From 6 – 9 August 2025, I had the privilege of representing The Gambia at Wikimania 2025: the largest global gathering of the Wikimedia movement hosted at the Trademark Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.
The event brought together librarians, educators, cultural heritage specialists, technologists, and Wikimedia volunteers from across the world to share ideas, learn new skills, and form partnerships around free knowledge and open access.
Why This Matters for The Gambia?
The Gambia remains underrepresented in the global digital space. Many aspects of our history, culture, languages, and notable figures are missing or underdeveloped on platforms like Wikipedia. This not only limits our global visibility but also risks losing valuable cultural knowledge for future generations.
As the world moves towards digital-first knowledge, our libraries, archives, and cultural institutions must play an active role in safeguarding and sharing Gambian heritage online.
My Contribution at Wikimania
I presented my accepted proposal:“Sustainable Partnerships: Exploring Ways Libraries and Wikimedia Can Collaborate on Long-Term Initiatives to Preserve Cultural Heritage.”
In this session, I:
- Highlighted the absence of Gambian languages such on Wikipedia.
- Showed the limited number and quality of Gambian-related articles.
- Outlined practical ways libraries and Wikimedia can work together to document and share our heritage.
The presentation sparked interest and commitment from several international Wikimedia affiliates, language experts, and digital heritage advocates who are willing to support language inclusion projects, digitization initiatives, and training programs in The Gambia.
Key Outcomes
- International Recognition: Established the Gambia’s presence in global Wikimedia and cultural heritage discussions.
- Networking: Secured collaboration offers from partners in Africa, Europe, and North America.
Call to Action
This is not a personal project it is a national opportunity. The tools, partnerships, and goodwill are already available. What we need now is:
- Institutional and community collaboration to develop a pilot project digitizing Gambian cultural material.
- Support for language inclusion in Wikipedia to ensure our mother tongues are preserved digitally.
- Partnership agreements with willing international collaborators for training, resources, and technical support.
Together, we can ensure that The Gambia’s cultural heritage, languages, and stories live on in the global digital space for generations to come.
📌 Contact for Collaboration
Email: Wikimediausergroupthegambia@gmail.com
Facebook page: Wikimedia User Group the Gambia
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