Dear Colleagues,
Apologies for my epistles
Dear Asaf,
Thank you for your points and for the links.
Kindly note that you quoted my mail out of context by saying that I am being alienated and de motivated
because I didn't receive scholarship. It's not about "Olaniyan" but
about the gross denial of many groups in Africa, the opportunity of exposure to
new knowledge and information that Wikimania offer to share. Just like
you and I know that, Wikimedia is about community development and no community
can develop without an effective execution of projects. Now tell me, if you
chose just 4 applicants in Africa, how do you want other communities that were
not represented to learn from the products/outcomes of the event?. Also, if you
believed that Wikimedia is about free sharing of knowledge and information, how
can communities and individual from the alienated groups share their project
with the larger community of Wikimedians?
I want us to read and
digest an extract from Wikimania mailing list on some of the questions raised on
issues relating to the selection of applicants for wikimania scholarship below:
"Olatunde raises a significant
issue in that call for communities to participate in the community village is
demoralising if communities dont have the opportunity to attend the event which
is suppose to be bringing everyone together. We have the underlying
principle of sharing the sum of all knowledge, if we dont do it internally then
we cant do it successfully externally.
As for the response the process for Wikimania has been changed, in Mexico last
year a decision was taken with many communities unaware and excluded from the
discussion because they didnt have anyone there. With Wikmania being every 2
years its becomes more significant that all communities have representatives
attend every wikimania otherwise it ends up isolating communities for 4 years
from the whole of the movement. The scholarship process is also
broken and its needs to be discussed it needs to be reconsidered to allow for
the changes”
Submitted by Gnangarra.
It seems some of us are comfortable with our minority role in the movement…
and if we continue this way, I wonder what would be the future of the movement
in the continent.
Great thanks to Isla and Florence and others for their roles
on the continent, by providing direction through the introduction of sustainable platform for collaboration
and sharing of knowledge among the various communities in Africa. Even with
this on hand, we still need a larger forum where all the communities and
volunteers who align with our movement can come together to express themselves year
in year out.
Now that no one knows the fate of Wikiindaba and Wikimania
is out of reach. What next?
Submitted.