Dear Bodhisattwa, Thanks for letting us know, that sounds like a great beginning!
Do keep us posted. Warmly, Andreas On Wed, Apr 28, 2021 at 5:46 PM Bodhisattwa Mandal < [email protected]> wrote: > Hello Andreas and all, > > There is some good news. Wikimedia Foundation Community Resources team has > given permission to CIS-A2K to allot funds to reimburse vaccines, send > COVID protection kits and provide counselling for Wikimedia volunteers in > India. CIS-A2K has consulted Foreign Currency Regulation Act expert lawyers > and got confirmation that the program can be executed as per the law of > India. With this progress, we are now good to go. We had formed a 5-members > committee of physicians (4 of them) from the Indian Wikimedia volunteer > community. They had their first meeting almost an hour ago to decide the > next steps to provide support as quickly and efficiently as possible. The > action points are noted from the meeting and within a few days, we are sure > that we will be able to provide support to the volunteers. A meta page is > also being drafted, which will undergo expansion and modification in the > next few years. The lnk is here - > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_support_for_Wikimedians/India > > Regards, > Bodhisattwa > > > > > On Wed, 28 Apr 2021 at 20:24, Andreas Kolbe <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Bodhisattwa, >> >> Could I ask you to please keep us up to date on the further Wikimedia >> response to your request? >> >> I would love to hear about anything good that is happening as a result of >> your having asked here – and if nothing useful is happening, I would love >> to hear about that too – here or by private email, if you prefer. >> >> I am very aware that the WMF ran its first fundraising campaign in India >> this fiscal year, and that one of the fundraising banner messages asked >> people ... "to donate. Show the volunteers who bring you reliable neutral >> information that their work matters."[1] >> >> And as you can read in my other post today, it's not like the Wikimedia >> Foundation is poor. >> >> Be safe. >> Andreas >> >> [1] >> https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/wikipedia-makes-an-awkward-request-for-donations-in-india-71596125951781.html >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Dear Wikimedians, >> >> >> >> We (the community resources team at the Wikimedia Foundation) have been in >> contact with colleagues from the Wikimedia movement in India and wanted to >> share some of the preliminary outcomes of our discussions. >> >> >> >> Firstly, we want to acknowledge the disastrous effect COVID-19 has had on >> Wikimedia communities and its members across the movement. The COVID-19 >> pandemic has affected many of us in both direct and indirect ways. >> >> >> >> As has been noted by others on this email chain, we all agree that >> Wikimedia volunteers are the most valuable assets of our movement. As >> mentioned in the previous email, providing insurance support to Wikimedia >> volunteers in India would not have been possible due to regulatory and >> legal challenges. However, we are committed to provide other help and >> service to ensure that the movement is supported. >> >> >> >> As discussed on this chain, we feel that our partners are the best placed >> to understand the needs locally and regionally. We are therefore working >> with colleagues from India directly to provide practical help and support >> to the movement there including access to vaccines, PPE kits, >> disseminating >> knowledge and fighting misinformation. We will continue to partner with >> them and others to establish criteria in line with our mission to support >> the communities. These are exceptional times, indeed but together we will >> be able to make a difference and support each other. >> >> >> >> For any questions about this initiative please feel free to contact: >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> On behalf of Community Resources Team, >> >> Tanveer Hasan >> >> >> ಗುರು, ಏಪ್ರಿ 22, 2021 ರಂದು 02:41 ಅಪರಾಹ್ನ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕೆ ರಂದು Bodhisattwa Mandal < >> [email protected]> ಅವರು ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ: >> >> > Hi, >> > >> > COVID-19 has hit hard in India again making it the leading epicentre of >> > the disease caused by the new mutated strains. The infection and death >> > tolls have reached record high and the health system in different parts >> of >> > the country is on the verge of collapse. >> > >> > Like other common people, many Wikimedians might have lost their jobs >> last >> > year. Like last year, this year too, many volunteers have been infected >> and >> > hospitalised. Some of them have lost their family members, relatives, >> > friends and other dear ones. >> > >> > Volunteer online community is the heart of our movement and every >> > dedicated, experienced and long-term volunteers are our most valuable >> > asset. It is not at all exaggerating to say that many language Wikimedia >> > projects or WikiProjects are dependent completely on one (or two or >> > three...) person's persistence to build it as a tall building from >> scratch >> > and if we lose some of those people, those projects might totally stop >> > forever. There are so many fantastic people in the movement who have >> been >> > doing incredible work in their volunteer capacity for such a long time >> > (sometimes more than a decade) to make what Wikimedia is today. >> > >> > I would like to urge people with power and money in the movement to >> find a >> > way to protect these assets. We not only cannot afford to lose them, but >> > also need to proactively protect them. Maybe a small step to provide >> > personal or family COVID-19 insurance might help a lot. Maybe sending >> money >> > to buy COVID-19 vaccines might save some of them. Who knows? >> > >> > If we can spend millions of dollars for conferences or a couple of >> hundred >> > thousand dollars to celebrate 20 years of Wikipedia during Wikimania, >> can >> > we not spend a few thousand dollars to protect at least some of the >> people >> > around the globe to some extent who made it possible to turn Wikipedia >> into >> > its 20th birthday? >> > >> > Disclaimer: I had tried to convince the grants team from my personal >> > capacity last year when COVID-19 was spreading rapidly in India but was >> > denied due to their legal concerns regarding insurance registration as >> > well as settlement and liability issues. Few others tried to convince >> them >> > too but failed. I am reaching out to the community to start a >> conversation >> > this time and find a way together. >> > >> > I am sorry for my long mail. I could not help it. >> > >> > Regards, >> > Bodhisattwa >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> New messages to: [email protected] >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >
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