Hi, everyone.

(I apologize for not responding sooner -- this has been stuck in my Drafts folder for some reason.) :(

I'm glad to see there's interest in creating a user group in Kenya.  I also think it's a good idea to focus on one project for now, and to finish the preparation of the Kenya-specific collection for offline Wikipedia distribution.  

The one other activity I would recommend is the development of a core community of active editors.  Almost all our activities depend on the availability of _local, experienced editors_ to present and represent Wikipedia.  Many of you know the basics of wiki editing, but most (all?) of you are not regularly active on Wikipedia or any other project.  I would be interested to hear your opinions on what is the greatest obstacle to your editing more -- is it just lack of time?  wiki-culture too hard to understand?  difficulty finding articles to work on?  lack of motivation?

To your questions:
1. you can't use the name "Wikimedia Kenya" any more, but you can still use this mailing list and the wiki (we should re-brand both).  
2. the user group, once recognized, can be considered the owner of the physical items, and they should be put to mission-aligned use by its members.
3. the grant was indeed originally given to "Wikimedia Kenya" at the time, but we have since tightened our terminology and procedures, and we now consider it to have been a grant to an individual (Stephen) representing a group (the then-future Wikimedia Kenya, which did not exist as an entity that could receive a grant).  That grant will be resolved at some point, and the user group will be able to apply for and receive grants.
4. It's fine to go on using the social media channels you have created, but in the content itself (and the page design), please rename "Wikimedia Kenya" to an appropriate name ("Wikimedians in Kenya" or whatever you agree upon with AffCom)

Please don't hesitate to ask further questions, and I apologize for the delay again.

P.S. Since Alex is in San Francisco for a while, I shall be inviting him to visit the WMF office, and we'll talk a little about possibilities for Wikimedia in Kenya.  I trust he would update you all with the gist of our conversation.

Cheers,

   Asaf



On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 1:19 AM, Limoke Oscar <oslimoke@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Folks,

I just wanted to keep some of us up to speed with the latest developments around the User Group Model:

  • We had a very fruitful meeting with the to chat the course for the user group .Summary Here
  • We created a meta page and have made a request to re-join the Community through the User group Model. Page here and here 
  • We also agreed to focus/work on a single project for the Offline Wikipedia,Team Lead is Denis. Work around this has already kicked off.
  • On Members and resources, we agreed to Open up membership based on dedication and commitment to this course as opposed to last time when anyone interested but unsure of what our course was would just join us.
  • On Way forward on Wikimedia Chapter, we would like so clarification on the  use of IP, resources and properties previously held by Wikimedia Kenya. Based on Sue's email, We were not to continue to be referred/ inferred to as Wikimedia Kenya: Excerpt  "Note that this does mean that the name "Wikimedia Kenya" should no longer be used by you or others to refer to your group, and specifically, that you are not to incorporate under that name.  (It is best if incorporation under any name is postponed until there's a better idea of the group's interest, capacity, and plans.  Creating a formal entity prematurely could saddle you with inconvenient responsibilities without any of the benefits.) Seeing the startup grant that has incorrectly been inferred to have been allocated to the Wikimedians in Kenya. Please correct or advise on the same since  the grant was issued to the Chapter and not the group.< link>
  • As such, we would like to know upto what extent can we use this same resources like Domain < wikimedia.or.ke >, Name, Wikimedia Logos and Social Media and even the physical properties like Camara, WiFi Dongle, Projectors etc..

We hope this is a step in the right direction and look forward to working to achieve our objectives as we set out .We look forward to your continued support.

Kind Regards,


On Sat, Mar 16, 2013 at 11:12 AM, dennis munene <deontemunene@hotmail.com> wrote:
I cannot think of a better name than Wikimedians in Kenya.

Dennis.

Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:18:36 +0300
From: wanjaustev@gmail.com

To: wikimediake@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Kenya] From chapter to user group

Salute!

To align the Wikimedians in Kenya to it is current state, the social media accounts should as well be renamed to the new name. What has been settled on as the new name?

