User:Reg/Sustainable Wikimedia Center
Abstract: This is a Project Proposal regarding the creation and support of an Open-Knowledge-oriented center in Bamako, Mali.
Wikimedia ?
Wikimedia in Wikimedia Center is used in this document as a shortcut to everything related to the Free Knowledge movements. It refers to every Wikimedia projects of course, but also Open Street Map, Free Softwares, Free cultures, Peer-education, and every projects centered around sharing knowledge.
We found the term Wikimedia to be relatively easy to assimilate to those by this document's audience.
Who we are
We are a group of Free Knowledge enthusiasts in Bamako with supportive friends abroad. In the past years, we've achived:
- moulin, the Offline Wikipédia reader (now Kiwix). Deployed widely in Mali and distributed in the middle east.
- La Source, a wooden-made Offline free content (books, movies, software) kiosk.
- Bamanakan and Songhai in the French Wiktionary (4,000+ words)
- Wiktionary-to-paper dictionary converter.
- Open Street Map of Bamako.
- Advocacy & Trainings.
The project would be implemented by a private Malian software company (Yeleman) in which some of us work.
Yeleman is a small Malian company providing software services which are all Free Softwares.
Yeleman has already been contracted a couple of times by Wikimedia CH to work in related areas.
Background
Since 2007 and the success of our Wikipedia reader, we have wanted to create such a Wikimedia Center.
We have invested a lot of personal money, time and efforts into this without success.