Kujifunza Pamoja: Let’s Connect at Wikimania Nairobi 2025

Kujifunza pamoja (learning together): At Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi, Let’s Connect once again showed its value as a space for human connections and peer learning in the Wikimedia movement. Over three days, with two Connectahons and a Learning Clinic, 110 participants (56% of whom identified as female).

From playful activities involving LEGO towers and cup stacking without using hands to discussions on building “newcomer-friendly, inclusive and multigenerational spaces”, the sessions were a blend of fun, reflection, and practical skill-building. Even the Let’s Connect team, facilitating the three sessions, was in fits of laughter. 

Why Let’s Connect Stands Out

Launched as a peer-learning initiative, Let’s Connect has consistently stood out as a welcoming space for diverse Wikimedians. It is not just about sharing skills but about creating bonds and giving community members space to learn from each other in creative ways. (Check out our evaluation report to find out more about its impact.)

Connectathon 1: Communication Skills with LEGO

This activity tested the patience, creativity, and communication styles of the 51 participants. Teams of 5–6 were formed and divided into communicators and listeners. The communicators were shown a pre-built LEGO tower outside the room and had to guide their teammates—without being able to see their progress—through verbal and non-verbal instructions only. Sounds pretty easy, hey? Until the chaos in the room started!

Laughter, playful frustration, and ingenuity filled the room. Some participants even drew shapes with their toes to explain!

The exercise highlighted the importance of active listening, clear instructions, and collaboration, all of which are directly relevant to Wikimedia projects, where editors often collaborate remotely with limited communication tools. Other reflections included understanding each team member’s strength, being flexible to adapt to chaotic circumstances, taking the time to explain the activity to people who joined later (the newcomers!), and rethinking approaches. 

Winning teams received Let’s Connect goodies, but more importantly, all participants walked away with insights on how to strengthen communication in movement work.

Connectathon 2: Cup Stacking with Peers

The fun came back on day 2. This time, stacking cups! 37 participants worked in teams of five using six plastic cups, a rubber band, and strings. The challenge: build a pyramid without touching the cups directly. Teams were feeling confident, as most managed to create a simple structure in under 15 minutes. The Let’s Connect facilitators raised the bar and made the second one harder. Teams experimented, failed, tried again, and celebrated their “aha!” moments together.

The activity underscored the role of collaborative problem-solving and creative thinking in Wikimedia projects. Just like editing together, success depended on patience, trial and error, and support from peers. Here are some of the reflections in participants’ words:

• “Sometimes the first challenge is easy, but when making things more complex, you can get frustrated. It is essential to see that you have already succeeded and have this as a positive reference. You need someone on the team keeping the positive energy”.
• “Sometimes you don’t know the limit of your strength until something more difficult comes along. We were making great progress, and it collapsed. We stopped and thought and came up with some ideas”.
• “We might be working towards the same goal, but communicating it differently. Even if I say one word, each of us might understand it differently. We need to be aware of this”. 

Learning Clinic: Creating Newcomer-Friendly Spaces

On the final day, we concluded with the learning clinic on “Creating Newcomer-Friendly Spaces: Building an Inclusive and Multigenerational Wikimedia.” Attended by 42 participants, this clinic focused on identifying newcomer journeys within the Movement to identify key tools and processes that were supportive, as well as the barriers they encountered. Newcomers were connected with more experienced Wikimedians to discuss these, find connections, and empathy in their journeys.

We learned several things from these journeys, such as the importance of friendships in inviting people in, and about how the first moments are a mixture of utter excitement and feeling overwhelmed by all the information. We learned that the happiest moments are associated with feeling empowered by the first 30 edits, taking on new Movement roles on and off the wiki, and seeing what other Wikimedians are doing around the world. We also learned what boosts contributions – such as finding an inspiring mentor, joining a fun campaign, or attending a first community meet-up. Common pain points (or sad moments) on the journey include technical barriers, feeling alone after a training, having your content deleted or being blocked without explanation, lacking the capacity to volunteer, and feeling like you are missing out.

Taking these journeys into action!

From these journeys, participants reflected on the key tools or processes that supported or could have supported them more. We then collectively brainstormed what a newcomer toolkit could look like. Some great ideas emerged, and we have documented them here. We will shortly be sharing another Diff post about this toolkit and placing this on Meta, linking current tools and examples that exist and can be adapted locally, as well as sharing those that don’t yet exist but could become interesting initiatives to develop. 

We hope that this is useful to communities in their efforts to welcome and support newcomers. 

Please contribute to the toolkit by adding more ideas, tools, and references.

Why This Matters

Each of the three Let’s Connect sessions echoed the Wikimania@20 theme of “Inclusivity · Impact · Sustainability.” The LEGO and cup-stacking connectathons fostered inclusive teamwork and impactful peer learning, while the newcomer-friendly clinic emphasized sustainable pathways for engaging editors across generations—ensuring that Wikimedia communities remain welcoming, resilient, and future-focused. 

These activities at Wikimania 2025 proved that Let’s Connect is more than just a skills-building program—it’s a movement-building experience. Combining play with purpose makes learning memorable and ensures that lessons stick long after the conference ends.

Looking Ahead: How You Can Join

Let’s Connect isn’t limited to global events. Communities can bring it home in different ways:

• Join Let’s Connect: Not yet a member? Find out how to participate here and sign up using the Capacity Exchange platform. 
• Attend upcoming activities: Keep an eye on our calendar for announcements for future online activities.
• Build your version of Let’s Connect: Bring connectathons, clinics or other peer learning ideas to your local context. Write to the team to find out more at letsconnectteam@wikimedia.org. 

Explore More on Diff

For more perspectives on community learning and Wikimania reflections, check out:

1. Capacity Exchange: closing one chapter and opening a new one: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/06/20/capacity-exchange-closing-one-chapter-and-opening-a-new-one/ 
2. Let’s Connect Across Zones in Nigeria 2025: A Journey of Learning, Sharing, and Inclusion: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/07/25/lets-connect-across-zones-in-nigeria-2025-a-journey-of-learning-sharing-and-inclusion/