Grants:Project/Rapid/Feminism and Folklore 2021/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2020-21 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

• To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Feminism and Folklore 2021.
• You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
• You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went? Yes we did. This year, being the third joint edition with Wiki Loves Folklore project and very successful independent global writing contest, we saw an addition of many categories geared towards folk women, folk women leaders, writers and directors. It also saw an increase with participation in an attempt to elevate diverse groups and inclusiveness from many groups be it represented or not. There has also been good coverage of important gaps of indegenous knowledge that were being left out. This will however improve its use for research and educational purposes.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets. Please be sure to review and provide metrics required for Rapid Grants.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
500 articles	4901 articles from over 16 language communities	We exceeded our target due to high participation and enthusiasm from communities for folklore and feminism
100 participants	116 participants in total contributed	High participation within the movement due to good outreach by our Project lead and WIR and our respective country and language coordinators
10+ language contributions	20 language communities	High level of enthusiasm from communities for folklore documentation on Wikipedia. Despite the pandemic, we are excited to have exceeded our targets with an influx of quality content in different languages.

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

• What worked well?

Amidst the ongoing global pandemic, we are thrilled to see over a 100% increase in participation right from articles contributed from different language groups. We were able to improve the coverage of women in folklore, intangible heritage and folk culture of different regions, including folk dances, folk music, folk activities, folk games, folk cuisine, folk wear, folklore, and tradition, including ballads, folktales, fairy tales, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, calendar customs, folk arts, folk religion, mythology, etc.

Around 16 language communities collaborated in the project and about 4901 articles have been created as shown on the results tab covering the regional personalities and mythology where the categorization team from different regions of the world supported with the regional categorization of the native folklore articles. However, It was also exciting to know that some participants were able to improve their writing skills via this campaign.

• What did not work so well?

This year due to the existing pandemic, the mood was a bit down and that reflected in the edit-a-thon and onsite events for some countires which led to low participation. There is also a need for more participants in the English language since most of the communities take content support, translation and references from local articles from English Wikipedia. Although the theme was valuable, there was little content with much less resources to cite from. These were feedbacks we received from participating communities. In addition, communities requested more rapid grants to organize on-site sessions and local edit-a-thons for participants and provide local awards.

• What would you do differently next time?

We anticipate the use of banners to create huge awareness for all Wikimedia language groups to participate. Not Forgetting, we hope to include language coordinators who will be present at virtual meetings or webinars to assist groups of uncommon language.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

1st PRIZE - 300
2nd PRIZE - 200
3rd PRIZE - 100
top 15 consolations - 140
Domestic winners coupons - 329
Website hosting, domain, gsuite, security software - 377
Animoto subscription - 90
Internet reimbursement - 70
International bank fees - 144
Fiscal Sponsor and bank transfer fee - 250
Total - 2000 USD

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds? No

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?

FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS
During the Feminism and Folklore 2021 writing contest, even though some saw it as very inspiring there has been an upgrade which has improved the writing quality of many communities.
It has indeed been a unique and satisfying experience and at the same time. The efforts of Wikipedia for the promotion of Feminism and Folklore of South Asia through this contest is appreciated.
It was a great experience doubled with the marathon edits. The suggestion however is that the dashboard for the contest should be shared with members periodically to encourage them to edit more.
Experience was really good and there is a need to promote the contest more and try to add more value to prizes.

RECOMMENDATIONS It was however recommended that this continues to be annual with a focus on Working with Wikipedia is a passion for me and the edit-a-thons or writing contests are icing on cakes.
New editors should be encouraged to work for Wikipedia and adequate training must be provided to them so that they get confidence with their articles.
It is such a valuable theme and we have so little content (and much less resources to cite). I only wish I could have carved out more time to contribute.