Dear Wikimedians, We hope you are all well.
We recognize the importance of continuing the culture of respectful discussion/exchange of perspectives is a crucial element to the movements continued success. We acknowledge the concerns raised here by the community. The issues were already brought to our attention; we did factor the concerns raised in the regional committee deliberations towards making impactful funding decisions. Thank you. Veronica. On Tue, Dec 7, 2021 at 3:47 PM Seydou Diakite <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Emmanuel, > > Thanks for coming out to try and resolve the issue although your > explanation is not convincing. Yes the Dagbani User group may be existing > as a separate entity but why is that so? What I said is it is the same > people are behind it and I haven’t because the Executive Director of the > Dagbani Usergroup is a founding member of GOIF. > > In the budget it was the Executive Director who was requesting to be paid > an amount of $5000 a month for a period of 12 months that’s $60,000 to be a > project Manager. In fact the edit history shows he did most of the grant > application so why is he not even coming to justify that grant here? > > Talking about Mole-Dagbani languages in Ghana how many of them are written > in Ghana, studied in schools and has a lot of Literature or content and so > has encyclopedic status? > > Concerning LUCG how different is their goals from GOIF? What is the > ultimate plan of LUCG because I have seen the Twi group gearing up to be a > Usergroup? And if you follow things closely you will realize the Dagbani > Usergroup initially started as Twi, then GOIF and now the same group is > trying to start a Twi group. > > Sorry if my tone is harsh but I believe that’s inconsequential in this > regard. If you think I have been conclusive and my observation are out of > place. > > Can you justify why a small language group like the Dagbani group was > requesting $190,000 since you conveniently chose not to address any of the > observations bothering around the padded figures in your budget? > > I think this is a public platform so by putting my concerns here is > another way of reaching out to you publicly. > > Lastly I want to know on whose behalf you’re speaking because you seem to > be in all these groups. > > Best Seydou > > > On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, Emmanuel Yeboah <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Seydou, >> >> Thank you Seydou for sharing your observations and raising these concerns. >> >> However, we would like to clarify that, although the Dabgani Wikimedians >> Usergroup is one of the language groups that Global Open Initiative >> birthed, they currently exist as a separate entity operating from the >> Northern half of Ghana supporting multiple languages in the Mole-Dagbani >> tree including Dagbani. And the Global Open Initiative team is not involved >> or has no say in the day to day running of the Dagbani Wikimedians group. >> We do still collaborate when asked but we are not aware or involved in >> every decision or activities the group takes. So their activities and >> operations are different from that of GOIF. >> >> We apologise for the delay in making this clarification soon. >> >> Secondly, concerning the LUCG >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/LUCG_Wikimedia_Community/LUCG_First_Edit-a-thon>, >> this is a project proposed by a long-volunteer to recruit and maintain >> already existing members of Lakeside University College, Ghana (LUCG). This >> is in line with our objectives to empower self-sustaining Wikihubs at the >> institutions that we collaborate with. Their proposal couldn’t have been >> included in our plan because it was brought to our attention after we >> submitted the annual grant. >> >> We do empower and support individuals and groups to contribute in various >> ways to the Wikimedia Movement (which we believe aligns with the movement's >> recommendation of increasing the sustainability of the movement) but at a >> point, if they want to operate on their own as a group or embark on >> individual projects, we give them a chance to. >> >> The assumption that GOIF is taking advantage of the Foundation by >> founding offshoot communities to rip the Foundation off is absolutely >> wrong. The tone of this message is rather conclusive. This makes it >> difficult for us to accept that these concerns were raised in good faith. >> We’d kindly request for you to reach out to us publicly to seek >> clarification before drawing these conclusions. >> >> Warmly, >> >> Emmanuel >> >> >> >> On Tue, 7 Dec 2021, 07:12 Mohamed Aliyu, <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Good! Thanks for your insights into this matter. >>> >>> We hope that the Wikimedia grant committees be cautious in their >>> decision to fund those types of affiliates. >>> -- >>> >>> Mohamed Mustapha Aliyu (he/him) >>> Wikim(p)edian >>> >>> >>> >>> On Tue, 7 Dec 2021, 01:19 Seydou Diakite, <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Hello all, >>>> >>>> I have been following the grant process with keen interest. I have >>>> rather noticed a worrying trend that I think for the sustainability of the >>>> grant program and the continuity of the volunteer spirit we need to address >>>> this issue as a regional group. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> First and foremost we must bear in mind that Wikimedia Foundation is >>>> donor funded and non profit. And as such people give and make it possible >>>> for the organization to support the activities of volunteers. Therefore our >>>> request and demands must be guarded. >>>> >>>> Again we need to know that the movement relies on the activities of >>>> volunteers ( more content are created by volunteers than any other set of >>>> people) and as such that should be spirit we should be promoting through >>>> all our undertakings. >>>> >>>> >>>> After painstakingly going through the grant request of some Usergroups, >>>> what I noticed was something rather alarming. I will just mention a few of >>>> my observations. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> The Wikimedia Inc Nigeria for instance was requesting over $55,000 >>>> (aprox $4800 a month) for an office space at a time when even bigger tech >>>> organizations etc are moving to working remotely and hence promoting work >>>> from home. >>>> >>>> >>>> In addition to this, there were line items for projects that have other >>>> organizations running and hence have funds they disburse for organizations. >>>> (Arts and Feminism,Wiki Loves Africa etc) >>>> >>>> >>>> My second observation wasn’t only alarming but also ridiculous. >>>> >>>> >>>> The Dagbani Usergroup which linked to GOIF as exclaimed on their own >>>> pages (was actually formed from the GOIF >>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_Open_Initiative#Planned_Activities>) >>>> put in separate grant applications totaling over $220,000.