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.