Dear Indian Wikimedians,
As many of you may have known, one of our fellow Wikimedian was arrested by
Uttar Pradesh Police in October 2020. His name is Siddique Kappan (His
wikimedia username is User:Sidheeq). He is from Kerala, and he was active
in Wikimedia projects (mainly in Malayalam Wikipedia) until his arrest.
Incidently he is a journalist and he was arrested from the home of Hathras
rape and murder victim while reporting the victim Dalit girl's family
members. UP Police has slapped Sedition, Terrorism as well as UAPA charges
against him.
Kappen is diabetic and now COVID positive. He was admitted to hospital only
after he collapsed in the jail cell. With his deteriorating health, it was
accused that Kappan was chained to hospital bed like an animal. Today's
news reports say that he is in critical condition. (You could always google
"Siddique Kappan")
As a tone deaf people I don't expect anything from this mail, I just wish
to share the information.
Stay Inside, Stay Complementary (non-critical), Stay safe, Stay healthy.
User:Praveenp
-------------
Siddique's en.wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Sidheeq
Namaskara,
This might be some food for thought, and inputs are welcome. India mailing
list is the largest and most widely used Wikimedia mailing list for the
Indian community. Could we have a practice that all grant requests from the
country (or related to) are informed on the Wikimediaindia-l mailing list?
Whether it is a state-level, project-level, language-level etc, or whether
it is a rapid grant, project grant etc it would be good to see the plan
details on this mailing list in advance. It will ensure greater visibility,
and it will also ensure the community's understanding/knowing of each
other's projects.
If we can have a practice like this, we can inform Wikimedia, or CR team or
relevant support structure(s) as an India community practice.
This post is in my personal capacity. Please assume good faith
Regards,
User:Titodutta
Hi everyone,
*This email was sent from Amrit's account but has not been approved yet.
Apologies in advance for overwhelming the mailing list in case the other
email is also approved.*
I am pleased to inform you that Amrit and I have prepared a toolkit for
transcription of oral culture which enables non-expert to document their
language and culture and digitize them on Wikimedia platforms. We have
built upon the OpenSpeaks toolkit and Elicitation Protocol of Wikitongues
in order to provide a unified toolkit with content on technical knowledge,
oral history elicitation interview questions, wiki workflow and
introduction to language documentation. The volunteers who tested this
toolkit were mostly female, thus forwarding our aim of inclusivity as an
aim of this project. We request you to go through the toolkit on the
following page:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oral_Culture_Transcription_Toolkit
Please share your ideas and recommendations on it on the Discussion page of
the toolkit.
Further, we are planning to utilize this toolkit in the new project that we
have proposed. In this project, we plan to teach youths speaking endangered
languages to document their culture, hold workshops for training in
audio-visual documentation and train them for the wiki workflow. We would
love to hear from you on this plan of ours, your suggestions are very
welcome. Also, if you are interested to participate or volunteer in this
project, do let us know on the talk page or via email. We are sharing the
link to this project below:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fund/Yo…
We are also inviting volunteers to join this project in any capacity. Feel
free to add your name to the Volunteers section on the project page.
Regards
Nitesh and Amrit
Hello everyone,
The Board of Trustees is preparing a Call for Feedback about the upcoming
Board Elections, from *7 January - 10 February 2022*.
While the details will be finalized the week before the call, we have
confirmed at least two questions that will be asked:
-
What is the best way to ensure fair representation of emerging
communities among the Board?
-
What involvement should candidates have during the election?
While additional questions may be added, the Movement Strategy and
Governance team wants to provide time for community members and affiliates
to consider and prepare ideas on the confirmed questions before the call
opens.
We apologize for not having a complete list of questions at this time. The
list of questions should only grow by one or two questions.
The intention is to not overwhelm the community with requests, but provide
notice and welcome feedback on these important questions.
Do you want to help organize local conversation during this call?
Contact the Movement Strategy and Governance team
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Movement_Strategy_and_Go…>
on Meta, on Telegram <https://t.me/wmboardgovernancechat>, or via email at
msg(a)wikimedia.org.
Kindly reach out if you have any questions or concerns. The Movement
Strategy and Governance team will be minimally staffed until 3rd January.
Please excuse any delayed response during this time.
We also recognize that some community members and affiliates are offline
during the December holidays. We apologize if our message has reached you
while you are on holiday.
