AfroCuration South Africa 2023

On the 22nd and 23rd of March, AfroCuration South Africa, in collaboration with the Constitutional Hill Trust, hosted an edit-a-thon workshop at the Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa, partnering with Wikimedia ZA and Harambee. The event's main theme was "Who Are We?" in recognition of Human Rights Day, celebrated on March 21. The goal was to encourage students to take responsibility for their stories while preserving African languages.

Sixty students attended the two-day edit-a-thon workshop with representatives from five schools in Soweto, Johannesburg: Missourilaan Secondary School, Vuwani Secondary School, Seana Marena High School, Bona Comprehensive School, and Thaba-Jabula Secondary School.

Wikimedia ZA taught the students about Wikipedia and the five pillars of Wikipedia on the first day. Later, they learned how to create a Wikipedia profile to edit and translate articles.

On the workshop's final day, the students got an opportunity to edit and translate articles under the sub-theme "Prejudice-dictionary" This was a method of unpacking dangerous prejudices and developing an active understanding. Articles were translated into four South African languages, namely Tshivenda, Sesotho, isiZulu, and Afrikaans; some of the themes covered on the day were white trash, homophobia, and many more.

The workshop was a success. Students got the opportunity to obtain knowledge and new writing skills, meet new people, and take a tour of Constitutional Hill, including visits to the Constitutional Court of South Africa and the museum.

Workshop In Pictures

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