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 -- african-wikimedians@lists. >>> wikimedia.org >>> To unsubscribe send an email to african-wikimedians-leave@ >>> lists.wikimedia.org >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> African-Wikimedians mailing list -- african-wikimedians@lists. >> wikimedia.org >> To unsubscribe send an email to african-wikimedians-leave@ >> lists.wikimedia.org >> >
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