Regards,
Chitraparna Sinha (Meta <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:CSinha_(WMF)>)
Facilitator, Movement Strategy and Governance
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy_and_Governance>,
SAARC, Wikimedia
Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Dear Wikimedians,
Greetings for the New Year 2022! We are excited to announce that submission
for session proposals has been opened for Wikimedia Wikimeet India 2022,
the upcoming online wiki-event which is to be conducted from 18 – 20
February 2022 during the occasion of International Mother Language Day. The
submission will remain open until 23 January 2022. You can submit your
session proposals here -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Wikimeet_India_2022/Submissions A
program team has been formed recently from highly experienced Wikimedia
volunteers within and outside India. It is currently under the process of
expansion to include more diversity in the team. The team will evaluate the
submissions, accept, modify or reject them, design and finalise the program
schedule by the end of January 2022. Details about the team will come
soon. *Guidelines
for submissions:* * The sessions will be on any Wikimedia related topics. *
Submissions are not restricted to India. Wikimedians from outside India are
also welcome to submit proposals. * The decision to accept or reject a
submission will depend on the Program Team. Their decision will be final. *
The event will have different formats of sessions, like presentations,
workshops, panel discussions and 5-minutes lightning talks. * All sessions
will be conducted online. * The organisers will provide the support to help
the presenter understand the use of online platforms like Zoom etc prior to
the event.. * The organisers will also communicate with the presenter prior
to the event to help understand the entire process, or for general
preparation. * A session can be around 20 minutes long or more. A lightning
talk should be no longer than 5 minutes. * There can be more than one
presenter in one session. Feel free to make a group for your session. * The
presenters for long duration sessions must ensure that they will be
available for the preparation and during their sessions. * The presenters
for lightning talks however can pre-record their sessions earlier, if they
want and send it to the organizers to play the recording during their
allotted time. * A session will be conducted in English or any Indian
language. * Similar topics may be grouped together, or format may be
changed by the program team. The program team will contact the session
presenters if those decisions are taken. We are sure that you will share
some of your most inspiring stories and conduct some really exciting
sessions during the event.
Best wishes for your submissions!
Regards,
Subodh (On behalf of WMWM India 2022)
Hello all,
In response to the climate crisis, the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group
has joined hands with other affiliates from around the world and committed
to a cross-affiliate initiative to reduce the environmental impact of the
Wikimedia movement. The initiative can be looked at as one of the first
steps to implement Movement Strategy Recommendation #1.8
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recomme…>-
"*While we grow and become more sustainable as a Movement, we will also
align our practices to support the environmental sustainability of our
planet.*"
The user group took part in drafting a document which we call as Wikimedia
Affiliates Environmental Sustainability Covenant
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Affiliates_Environmental_Sustaina…>
and became one of the first signatories of the agreement along with
Wikimedians for Sustainable Development, Wikimedia Deutschland, Wikimedia
France, Wikimedia South Africa, Wikimedia Italia, Wikimedia UK and
Wikimedians of Tamazight User Group.
The agreement till now is as follows -
1. Affiliates commit to reducing their carbon footprint through a
variety of measures, including but not limited to:
- drastically limiting the number of kerosene-based flights taken by
affiliate staff and representatives and community members,
through measures
such as
- caps for flights taken on behalf of the affiliate,
- increased technical and organisational support for remote events,
- travel policies that discourage flights over other means of
transport and that encourage the use of public transportation, and/or
- travel policies that require compensation for the environmental
cost of air travel,
- switching to renewable energy for their electricity consumption,
where possible,
- divesting their financial investments from carbon-intensive
industries,
- when engaging in carbon offset programmes, supporting only the
planting of native trees in uninhabited areas and not using offsets as an
‘excuse’ for their carbon emissions,
- implementing other practices listed below.
Affiliates related to Most Affected People and Areas shall only have
limited responsibilities in this regard, and shall receive support from
other affiliates to meet them.
2. Affiliates call on other Wikimedia Movement entities, including and
especially the Wikimedia Foundation, to follow their example, specifically
concerning the sustainable operation of the Wikimedia Foundation’s data
centres.
3. Affiliates commit to supporting initiatives aimed at improving the
coverage of the climate crisis on Wikimedia projects.
4. Affiliates commit to regularly (at least yearly) sharing their
experiences adhering to this covenant to inspire each other and others
inside and outside of the Wikimedia Movement.
As an affiliate with very limited capacity and resources and from a
developing nation, the user group will have technical and infrastructural
limitations implementing many of the clauses, but during the next AGM which
is going to happen in mid January 2022, a travel policy will be formulated
in compliance with this agreement. As before and with agreement with the
covenant, the UG will also keep committing to actively promote remote
virtual events including conferences, workshops, meetups whenever a
physical event can be avoided or deemed unnecessary. The UG will also
continue to support projects which focus on digital conservation of nature
like Wiki Loves Butterfly etc. There might be some more plans which can
come up gradually as our commitment to the agreement.
