Wikidata:Wiki Mentor Africa
The Wiki Mentor Africa program is designed to help new and inexperienced developers/programmers in the African communities on not just how to make edits on Wikidata but mentoring Africans on building/maintaining Wikimedia tools by pairing them with more experienced Wikimedia tool creators/contributors. These creators/contributors (referred to as mentors) will "adopt" newer developers, guiding them along the way as they learn about Wikimedia tools and its various aspects.
The aim of the project is to build a community of Wikimedia tool creators and maintainers thereby improving the technical capacity in Africa.
Objectives edit
- Develop technical capacity for African Wikimedia communities.
- Promote skills transfer from capable communities/individuals to less capable communities/individuals.
- Increase the number of Wikimedia tools/maintainers/programmers.
- Recruit new Wikimedia Tool contributors/creators.
- Foster collaborations aimed at solving issues peculiar to African communities.
- Ensure Wikimedia technical skills become less Eurocentric.
- Organise annual event/conference/contests for all mentors, mentees and the general public.
How it Works edit
The project will pilot with a series of online training/workshops on Wikimedia tools.
Every month, a workshop/training will be centered on a particular tool. We will be having at least 3 online live sessions on the chosen Wikimedia tool and each session will have a duration of 1hr. The 1st session will focus on introducing the tool of the month; what the tool is, the idea behind the tool, why it was created, and how to use the tool. The 2nd will then take a look at how the tool was made. Looking at the backend of the tool; what programming language was used, the structure/architecture used. Explaining each module/feature and programming style used. And the 3rd session will focus on the maintenance issues/requirements, how to contribute to the tool.
The workshop/training will be facilitated by contributor(s) of that tool and at the end of each training/workshop, participants can then signup to be mentored by the facilitator(s) of the workshop by clicking on Mentors List where you will find mentors that are available and accepting new mentees. and by extension, be attached to the team behind the tool for mentorship as regards contributing to the tool.
Participation edit
Being mentored is easy and fun. Why not select a mentor from the list of Mentors and contact them directly to request Mentorship? If you choose a Mentor who shares your interests, they will be more able to assist you while you learn under their guidance or
Upcoming Events edit
to Join the session, Register Via the event page
Is Mentorship right for you? edit
Mentorship needs a commitment from you! You are expected to stick around, practice and learn to work with others, and demonstrate a willingness to contribute across a broad range of Wikimedia activities. Mentorship isn't for getting short-term assistance with a particular problem. There are other help forums for that.
If you're an African and new or inexperienced and would like a single point of contact to:
- Guide you through understanding our key policies and guidelines
- Discuss a range of questions about editing Wikimedia, contributing to Wikimedia tools, and possibly create your first Wikimedia tool
- Receive guidance on interacting with other developers and contributors, and a host of other activities on Wikimedia, like help out by preventing-vandalism or doing routine maintenance tasks
...then finding a Mentor could be just the thing for you!
Whilst many Mentors take a structured, step-by-step approach to guiding new editors through the various elements of working on Wikidata/media wiki, others are more informal. They may prefer to simply steer you through key areas you're having difficulty with, and answer questions when you encounter problems.