400 articles and counting – celebrating Bangla Wikipedia’s Dolon Prova

This month, together with the organizers of the Wiki Women Camp 2023 we Wiki Celebrate a multi talented editor from the Bengali Wikipedia. Dolon Prova has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2016 and throughout that time, she has engaged in many on- and offwiki activities. She is a versatile Wikipedia contributor, passionate organizer and engaged community builder. Keep reading to learn more about this month’s Celebrated Wikimedian. 

Dolon’s editing interests span from writing biographies of notable women of various professions and occupations, to adding content on archeological sites up, and creating Wikipedia entries on flora, fauna and health. Whether you are looking for information about Indira Devi Choudhurani, an Indian author and musician, or want to learn more about Bengal’s snake-eel, or read good quality information about Hashimoto’s disease, Dolon’s articles in Bangla Wikipedia are there to help you. She is especially proud of creating articles about the 250 freshwater fishes. You can also find Dolon on Wikimedia Commons, where she uploads photos from cultural institutions and Wikimedia meetups, and on Wikivoyage, where she worked on providing helpful information for travelers planning to visit the Dinajpur District and the Thakurgaon District of Bangladesh.  

Dolon started editing on July 23, 2016, and quickly became connected to the Wikimedia community – just two weeks later she participated in Wiki Conference India and shortly after that: engaged in Bangladesh Archaeological Sites Article Contest, where she submitted 50 new articles. Her home wiki is Bangla Wikipedia, where she writes about an incredibly wide range of topics. 

Her motivation comes from wanting to fill knowledge gaps on important topics. One gap that she finds especially important is women’s health and womens rights topics. In her editing work, she makes sure to use information from good sources: books and reliable websites, so that the overall credibility of Bangla Wikipedia increases. Thanks to dedicated contributors like Dolon, Bangla Wikipedia, which will in January celebrate its 20th birthday, has now 142,194 articles and counting. 

When Dolon is not busy writing articles on Wikipedia or contributing to Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata or Wikivoyage, she engages in organizational and community building work. She is an active member of Wikimedia Bangladesh and has organized Environmental Editathons on World Environment Day 2020, 2021 and 2023, and co-organized International Museum Day Datathon 2023. She also created and coordinates Mymensingh Wikipedia Community, a local community, promoting Wikipedia, organizing local events and working towards enriching local content in Wikimedia projects.  

Dolon would like the public to know more about Wikipedia and encourages Wikimedians to promote Wikipedia and gain new readers and editors through blog posts and workshops. She believes in the power of collaboration, and encourages Wikipedians to engage in working together. For her, Wikipedia is the most impactful  way of sharing knowledge about one’s culture, language and traditions with the world.  Thank you for your many contributions, Dolon. We are happy to have you in the movement and proud to be celebrating you this month.