On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 4:11 PM, Hisham <hisham(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Dear India Community
I'm writing to inform you that I plan to leave my current role supporting
Wikimedia in India. I am going to be exploring opportunities and
evaluating options that are closer to my career aspirations and my personal
circumstances. I will be working through to ensure that there is a smooth
transition - and this is likely to take 2-3 months. I am writing now
because I felt it appropriate and opportune to inform you as early as
possible.
I want to start off by thanking the Wikimedia community and movement for
giving me this extraordinary opportunity. Working on something like India
Program has been something that has been professionally enriching and
personally fulfilling. Over the past 1 1/2 years, I have been supported by
so many of you - and I want to thank you for everything you have done! The
passion and intellectual firepower of our community has been my constant
source of drive and guidance. There are so many examples of powerful
stories from all over the country: the incredible efforts put in by the IEP
Campus Ambassadors in Pune; the army of volunteers that drove the outreach
push across the country in the first few months of this year; the beautiful
stories of fantastic community initiatives from far and wide across the
country and sub-continent, and indeed the world; the remarkable stories
from so many communities - large, small and tiny ones!
I want to thank the team that I have had the pleasure and privilege of
working with - Nitika, Noopur, Shiju & Subha. You guys have been
wonderful. The work that we are doing is experimental and we have been
innovating every day, and I know the circumstances have not always been
easy. Take strength and inspiration from the large number of community
members who have been touched by you and appreciate your efforts and value
your work.
I will send an actual "over and out" message later. In the meantime, I
will continue to work on everything that needs working on.
Happy Editing!
Warmest Regards,
*hisham*
*
*
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I am very surprised by this announcement. I wasn't expecting anything like
this.
What might seem surprising to learn is, I used to talk to Hisham since the
beginning and we never really stopped talking in the last year. We would
meet every month or so, for coffee or lunch. We disagreed about a lot of
things, but absolutely none of it ever affected the personal relationship
we had. I suppose we were capable of separating that. I certainly didn't
make his job any easier, but I was always direct with my opinions. I hope
he forgoes any transgressions.
He would invite me to meet-ups, occasionally ask for help with something,
and I helped when I could, sometimes even through our most strongest
disagreements. I could disagree with him, criticize him in the strongest
tone, and yet, we can still sit down for lunch and laugh. I could ask him
for life advice, talk about our families, and none of it had to be about
Wikimedia.
This was an unfortunate situation, and I never really had a direct problem
with Hisham. It was the larger decisions and the position he was placed in.
I would hold others responsible before him, as I have an inkling that even
this was someone else's decision.
I'm going to miss talking to him.
Kind Regards
Theo
P.S. Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me
and cry.