Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group/Reports/2021-2022

The activities of the Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group (WCUG) from February 2021 to July 2022 were marked by their diversity and the variety of approaches in the implementation and mobilization of the community throughout Cameroon. From Douala to Yaoundé, passing through Maroua, Garoua or Buea, the Cameroonian Wikimedia community has bubbled up with its presence and unprecedented contributions on various Wikimedia Foundation platforms. In Cameroon, since the elective general assembly held on 2nd July 2022 in Yaoundé, a new executive board has been at the helm of the User Group to implement these activities. This 2021-2022 report of the Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group presents mainly participation in campaigns, editathons and other activities with partners.

Campaigns

Wiki Loves Africa

For Wiki Loves Africa 2021 in Cameroon, the report is available here.

For the year 2022, the theme chosen for the campaign was "Home and Habitat". As in previous editions, Cameroon participated in this international campaign which opened on 15 February 2022. To this end, several contribution workshops were organized both virtually and physically in the cities of Yaoundé, Douala, Buea and Maroua. At the end of the project in April 2022, winners were selected and prizes awarded. Report is available here.

Wiki Loves Earth 2021

For the WikilovesEarth 2021 in Cameroon, the report is available here.

Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2021

The report of this campaign is available here is availableis also available here

Mois de la contribution francophone

As part of the "Francophone Contribution Month", WCUG organizAed activities in the cities of Buea, Douala, Maroua and Yaoundé. These activities included: training new contributors; reinforcing the skills of initially trained members; visiting student associations to talk to them about the Wikimedia movement, its projects and the activities of the User Group; and finally, carrying out photo and video outings on women and their activities.

Community activities

Wikikwatt

The Wikikwatt project aims to create content (text and photos) on the neighbourhoods of the different cities in Cameroon. When it was launched in 2017, the project focused on the creation of articles related to the neighbourhoods of the city of Yaoundé only. For the year 2021-2022, the Wikikwatt project has entered its second phase, expanding to the neighbourhoods of the cities of Buea, Douala, Maroua and Yaoundé. Officially launched in December 2021, it ended in March 2022.

Afcon 2021

Shots taken during the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) organized in Cameroon from 9 January to 6 February 2022 enhanced on the Wikimedia Commons platform thanks to the AFCON 2021 project led by the User Group. Workshops for the restitution of these shots were organized in the cities of Yaoundé, Douala, Buea and Garoua and allowed the collection of a maximum of elements from amateur and professional photographers..

Partnership activities

African German Phrase-Book

Organized in partnership with the Goethe Institute Cameroon, this project aimed to create a digital platform serving as an encyclopaedia of words and expressions in the national languages of Cameroon. The second phase of the project started in May 2021 and was completed in December 2022 with the creation of an application that brings together more than 100 expressions translated and recorded in different national languages of Cameroon.

Nos jardins

Nos jardins a training course in free culture and contribution on Wikimedia Commons. The project aimed to enable civil society actors from Cameroon and Switzerland to develop and transfer their knowledge of digital and collaborative skills to their peers.

WikiChallenge Ecoles d’Afrique 2022

The international competition organized with the support of the Orange Foundation, took place in Cameroon with the support of WCUG. To this end, WCUG volunteers had the task of visiting 28 primary schools belonging to the digital network of the Orange Foundation Cameroon, in order to raise awareness among teachers about the international competition and to introduce pupils to the use of the vikidia.fr platform, the encyclopaedia for the 9-13 age group. In addition, at the end of the training sessions, the pupils had to produce an article with photos on a subject related to the community. Due to the disruptions in the education sector as a result of the movement called "On a Trop Supporté", which handicapped a good number of schools, the field trip was almost impossible. In the end, after the preparation of the visits to the schools by a dozen volunteers, only two of them actually went to eight schools in the Central, Southern, Littoral and Eastern regions, under the supervision of a manager from the Orange Cameroon Foundation. As a result, eight articles from five primary schools were submitted. At the end of the competition and according to the results published on 14 June 2022, Cameroon won a national prize (worth 2000 euros in school supplies) and an international prize (worth 5000 euros in school supplies).

Participation in international meetings

• WikidataCon 2021

• Francophone WikiConvention 2021

• Wiki Indaba 2021

• Residence organized by Code for Africa for the Covid-19 vaccination 2021

• Wikimedia Summit 2022.

• Wiki Indaba 2022.

• Francophone WikiConvention 2022.

New challenges

In view of the WCUG's activity, the Wikimedia Foundation suggested to the User Group that it should move on to a new stage. It was no longer just a matter of applying for funding at the level of grants, which were limited to a period of less than eight weeks. This time, it was more about broadening the scope and taking it to the next level. The celebration of the User Group's 05th anniversary was used as a pretext to formulate a series of activities that could support the award of an Annual Grant. After multiple meetings and guidance from Wikimedia Foundation representatives, the project was finally approved on 20 May 2022. It is now called "Reviving Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group: Initiating Program". It has several components and runs from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. The budget allocated to this annual program is US$69,152, or about CFAF 40 million, to implement a series of activities aimed at strengthening life in the community and increasing its deployment.