Oops, i forgot one more point under Observation & Analysis:

We were on the same flight with the Google Kenya folks who were also going to Mombasa for some outreach acivities. Angela connected me with the Registrar of Mombasa Poly: which facilitated our meeting with him (the Registrar). Such connections have proven useful, and perhaps next time we could merge with Google in arranging such outreach activities -- since our footprint is generally the same.

From: abbasjnr@hotmail.com
To: wikimediake@lists.wikimedia.org
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:36:35 +0000
Subject: [Wikimedia Kenya] Asaf's Visit: Mombasa Report

Hi folks,

Asaf and I went to Mombasa on Thursday 18/08/2011. He returned on the same day while I stayed for the weekend.

==Overview==

In general, I would characterize the trip as both productive and useful. There are no major conclusions or big directional changes in this report: it's just a quick summary of what happened.

==Itinerary==

Thursday, 9am -- Mombasa Polytechnic University College

Asaf and I visited Mombasa Poly. We managed to talk with the Registrar, Academic Affairs -- who was open-minded and showed some interest in the Campus Ambassador Program. Thereafter, Asaf delivered a talk with at the Library. Despite there being exams, we managed to garner an audience of 100+ (incl. students + lecturers).

Thursday 11am -- Kenya Institute of Management, Mombasa.

Asaf also delivered a talk to the students in a packed room of around 100 or so students.

Thursday, 1pm - 4pm -- Camara, Mombasa Hub.

We had a meeting with Shakeel, Camara Mombasa's CEO, with regard to how much effort and time Camara spends on Wikipedia. We also found out that Camara was using the SOS version of offline Wikipedia. We took a tour of the Mombasa Hub and were shown how computers were received, cleaned, and dispatched. Also, there were around 20-30 teachers at the Hub that we managed to talk to about Wikipedia; as well as give them a tutorial on some basics of Wikipedia.

==Observations & Analysis==

(in no particular order)

1. Despite the bad timing, there was a generally some interest in Wikipedia from students and lecturers.

2. Arranging a multi-event visit from the Foundation is, IMO, a lot of work, volunteerwise. It requires rigorous planning and regular contact with the various institutions.

3. We did get a lecturer in Mombasa who "had changed her view regarding Wikipedia" after listening to Asaf's visit. Asaf also received a note from a student who was inspired by what we were doing, and wanted to join us.

4. We had a larger audience in Mombasa than in Nairobi -- probably proving that it's easier to get an audience in institutions outside Nairobi, and the impact is therefore larger.

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