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Submissions/The African Story

From Wikimania 2012 • Washington, D.C., USA

This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2012.

Submission no.

711

Title of the submission
The African Story
Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation)
Presentation
Author of the submission
David Mugo Kariithi
E-mail address
raidarmax@gmail.com
Username
Raidarmax
Country of origin
Kenya
Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)
Government of Kenya
Personal homepage or blog
http://mugo.me
Abstract (please use no less than 300 words to describe your proposal)

Africa is a continent with great culture and history. From gatherers and hunters to the digital revolution that is hitting the continent. From dictatorial governments to social revolutions as recently witnessed in Egypt and Libya. Africa’s story is great, greater than often told. The reason for this is the fact that the African story is told by foreigners. If you pass any piece of information through 3-7 people, it is bound to divert from the original context and it can never represent the originality it sought to achieve.

My presentation takes this into consideration and as an African, I present possibilities of gathering this information from the sources and showing a side of Africa that no one out of Africa really knows. This presentation which is a result of my long experience working on the internet in Kenya and other parts of Africa including Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi & Namibia. It proposes ways to grow Wikipedia content from Africa with great accuracy and creating more editors from Africa.

It also lists ways to promote civic education using Wikipedia (both online and offline) to promote democracy and social justice in Africa, which is currently needy. It also proposes ways create more “Africa Accessible Content” by integrating Wikipedia into working systems and technologies in Africa.

It also highlights ways for Africa to take advantage of the digital revolution and enhance education and penetrate digital literacy beyond the current level into the remotest areas by empowering projects like the Wikipedia for Schools (Kenya) Project. Hundreds of schools have computers but they never learn anything beyond the basic “How-to” and computer studies in the primary and secondary education level is really shallow and lacks the capacity to be a support pillar for learning and research. My presentation will highlight ways into this and working with African governments to deliver knowledge and information to all educational institutions at its possible best way.

It is achievable and with the participation of the African, Wikipedia will grow to new heights and further into achieving its goals and vision.

Track (Wikis and the Public Sector; GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums); WikiCulture and Community; Research, Analysis, and Education; Technology and Infrastructure)
GLAM; Wikis and the Public Sector; WikiCulture and Community; Research, Analysis and Education
Length of presentation/talk (if other then 25 minutes, specify how long)
25 Minutes
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yes, I would love to if I manage to get the scholarship.
Slides or further information (optional)
My presentation is about 16 slides with illustrations and information
Special request as to time of presentations (for example - can not present on Saturday)
Open to any day/time.


Interested attendees

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  1. Sounds very interesting:)--Saintfevrier 06:12, 30 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. --Iopensa 12:56, 30 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. A very worthwhile project. --Jabbi 23:15, 3 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. NaBUru38 15:49, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Miltonlouw 13:05, 6 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Stephen 15:14, 8 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Xelawafs 05:55, 10 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Abbasjnr 06:37, 10 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Bináris 07:04, 13 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  10. I'm interested in what Wikimedia projects can offer to Africa, and Kenya in particular, so I look forward to seeing this. CT Cooper · talk 21:07, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  11. Amir E. Aharoni (talk)
  12. Islahaddow (talk) 19:05, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  13. GastelEtzwane (talk) 23:15, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  14. --Guaka (talk) 23:02, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Graham87 (talk) 11:08, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  16. Dmitri Lytov (talk) 20:27, 6 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  17. A12n (talk) 02:29, 9 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  18. Nataev (talk) 19:00, 13 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Your name here!
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