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;Open letter for free access to Wikipedia on mobile in South Africa
;A report from the Wikimedia Diversity Conference by Kwaku BBM
''This post was originally published on the [https://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/11/08/open-letter-free-access-wikipedia-south-africa/#English blog of the Wikimedia Foundation] by Victor Grigas''


[[File:Open Letter for Free Access to Wikipedia (EN subtitles).webm|right|300px]]
''This report was written by Kwaku BBM, a Wikimedia UK volunteer''


In November 2012, the students of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinenjongo_High_School Sinenjongo High School] penned an open letter on Facebook, encouraging cellphone carriers to waive data charges for accessing Wikipedia so they can do their homework. In May 2013, filmmaker Charlene Music and I asked them to read their open letter on camera. Follow the link below to watch the highly recommended short video.
[[File:Kwaku at the Diversity conference.jpg|right|250px|Kwaku at the conference]]


The cost of data is a major obstacle to accessing the free knowledge on Wikipedia for hundreds of millions of people. These students want their cellphone carriers to sign up to Wikipedia Zero, a partnership program organized by the Wikimedia Foundation to enable mobile access to Wikipedia – free of data charges – in developing countries.
I clearly remember when I saw an email announcing an upcoming [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Diversity_Conference Wikimedia Diversity Conference] (#DivCon) in Berlin. Although I’m a Wikimedia newbie, I was intrigued. Because I’m driven by two areas which have marginal representation – African British history and British black music. So newbie or not, I was very keen to know what would take place at such a conference.


We will be sharing the longer documentary about the class as soon as it’s ready.
It would be good, I thought, to see how diversity strategies and arguments play out, as that can only help in my quest to see better representation of my interest areas.


<span class="plainlinks">[https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/11/open-letter-for-free-access-to-wikipedia-on-mobile-in-south-africa/ <nowiki>[</nowiki>Continues...<nowiki>]</nowiki>]</span>
Whilst I love Wikipedia, and use it regularly as an initial research resource, I also believe I should be contributing to its content. My only problem is extreme lack of time. Hence I see my role as editor in the traditional sense of not necessarily just writing, but rather, empowering my communities to be interested in and contribute to the content.
 
To this end, as part of this year’s British Black Music Month, I co-organised with Wikimedia UK an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_African_diaspora/Black_British_Music_Editathon edit-a-thon in July]. I was most disappointed that many of those who booked didn’t turn up. I however took heart at the conference when I heard the attendance problems at other edit-a-thons organised by other chapters.
 
<span class="plainlinks">[https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/11/a-report-from-the-wikimedia-diversity-conference-by-kwaku-bbm/ <nowiki>[</nowiki>Report continues...<nowiki>]</nowiki>]</span>


|events=<!--Aim to have between 8 and 10 events listed to avoid this section taking up too much or to little space-->
|events=<!--Aim to have between 8 and 10 events listed to avoid this section taking up too much or to little space-->

Revision as of 15:44, 14 November 2013

Cymraeg | English

Cymraeg | English

Wikimedia UK

Open knowledge for all

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If you'd like to see what Wikimedia UK is working on, our website is the best place for our community of volunteers, donors and members to stay up to date.

About Wikimedia UK

The Wikimedia projects are special: they are written and curated by thousands of volunteers. They are also supported by voluntary donations, through Wikimedia UK, the Wikimedia Foundation and other international chapters.

Wikimedia UK is a charity registered in England and Wales that supports and promotes Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects such as Wikimedia Commons. Our mission is to help people and organisations create and preserve open knowledge, and to help provide easy access for all. We do this by supporting volunteer editors and contributors ('Wikimedians'), by working in partnership with cultural and educational institutions, by hosting training sessions and editing events, and by acting to advocate the benefits of open knowledge generally.

There are several ways to get involved in the charity's work. You can become a member for just £5 per year. You can volunteer to work with us in a variety of ways, both online and offline. You can also make a donation (and if you're a UK taxpayer, we can claim Gift Aid). Subscribe to our Friends' Newsletter to stay in touch. Click the buttons below to learn more.

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Для української мови Вікіпедії ласка, відвідайте http://uk.wikipedia.org; для Вікімедіа Україна відвідайте http://ua.wikimedia.org
For the Ukrainian language Wikipedia please visit http://uk.wikipedia.org; for Wikimedia Ukraine please visit http://ua.wikimedia.org

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