You can learn about this initiative presented by different speakers at
different virtual conferences from this year.
- Wikimania 2021:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Towards_a_more_environmentally_sust…
- WikiIndaba 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch? <goog_766684395>
v=uXIVCUNoGu4 </>
- WikiArabia 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENERdAmdAo
- CEE meeting 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oAIMDlc13M
- WikiConference North America:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbJ7IO9cJYg (at 3:33:10)
- WikiConvention francophone 2021:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlUD8MVPsyU (at 3:53:00)
- German-language WikiCon 2021:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2021-10-01_Klimaschutz_in_der_Commu…
Many affiliates are internally discussing the document and reviewing it
right now. If you as an affiliate are also interested, you are welcome to
do the same and join this effort. We look forward to your active
participation.
Regards,
Bodhisattwa
(On behalf of West Bengal Wikimedians User Group)
Dear All,
We want to share about art4good - a year long campaign to create mental
health related images.
Suicide Prevention India Foundation (SPIF) a Section-8 not-for-profit, has
partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation to launch art4good, an initiative
that invites professional artists, photographers, students, and amateurs to
create the world’s largest repository of mental health-related imagery. The
year-long initiative, which commences in December 2021, aims to leverage
the power of visual imagery to reframe the narrative around mental health
in an effort to increase awareness, reduce stigma, bust myths, and
encourage help-seeking.
Under this collaboration, art4good is inviting participants to curate
artwork that helps create awareness, break stigma, and promote dialogue
around mental health. SPIF will release the art4good posters under the CC-BY-SA
4.0 license and make them freely accessible on Wikimedia Commons for
volunteers to use on Mental Health/Suicide Prevention-related articles on
Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
False representations of mental health can have damaging effects.
There are numerous
studies that highlight how entertainment and news media’s
<https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16478286/> representation of mental
illness and those with mental illnesses are exaggerated, dramatic and even
distorted. Worryingly, those with mental illness are presented as
dangerous, potentially criminal and socially inept. A paper by researcher
Heather Stuart noted that the media focuses on negative reactions to the
mentally ill, including fear, rejection, derision and ridicule. This
negative portrayal impairs self-esteem, reduces help-seeking behaviours,
meddles with medication adherence and overall recovery.
Individuals from across the Wikimedia movement developed the Wikimedia 2030
Movement Strategy Recommendations
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recomme…>
to enable the movement to grow sustainably and inclusively. Recommendation
#8 highlights “Identifying Topics for Impact” as a priority for the
movement. Improving Wikipedia’s coverage of suicide to better align with
the recommendations of public health experts is just one way that the
movement can focus on the impact of our projects on the public’s
understanding of suicide and suicide prevention.[1]
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/09/09/world-suicide-prevention-day-and-the-…>
Wikipedia's health material is the most accessed resource for health
information on the internet [2
<https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0228786>].
As a result, Wikimedia communities have an opportunity to increase access
to knowledge on suicide prevention as a key impact subject.
art4good is a year-long campaign starting this month (December 2021). These
free-to-download and distribute images will seek to leverage the popularity
of memes, cartoons, illustrations, infographics, and also the enduring
power of photos to support text-based narratives. The winners will stand a
chance to win exclusive merchandise and a participation certificate.
What themes is the campaign targeting?:
The campaign will focus on 10 main themes, which have been curated to
provide direction and structure, but should not be limiting, participants
can choose their own themes.
1. I, me, myself (Self-care)
2. You are not alone (Care-giving)
3. Ssh-out - stop the silence (Reduce stigma around mental health)
4. Color your emotions (Speak up, don’t bottle your emotions)
5. Digitally connected, socially isolated (downsides of dopamine rush
from digital)
6. Work-life balance (Yin-Yang, time to seek balance)
7. Your life matters (Choose life)
8. Help-seeking is cool (We all need a little help)
9. Protective factors (Who or what are my safety nets?)
10. Neurodivergent (We maybe different but same)
How can I participate?
Pick your theme or make your own theme, spend time making something that
will change hearts and mindsets, and then log onto
https://paintyourblues.com/submission/ and hit submit. The images will be
reviewed and then uploaded to Wikimedia Commons after the end of every
month by SPIF.
We would like to invite everyone to amplify this initiative and participate
in bringing awareness to this cause through the art4good campaign.
Best,
Praveen Das
--
*Praveen Das (he/him/his)*
Senior Partnerships Manager - South Asia
M: +91 - 8951323603
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
*Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment and you can help continue to
make it a reality: * https://donate.wikimedia.org