.S
On 03/12/2013 02:51 PM, Oliver Stegen wrote:

Thanks for this cautious and tentative initiative. I continue to be active as a Wikimedian (cf. http://toolserver.org/~purodha/sample/dbswithuser.php?usr=Baba_Tabita&go=Go!&uselang=en) and I am based in Kenya, so that presumably makes me a … Wikimedian in Kenya J

Yours for making the sum of human knowledge available to everyone on this planet (and in my case, especially to everyone in the Swahili-speaking communities),

BT (aka Oliver)

 

From: dennis munene [mailto:deontemunene@hotmail.com]
Sent: 12 March 2013 12:13
To: Wikimedia Kenya
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Kenya] From chapter to user group

 

hi,

I agree with Oscar, we were our own let down. Being a User Group should not in any way dwindle our commitment. You can count me in as part of the User Group [Wikimedians in Kenya?] :)

 

dennis.

From: oslimoke@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:38:04 +0300
To: wikimediake@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Kenya] From chapter to user group

Hi All,

 

I know all of us have been absorbing and digesting this news over the past couple of weeks. I think its time we now discussed and forged a way forward. True we were our own let down in many ways. We failed in many ways to steer ourselves to full registration 12 months after being granted charter. We failed to get legal registration locally and we failed to manage the 1st Start up grant for our Chapter. We failed to resolve issues surrounding the embezzlement and we refused to take responsibility  I think Sue and Asaf are justified to deny us further recognition.

 

 

So I guess its a User group we are. As such, we need to start to chat a way forward along this line. Could we start taking a new call for this user group?  Remember, Officially Wikimedia Kenya Chapter is no more

 

If you would want to join and be apart of this user group, please let us start a conversation  Only if you are interested.

 

Look forward to this new course.

 

Best,

 

On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 2:37 AM, Asaf Bartov <abartov@wikimedia.org> wrote:

Dear colleagues in Kenya,

 

I would like to let you know that (after consultation with the Affiliations Committee) the Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director, Sue Gardner, is not extending the Board of Trustees' provisional recognition of your group as Wikimedia Kenya.  We recommend you pursue recognition as Wikimedia User Group instead. 

 

The recognition was conditional upon incorporation within a year, and that has not happened.  In addition, the provisional board disintegrated (with some people leaving the chapter entirely) and no replacement announced, almost no activity took place this past year, casting doubt on the group's sustainability as a chapter, and certain personal issues added much confusion and demoralization, which no doubt contributed to the inactivity.

 

In parallel, the Wikimedia movement has created new models of affiliation, not available at the time your group was seeking recognition, that we are confident would better serve your group at this stage, and would be more appropriate, than the traditional incorporated chapter model.  

 

Specifically, we encourage you to seek Wikimedia User Group recognition (via AffCom -- e-mail affcom@lists.wikimedia.org) right now, which will give you almost all the benefits of chapter recognition, with almost none of the bureaucracy: trademark permission will be available to you, and as you know, grants are always available, even to unincorporated groups (and we will take steps to improve group oversight and governance to minimize risk).  Everything I know about this group and about AffCom suggests this should be a smooth process.

 

Note that this does mean that the name "Wikimedia Kenya" should no longer be used by you or others to refer to your group, and specifically, that you are not to incorporate under that name.  (It is best if incorporation under any name is postponed until there's a better idea of the group's interest, capacity, and plans.  Creating a formal entity prematurely could saddle you with inconvenient responsibilities without any of the benefits.)

 

"Wikimedians in Kenya", "Friends of Wikipedia in Kenya", and any number of other names you may feel comfortable with, are good possibilities for the name of your group, and can be recognized by the WMF if you do choose to pursue User Group recognition.

 

We'd like to stress this is neither a punishment nor a demotion of your group; it is actually an adjustment of what we call the group to match reality and to adhere to the original terms of the provisional recognition.  We recognize your dedicated and valuable contributions in the past, and look forward to renewed energy and accomplishments on this new path, as a user group, and will be happy to support you in this in every way we can.

 

On behalf of Sue Gardner and the Wikimedia Foundation,

 

   Asaf Bartov

--

    Asaf Bartov
    Wikimedia Foundation

 

Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!


_______________________________________________
WikimediaKE mailing list
WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake



 

--

Limoke Oscar 
GIS, Google Apps & Business Development

Pawa IT Solutions Limited


_______________________________________________ WikimediaKE mailing list WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake



_______________________________________________
WikimediaKE mailing list
WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake


_______________________________________________ WikimediaKE mailing list WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake

_______________________________________________
WikimediaKE mailing list
WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake




--
Limoke Oscar 
GIS, Google Apps & Business Development
Certfied Google Apps EDU Specialist
Pawa IT Solutions Limited




--
    Asaf Bartov
    Wikimedia Foundation

Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org