Good Afternoon Chapter Members
I hope this message finds you enjoying some much needed rest. As we come to the close of the year it is important to reflect on our achievements as a chapter.
As I look back on all the Chapter has achieved the below highlights stand out:
1. SWiP Phase 1 Workshop: 10 Universities hosted Wikimedians who facilitated the workshops and educated around 376 participants who became active editors contributing around 649 new articles and editing approximately 1100 existing articles. The success of this project resulted in increase engagement with academic institutions who have requested multiple Ad-hoc workshops to further educate students. Two such workshops were hosted in 2024 which resulted in a further 165 new editors and 347 new articles and over 1350 edited articles. The success of this first phase has resulted in greater expectations for the 2025 Phase 2 which initiates at the beginning of February 2025. More news will be shared in the new year.
2. BaSesotho 200 Years Project: To celebrate the 200 years of the Basotho nation, 3 Workshops were planned to run between November 2024 and January 2025 in Petrus Steyn at the Rhino Heritage Park. Two of the workshops have been completed with 30 new editors introduced to Wikipedia and with contributions of over 198 Articles created and over 1137 edits of existing articles. The final workshop is scheduled for January 2025.
3. WikiIndaba 2024: In 2024, Wikimedia ZA organized the 8th edition of WikiIndaba in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa with the theme "!ke e: /xarra //ke," which means "United in diversity.". This event was well received by all participants. By design the organizing committee sought to have a balanced Indaba with a even split of New editors vs Experienced Editors. They further sought to ensure that the balance of attendees was equitable in terms of gender and language preference. Below are links to reflections on the WikiIndaba 2024: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/11/21/reflecting-on-wiki-indaba-conference-2... https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/09/26/wiki-indaba-2024-united-in-diversity/
4: Eswatini Writing Project: In collaboration with our friends at the University of Eswatini and Unesco, Wikimedia South Africa implemented a writing project in Eswatini to increase the knowledge available in Eswatini on Wikipedia related specifically to scientific topics like Global Warming. The project is aimed at increase the content available in Eswatini in collaboration with local journalists would would judge the competition and would create online articles via their publishing housing which would be used for references. This project is ongoing with the goal being to conclude in earlier 2025.
Some of the items the chapter would like to focus on in the new year are:
1. Better engagement with Chapter and with the public in general. 2. Engage with the Chapter members around projects the members are interested in. 3. Begin formally working on our Strategy once it is ratified by the board.
Operations Meetings will re-initiate in the beginning of February 2024 and we will be trying a new time-slot for our monthly meetups, starting in January 2025 all meetups will be held on the 3rd Saturday of each month between 10:30 and 12:30 in both Cape Town and Johannesburg
I am excited about the possibilities 2025 brings for our chapter and look forward to better and more inclusive engagement with our chapter members.
As you all enjoy well needed rest from a productive year. The Chapter would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Best Regards Herschal Jackson