Hi mike,
many of us experienced and still experience challenges with community outreach in regions where digital literacy is not the same level known from home. But the ones there in the beginning of wikipedia know how long it took to get all the rules in place. People had a chance to influence the rules and grow with them.
Today is a completely different beast. While the wikimedia beginners attitude did not change, there are numerous people facing the newbies with so much experience, and there are paid persons beeing able to dedicate all their attention to special cases, and shut new people down or out. Its good that these people do exist, as long this growing into it, imperfections allowed.
Therefor this was imo handled properly. Because wmuk is now the second chapter and community supporting the Ghana movement. Because the support did not patronize the Ghana community but was on an advisory level, letting the people there grow and see for themselves. Actively involve the Ghana community might have been better than trusting some of them are subscribed to the wmuk list though. But too much perfection has two undesirable effects: it gives no chance to learn. And it demoralizes volunteers which we than loose forever.
Up to now the Ghana community has been exemplary imo. In the years i participated a little in the discussions i saw A good feeling for what is important: edit or write software. A good feeling for conflicts of interest. A good feeling for usage of money. A nicely implemented strategy to slowly grow, involving different and new persons on the way. I saw things which i d handled differently, but hey, it is their community, and they need to be happy in it.
You can be pretty sure that this involvement is another cornerstone in the experience Ghana wikimedia people make, and will put to use later on.
So, wmuk, do it again, many thanks for this involvement.
Rupert
This strikes me as an excuse rather than a reason. Fæ's questions/points here don't seem to have been answered. :-(
Thanks,
Mike
On 31 Mar 2014, at 08:10, Jon Davies <jon.davies@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
> Apologies for delay in replying but I have been away.
>
> As previously stated our relationship as a chapter in this isntance is with Kwaku as a volunteer.
>
> We organised an editathon last year with BTWSC/BBM as you know. Not funding was involved.
>
> And for those who may be interested my 'private' email was at the request of Kwaku asking Fae to contact him directly to have any questions answered and including his contact details.
>
>
>
> On 27 March 2014 14:12, Fæ <faewik@gmail.com> wrote:
> After a week of silence on basic questions, in response to a different
> volunteer, the UK chapter has confirmed that it is supporting the
> BritishBlackMusic.com event in Ghana with money and official
> merchandising. The precise amount has not been specified.[1] It was
> not clear to me that the event was in Ghana rather than the UK, until
> another volunteer found an Eventbrite page with details. This was
> apparently unknown to the UK Chapter as no mention was made of it when
> promoting the event.[3]
>
> In the light of the fact that Kwaku is making public presentations
> officially supported by Wikimedia UK, I have raised Kwaku's COI issues
> on the English Wikipedia noticeboard so that he can be advised by
> project volunteers as to policy and best practice.[2] Since creating
> his account on the English Wikipedia ten months ago, Kwaku has made a
> total of 10 edits with several others being deleted, apparently due to
> them promoting his organization, some remaining edits promote his
> writing for Billboard.[4]
>
> Kwaku was funded by Wikimedia UK last year with a full scholarship for
> a weekend in Berlin to take part in a Wikimedia Conference, the amount
> of the charity's money this cost has not been made public.
>
> With regard to Jon Davies' email to this thread that BBM are supported
> by Lottery Funding, this appears an exaggeration of the facts. I have
> had a response from the Brent Archives, a named 2006 project partner,
> who confirmed the project happened but were unable to produce a
> report; they took no responsibility for the funds. After an interim
> reply, am waiting on a full response from the Heritage Lottery Fund
> (HLF). A HLF project was funded 8 years ago in 2006 with BTWSC named
> as running the project, intended to produce a guide. There is no
> evidence of any lottery funding for BTWSC since that date, the BBM
> appears to have never been the recipient of lottery funding.
>
> No evidence has been found that BTWSC or BBM are registered
> organizations, consequently it is unlikely that financial accounts
> have ever been published or put on record.
>
> Note, I was privately emailed by Jon Davies a few days ago but no
> additional information was provided at that time.
>
> Link
> 1. https://wikimedia.org.uk/w/index.php?title=Water_cooler&diff=54770&oldid=54768
> 2. http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk/GrantDetails.aspx?ID=YH-05-01416&DBID=HM
> 3. http://web.archive.org/web/20140327135842/http://www.eventbrite.com/e/talking-wikipedia-in-ghana-tickets-10971368659?aff=es2
> 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest/Noticeboard&curid=8634849&diff=601495199&oldid=601426585
>
> On 20 March 2014 13:18, Fæ <faewik@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 20 March 2014 11:49, Fæ <faewik@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On 20 March 2014 11:31, Jon Davies <jon.davies@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
> >>> We felt that they were a suitable partner for an editathon.
> > ...
> >
> > I have checked with Companies House. There are no registered companies
> > that relate to:
> > * British Black Music (run by Kwaku)
> > * BtWsc or MusicWrite Plus (run by K Kaywrite)
> >
> > I have confirmed with the Department for Culture Media & Sport, that
> > eight years ago (2006) a lottery grant of £35,000 was paid for the
> > Brent Black Music History Project. This project was in partnership
> > with Brent Archives. It is not yet clear which legal organization
> > received the funds, was responsible for reporting on the project
> > outcomes or publishing financial accounts for the monies. As an unpaid
> > volunteer for Wikimedia UK with no authority, I have written to Brent
> > Archives and the Heritage Lottery Fund for confirmation and any
> > available reports.
> >
> > Fae
> > --
> > faewik@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
>
>
>
> --
> faewik@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
> Personal and confidential, please do not circulate or re-quote.
>
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>
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