phases :

  • Phase 1 involved the creation of the WikiPack Africa. WikiPack Africa is a digital kit located via a local network device (Raspberry PI). The local network device provides access to an off-line editing platform that mimics Wikipedia, and provides related materials and additional OER resources. The WikiPack Africa will both facilitate the outreach work of Wikimedia chapters, User Group and individuals, and encourage the growth of digital skills and content contribution by teachers and students across Africa.
  • The Writing Contest (Phase 2) used the WikiPack Africa to facilitate an entertaining, powerful, collaborative and interactive content creation competition between schools in French speaking Africa (Sénégal, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinée, Niger, Tunisia, Madagascar, and Cameroon).

The project has been conceptualised and conceived by Florence Devouard and Isla Haddow-Flood.
The project is run in partnership with Wikimedia CH and the Orange Foundation and is primarily implemented by Florence, Isla and Emmanuel Engelhart. It is implemented from May 2016 until summer 2017.
The project proposal, its documentation and its outcomes are under a CC BY SA 4.0 licence.

WikiPack Africa : introduction to the WikiPack

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What it is

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A WikiPack Africa is an action pack containing devices, material and content to facilitate the outreach work done by local Wikimedia chapters, local Wikimedia User Groups and isolated individuals in African countries. The pack allows for ongoing training and contribution even when technology, access and electricity outages fail or are not available at all.

Phase 1 of the Project involves the development and creation of the WikiPack Africa. This phase includes creating an off-line editing environment that mimics the Wikipedia called WikiFundi, user guides, resources and additional educational material to be accessed via a Raspberry PI.

WikiFundi, the offline editing environment, is to be used in the training of Wikipedians and the development of articles by groups.

In addition, to WikiFundi, the Raspberry PI will also be loaded with off-line copies of Wikipedia, select WikiBooks, Wiktionary and a resource pack that will assist with and support contribution to Wikipedia. Other outreach and reading resources will also be part of the packs. All digital resources and the application platform will be made available under a free licence.

When delivered, the WikiPack Africa comprise a Raspberry PI and some offline materials (posters, leaflets, pull-up banner, tee-shirts, etc.). The WikiPack will be delivered to several Wikimedia User Groups located in Africa. A Call for Interest was made to identify which groups receive the Packs (8 countries will be covered as part of the pilot launch).

Who is it for?

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The WikiPack Africa empowers volunteer communities to grow as Wikimedia organisations and paves the way for a self-reliant future. It is primarily meant for individuals and groups wanting to implement outreach projects and:

  • work with galleries, libraries, archives and museums to bring cultural content online;
  • work with education partners to get educators and students contribute or better understand Wikimedia projects;
  • more generally, organise edit-a-thons, photo hunts, workshops, press conferences, etc. to promote Wikimedia projects.

What does each pack contain?

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Each WikiPack is intended for a group of Wikimedia volunteers and/or an active Wikipedian in Residence in a country. Each pack contains :

  • Hardware : one Raspberry PI server for offline access to content helpful for the Wikimedian groups. In the pilot phase, we plan to equip 8 groups in Africa.
  • Software: Offline versions of Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikiversity ...
  • WikiFundi: An offline “basic” editable mediawiki website, modelled like Wikipedia, for the off-line editorial practice that can be uploaded too or copied onto the relevant Wikimedia project. This software does not exist at the moment and will additionally be made available to everyone on an online platform.
  • Digital content : Curated multimedia content: video and written tutorials, guideline articles and toolkits, educational content, general toolkits, how-to’s, etc.. The digital content will be made available for all on an online platform.
  • Non digital content : Marketing and communication materials: posters, badges, stickers, banners, etc.

The key element of the Wikipack : WikiFundi

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Phase 1 includes creating an off-line editing environment that mimics the Wikipedia called WikiFundi, user guides, resources and additional educational material to be accessed via a Raspberry PI.

WikiFundi, the offline editing environment, is to be used in the training of Wikipedians and the development of articles by groups.

What is being produced?

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An offline “basic” editable mediawiki website accessible via the Raspberry PI. The offline version mimics Wikipedia to allow for the addition of information and content in a similar environment to the online version. Once each article is completed, it can be copied onto the relevant Wikimedia project (there will be no automatic import of article, on purpose...).

Problem being solved

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No access or poor access to Wikipedia due to connectivity issues.

Who are the beneficiaries ?

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Wikipedians across Africa (Wikimedia volunteers / Wikipedian in Residence and other Wiki project leads).

How will it be done ?

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User:Kelson, the lead person behind Kiwix, provided the technical support. The content gathering pages can be found for English here and for French here.

People and structures involved

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Organizations

  • Orange Foundation (Financial support to the project, Promotion and communication, Operational support during the Wikipedia Writing Contest for schools involved in Orange Digital Schools Network)
  • Wikimedia CH (Financial administration of the project, Liaison for the organisation of the hackathon session and financial support, Communication)

People

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