Dear Wikimedians,
We (the community resources team at the Wikimedia Foundation) have been in
contact with colleagues from the Wikimedia movement in India and wanted to
share some of the preliminary outcomes of our discussions.
Firstly, we want to acknowledge the disastrous effect COVID-19 has had on
Wikimedia communities and its members across the movement. The COVID-19
pandemic has affected many of us in both direct and indirect ways.
As has been noted by others on this email chain, we all agree that
Wikimedia volunteers are the most valuable assets of our movement. As
mentioned in the previous email, providing insurance support to Wikimedia
volunteers in India would not have been possible due to regulatory and
legal challenges. However, we are committed to provide other help and
service to ensure that the movement is supported.
As discussed on this chain, we feel that our partners are the best placed
to understand the needs locally and regionally. We are therefore working
with colleagues from India directly to provide practical help and support
to the movement there including access to vaccines, PPE kits, disseminating
knowledge and fighting misinformation. We will continue to partner with
them and others to establish criteria in line with our mission to support
the communities. These are exceptional times, indeed but together we will
be able to make a difference and support each other.
For any questions about this initiative please feel free to contact:
communityresources(a)wikimedia.org
Regards,
On behalf of Community Resources Team,
Tanveer Hasan
ಗುರು, ಏಪ್ರಿ 22, 2021 ರಂದು 02:41 ಅಪರಾಹ್ನ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕೆ ರಂದು Bodhisattwa Mandal <
bodhisattwa.rgkmc(a)gmail.com> ಅವರು ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ:
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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