Hello,
Hope this email finds you safe in this difficult time. Many people and
Wikimedians have been affected or have suffered a loss. In an effort to
ensure community solidarity where Wikimedians can meet and talk to each
other, we are starting a lightweight interaction zone for the Wikimedians
in India. This interaction zone is named "Stay Safe Stay Connected".
Please see the event page here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stay_safe,_stay_connected
The first talk will be on Saturday, 22 May 2021, 7 pm to 8 pm IST (1:30 pm
to 2:30 pm UTC). Asaf Bartov will be the guest of the session. Asaf is a
familiar name and he has been a mentor to many Wikimedians in India. This
will be a lightweight discussion on general Wiki-topic (note the exact
agenda will be updated on the event page before the event)
We invite you to join the first talk. The session will be hosted on Zoom.
Please fill this short form, if you are interested to attend the first
interactive talk on 22 May 2021
https://forms.gle/e85k84tX4oroKkjx7
Please follow the event page for updates. Stay safe, stay connected!
Regards,
Tito Dutta
Dear all,
We hope this email finds you well and safe. The COVID 19 situation
continues to affect many of us across the globe and our thoughts are with
everyone affected. We are also aware that there are several processes
currently in progress that demand volunteer time and we do not want to add
more work to anyone's plate.
We do want to draw your attention to our new Regional Committees for Grants
though as they are an opportunity for you to have an active say in the
future of our Movement!
📣 So today, we invite you to join our new Regional Committees for
Grants! 📣
We encourage Wikimedians and Free Knowledge advocates to be part of the new
Regional Committees that the WMF Community Resources team is setting up as
part of the grants strategy relaunch [1]. You will be a key strategic
thought partner to help understand the complexities of any region, provide
knowledge and expertise to applicants, to support successful movement
activities, and make funding decisions for grant applications in the region.
👉Find out more on meta [2].
Regional Committees will be established for the following regions:
- Middle East and Africa
- SAARC [3] region (Includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
- East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific (ESEAP) region
- Latin America (LATAM) and The Caribbean
- United States and Canada
- Northern and Western Europe
- Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
👉All details about the Committees and how to apply can be found on meta
[4]. Applications have to be submitted by *June 4, 2021*!
If you have any questions or comments, please use the meta discussion page
[5].
Please do share this announcement widely with your Network.
Best wishes,
Julia on behalf of the Community Resources Team
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunc…
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunc…
[3] https://www.saarc-sec.org/index.php/about-saarc/about-saarc
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunc…
[5]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Re…
--
*Julia Brungs*
Senior Community Relations Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
A brief update has been posted while answering a question on Wikimedia-l.
The page is under construction, and an announcement on the India mailing
list will be made separately with details in a few days.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
প্রেরক: Bodhisattwa Mandal <bodhisattwa.rgkmc(a)gmail.com>
Date: বুধ, ২৮ এপ্রিল, ২০২১ তারিখে ১০:১৬ PM টায়
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] COVID-19 second wave and protection of our most
valuable movement asset
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hello Andreas and all,
There is some good news. Wikimedia Foundation Community Resources team has
given permission to CIS-A2K to allot funds to reimburse vaccines, send
COVID protection kits and provide counselling for Wikimedia volunteers in
India. CIS-A2K has consulted Foreign Currency Regulation Act expert lawyers
and got confirmation that the program can be executed as per the law of
India. With this progress, we are now good to go. We had formed a 5-members
committee of physicians (4 of them) from the Indian Wikimedia volunteer
community. They had their first meeting almost an hour ago to decide the
next steps to provide support as quickly and efficiently as possible. The
action points are noted from the meeting and within a few days, we are sure
that we will be able to provide support to the volunteers. A meta page is
also being drafted, which will undergo expansion and modification in the
next few years. The lnk is here -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_support_for_Wikimedians/India
Regards,
Bodhisattwa
On Wed, 28 Apr 2021 at 20:24, Andreas Kolbe <jayen466(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Bodhisattwa,
>
> Could I ask you to please keep us up to date on the further Wikimedia
> response to your request?
>
> I would love to hear about anything good that is happening as a result of
> your having asked here – and if nothing useful is happening, I would love
> to hear about that too – here or by private email, if you prefer.
>
> I am very aware that the WMF ran its first fundraising campaign in India
> this fiscal year, and that one of the fundraising banner messages asked
> people ... "to donate. Show the volunteers who bring you reliable neutral
> information that their work matters."[1]
>
> And as you can read in my other post today, it's not like the Wikimedia
> Foundation is poor.
>
> Be safe.
> Andreas
>
> [1]
> https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/wikipedia-makes-an-awkward-reques…
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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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Hello,
Here is an update from the Wikimedia Strategy team. Interested community
members from India may have a look.
The Movement Strategy team has also started weekly "updates". 5 May and 12
May updates (and the upcoming updates) may be seen here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Updates
ইতি,/Thanks
টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
---------- Forwarded message ---------
প্রেরক: Quim Gil <qgil(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: শুক্র, ১৪ মে, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:০৫ PM টায়
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] First round of Movement Strategy Implementation
Grants
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, <
wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
The first call for Movement Strategy Implementation Grants is open. These
grants can support short-term planning activities with a budget of up to
$2,000 USD.
*Apply by the end of June 15
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Apply#Movement_Strateg…>*!
We look forward to reading your applications. We are available for any
follow-up questions or clarifications via strategy2030(a)wikimedia.org.
--
Quim Gil (he/him)
Senior Manager of Community Relations @ Wikimedia Foundation
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Qgil-WMF
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To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Dear all,
We informed you about our fundraising test back in March [1] and I just
quickly wanted to follow up on this initial message. Due to the COVID 19
situation in India we have decided to not run the fundraising campaign. The
campaign will happen at some stage in the future and I will be in touch
with more details in plenty of time.
Our thoughts are with you all and for those of you who are not aware yet,
there is COVID 19 support available for Indian Wikipedia volunteers [2].
In case you have not met me yet, hi, I am Julia, the new Community
Relations person in the Advancement Department. If you have any questions
or comments, please do get in touch and I will help you further.
All my best,
Julia
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2021-March/014944.ht…
[2]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2021-April/014978.ht…
--
*Julia Brungs*
Senior Community Relations Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