( far higher than >>>> a continental group like Wiki in Africa and country group like Wikimedia >>>> CIV) This same group is also behind another group (LUCG) that has currently >>>> put in another rapid grant >>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:Project/Rapid/LUCG_Wikimedia_Community/LUCG_First_Edit-a-thon> >>>> request. ( tye proposed Twi Wikimedians Usergroup >>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Twi_Wikimedians_User_Group/Memberships> >>>> is also an offshoot) A question was posed about their link to GOIF >>>> (their mother institution) and the answers seem quite unreasonable, because >>>> all the separate activities can be rounded in one grant request as programs >>>> to paint a holistic picture of their annual activities rather than create >>>> fragments. >>>> >>>> Now let’s take things into perspective. >>>> The Dagbani language is spoken by less than 10% of Ghana’s population >>>> of over 30M people. The user group is fairly new and their primary focus is >>>> to reach the target Dagbani population which could be much more organic >>>> than their forced request for salaries for 10 trainers per month. >>>> >>>> Their community has less than 30 active contributors based on the >>>> current criteria for active members (3 edits per month), and hence even >>>> using their entire membership for the 12 month period, means members will >>>> be overwhelmed and burned out easily. >>>> >>>> Now the request to pay volunteers to train is to be treaded cautiously >>>> as this could change our culture for volunteerism and encourage >>>> participation because members can receive payments for contributing >>>> (mentoring, training, etc.). >>>> >>>> >>>> Based on the monthly salary requested for these 10 trainers, it is only >>>> right to assume that each of these trainers will organise at least 2 >>>> trainings per month making a monthly total of 20 trainings (annual 240 >>>> trainings). This is somewhat ridiculous and overly ambitious for even a >>>> well developed Wikimedia community. >>>> >>>> >>>> Aside from the aforementioned monthly payment for 10 >>>> volunteers/trainers they are also requesting for 2 other paid roles with >>>> very exorbitant amounts requested as salaries especially for the Executive >>>> Director role ($5000 a month), which even top manager levels in Corporate >>>> Ghana and in government workplaces never receive. In the first place this >>>> is a small group trying to rally and sustain a community and these requests >>>> for staff is just surprising and out of place. >>>> >>>> In addition to this, there was a request for a paid WiR for 12 months >>>> ($3,500 for 12 months). Apart the huge salary this is even problematic >>>> judging from the fact there was no partnership with any organization to do >>>> a GLAM activity or a project that needed an embedded Wikimedian in a >>>> partner organisation, which is normally the workflow that creates the need >>>> for a WiR. >>>> >>>> >>>> Again this wasn’t even part of the goals of this organization. A >>>> closer look at the budget further shows that most of the requests are >>>> either frivolous, overpriced or outrageous. >>>> >>>> Looking at such a small language Usergroup what is the need for an >>>> office space and all the equipment for an office? >>>> >>>> The request for 6 MacBook airs for team members is rather an insult to >>>> the charitable donors of the foundation. The million dollar question here >>>> though, is why MacBooks? And why 6 of them? Wikimedians don’t need >>>> priced equipment to deliver on their jobs and if the intention is to be >>>> able to loan it to the community then macbooks still seem outrageous >>>> (because they can be destroyed easily with change of hands). >>>> >>>> >>>> Then comes a request for two foreign trips at a time when most >>>> organizations are putting hold on trips. However the question is trips to >>>> where? For what? And why two team members? >>>> >>>> >>>> These and many several budget items feel out of place, from requesting >>>> for research line items (which I am wondering what it's meant for and the >>>> goals of the research) to requesting specific team members for projects >>>> (arts&feminism) which should be managed by already requested staff roles >>>> (why hire other people again when you have a project manager for the >>>> organisation, who is supposed to run projects anyways) >>>> >>>> >>>> Everything in that budget seems padded and inconsiderate to the many >>>> donors that believe in our vision. Such characters should not be supported >>>> in our movement and be watched closely. >>>> >>>> >>>> Lastly I have noticed significant changes to the budget (from about >>>> $190,000 to about $39,000) after the questions posed by the committee, this >>>> is a significant 80% drop from the initial request >>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fund/Dagbani_WIkimedians_User_Group_Annual_Projects_2022>. >>>> As to whether the new requested amount is a true reflection of the >>>> needs on the ground we all all judges. I am fully aware that the grant >>>> proposal has been updated but I decided to bring to light the initial grant >>>> request because if it has has been approved I am sure the group would have >>>> accepted the full funding. And also the current grant is still padded. >>>> >>>> >>>> I have also copied Affcom in this mail because I wanted to bring to >>>> their notice the other trend that I wanted to spell out. The proliferation >>>> of language Usergroups. The same group has one Usergroup and three >>>> incubator groups why so? Three of these groups have applied for grants >>>> separately. >>>> >>>> >>>> We need to re-examine our commitment to this cause. Wikimedia is a >>>> voluntary movement to promote the sum of all human knowledge. Yes it’s ok >>>> when we sometimes expend our expertise so ask for some remuneration. But we >>>> shouldn’t form Usergroup groups with the basis of being employed or a >>>> conduit for making profit. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Best >>>> >>>> >>>> Seydou >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> African-Wikimedians mailing list -- >>>> [email protected] >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>>> [email protected] >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> African-Wikimedians mailing list -- >>> [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>> [email protected] >>> >> _______________________________________________ > African-Wikimedians mailing list -- > [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to > [email protected] > -- <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> *Veronica Thamaini *(She/Her) Senior Program Officer, Community Resources Wikim <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>edia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
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