Hello,
Thanks for sharing the thought. I agree that there is a necessity to
seriously think of the support, and taking necessary actions. Very rarely
we face such a threat directly affecting so many people. This is an
exceptional situation, possibly needs exceptional measures (there was a
thread/open letter on Wikimedianindia-l:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2021-April/014955.ht…
)
A few countries are badly affected. I believe other than the main pandemic,
the simultaneous and post-pandemic socio-economic difficulties will be a
huge problem. Other than the humanitarian aspect of it, this will have a
direct impact on important areas like editor onboarding, editor retention,
educational and institutional partnership etc.
I feel, possibly a COVID-19 (support) committee can be set up soon?
ইতি,/Regards,
টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
বৃহস্পতি, ২২ এপ্রিল, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:৪১ PM টায় এ Bodhisattwa Mandal <
bodhisattwa.rgkmc(a)gmail.com> লিখেছেন:
Hi,
COVID-19 has hit hard in India again making it the leading epicentre of
the disease caused by the new mutated strains. The infection and death
tolls have reached record high and the health system in different parts of
the country is on the verge of collapse.
Like other common people, many Wikimedians might have lost their jobs last
year. Like last year, this year too, many volunteers have been infected and
hospitalised. Some of them have lost their family members, relatives,
friends and other dear ones.
Volunteer online community is the heart of our movement and every
dedicated, experienced and long-term volunteers are our most valuable
asset. It is not at all exaggerating to say that many language Wikimedia
projects or WikiProjects are dependent completely on one (or two or
three...) person's persistence to build it as a tall building from scratch
and if we lose some of those people, those projects might totally stop
forever. There are so many fantastic people in the movement who have been
doing incredible work in their volunteer capacity for such a long time
(sometimes more than a decade) to make what Wikimedia is today.
I would like to urge people with power and money in the movement to find a
way to protect these assets. We not only cannot afford to lose them, but
also need to proactively protect them. Maybe a small step to provide
personal or family COVID-19 insurance might help a lot. Maybe sending money
to buy COVID-19 vaccines might save some of them. Who knows?
If we can spend millions of dollars for conferences or a couple of hundred
thousand dollars to celebrate 20 years of Wikipedia during Wikimania, can
we not spend a few thousand dollars to protect at least some of the people
around the globe to some extent who made it possible to turn Wikipedia into
its 20th birthday?
Disclaimer: I had tried to convince the grants team from my personal
capacity last year when COVID-19 was spreading rapidly in India but was
denied due to their legal concerns regarding insurance registration as
well as settlement and liability issues. Few others tried to convince them
too but failed. I am reaching out to the community to start a conversation
this time and find a way together.
I am sorry for my long mail. I could not help it.
Regards,
Bodhisattwa
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