Grants:TPS/Thelmadatter/2013 Congreso de La Asociación Centroamericana de Lingüística (ACALING)
 | This Wikimedia Participation Support request was funded in the fiscal year 2012-13. A report is available. |
- User name
- Thelmadatter
- User location (country)
- Mexico
- Event name
- 2013 Congreso de La Asociación Centroamericana de Lingüística (ACALING)
- Event Web site
- http://www.acaling.una.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=63&func=fileinfo&id=11
- Event date(s)
- 28, 29 and 30 August 2013
- Event location (city)
- Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Amount requested (remember to specify currency!)
- $1100 USD
- Endorsements
Budget breakdown
edit- Travel: USD 800 (yes, it is not cheap to fly between Mexico and Central America despite the proximity. Mexico City is not a transport hub for the region. However, ground transportation is not a viable option for both distance and security concerns.)
- Accommodation: USD 60 per night x 5 nights = USD 300
Proposed Participation
editAt the current time, there is no organized Wikimedia activity anywhere in Central America. I had the pleasure of meeting Wendy Griffin, a long time resident and anthropologist in Honduras who is interested in getting something started. This relationship is related to my attendance at the SALALM conference in Miami in May. While Wendy has contacts and high interest in starting something in Central America, she does not have the experience to present the idea of working with GLAM or the Wikimedia Education Program to educational and cultural institutions in the region. The conference is a linguistics conference, which attracts attendees in language and language education from Central America principally and offers the opportunity to network from people from Honduras and other countries. I should also note that the fact that I am a linguist/language teacher, from a prestigious university in Mexico, will lend weight to the presentation. My hope is that this goes much the way it went at my campus ITESM Campus Ciudad de Mexico, with Matt Senate making a formal presentation about Wikipedia and I following up. In this case, we will have new Wikipedian User:Culmi01 to do follow up.
- Addition: Prof. Adalid Hernandez Perdomo of the Universiad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán requested that I also present for the Nacional de Historiadores Locales y Regionales to better take advantage of my time there. I accepted enthusiastically.
Goal and Expected Impact
editThe main impact is similar to that of what I did at SALALM at least in regards to participants from Latin America: show how Wikimedia is a very effective way to promote knowledge of the region to the rest of the world. Some parts of Latin America have some exposure (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina) but very poor areas such as Central America are heavily marginalized. As Wendy has told me, traditional media channels such as books and magazines are problematic as shipping between Central America and the rest of the world is more expensive than elsewhere. However, Internet access has increased in many part of the region, making Wikipedia a viable alternative.
Success will be the laying of groundwork for the creation of a chapter and/or other thematic group(s) to get people working with Wikipedia, supporting Wendy/Culmi01 as the contact person.