Hello Ruby,

Allow myself to use the occasion to emphasize how important the campaigns for WikiAfrica/Africa Wiki are in order to provide pictures to the wikis and to the world.

It is still difficult to find good pictures on Wikimedia Commons that illustrate life in many African countries. I am grateful for the pictures tourists upload, and sometimes the pictures from national or foreign governments are quite usable. But there is something missing.

For our children‘s encyclopedia in German, Klexikon, it was a challenge to find pictures with some diversity when we wrote the articles about non European and non North American countries. And it still is, or: maybe there are more suitable pictures on Commons but we don‘t always find them because Commons as a platform itself... could be improved in a number of ways.

But in recent years, we have seen pictures made within campaigns such as Wiki loves women or the thematic challenges about work or transport in Africa. Step by step, our Klexikon articles can be essentially improved; although, there is still a certain bias towards pittoresque churches, nice beaches and other more „tourism related objects“.

Also, we have recently added a number of videos made by WikiTongues, another great initiative.

https://klexikon.zum.de/wiki/Algerien

https://klexikon.zum.de/wiki/Äquatorialguinea

https://klexikon.zum.de/wiki/Liberia

https://klexikon.zum.de/wiki/Mosambik

By the way, when I am looking for good pictures on Wikipedia (German, English, Dutch), I see that a lot of Wikipedia articles could need an update too - with regard to the pictures that have been made in the, say, last 10 years or even only 5 years.

(I noticed that Commons received a lot of good pictures about e.g. Barbados and Angola within the last 5 years only.)

So I am looking forward to the new pictures from this campaign, and to see how they will be used for display on the wikis.

Kind regards

Ziko

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Klexikon

Ruby D-Brown <rbrown@ofwafrica.org> schrieb am So. 2. Mai 2021 um 10:38:

Dear Wikimedians,

We are happy to announce the maiden edition of the Africa Wiki Challenge, a writing contest that calls on all Africans, people of African descent, people that identify with the continent or any one with an interest in Africa to contribute content about the many things that make up the true and rich identity of the continent (its rich and colourful cultures, history, landmarks, education, cities, rivers, lakes, food, vegetation, etc.) from 23rd May to 30th June 2021.[1] The campaign seeks to project stories of Africa, project its identity and help reduce the content gap about the continent on the web.[2]

Each year, we will select a theme to guide users on what to contribute to as part of the campaign. This year, we have selected the theme “Landmarks in Africa”.[3] The aim is to document all landmarks that cover historical, cultural, geographical and places of key significance to a country or the continent. These include but not limited to;

Monuments - Statues, Memorials, Historic buildings, Archaeological sites

National Demarcations - Districts, Municipalities, Metropolitan, Regions, States, etc.

Geographical Endowments - Mountains, Valleys, Forests, Waterfalls, Wildlife, Beach, etc.

Infrastructural Developments - Roads, Hospitals, Churches, Mosques, Schools, Rails, Water parks, Hotels, Theme parks, etc.

Individuals or affiliates are welcome to participate or support the project. You can participate in the competition by writing new articles or improving existing articles in the destubathon contest.[4] Visit our participate page for more information about how to join the competition.[5] Do you want to organise an activity in your group/country/region? Check out our organizers page or organizers guide for more information.[6][7]

There will be virtual office hours prior to the start and during the campaign.[8] These office hours are opportunities to learn more about the campaign, ask questions, or receive support.

Kindly send questions, suggestions, comments or concerns to info@ofwafrica.org or visit the campaign page on meta or on our website.[9]

Ruby Damenshie-Brown

Administrative Executive

Open Foundation West Africa

[1] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Wiki_Challenge

[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjD7DqepQdg

[3 ]- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2LDKzenfc4

[4] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Wiki_Challenge/Destubathon

[5] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Wiki_Challenge/Participate

[6] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Wiki_Challenge/Organize

[7] - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Organisers_Guide_for_AWC.pdf

[8] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Wiki_Challenge/Participate#Join_our_Virtual_Office_Hours

[9] - http://awc.ofwafrica.org/

Ruby Damenshie-Brown

Administrative Executive

Open Foundation West Africa

www.ofwafrica.org

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