OFWA AT WIKIMANIA 2025

Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) participated in Wikimania 2025, held in Nairobi from August 6-9. The conference brought together Wikimanians from all over the world, among other things to share their learnings, connect and engage in forward-thinking discussions on the movement.

The Executive Director, Jael Boateng, had the opportunity to participate in a session, ‘Local Solutions, Global Impact: Adapting Anti-information Trainings across Regions’ where she gave a presentation alongside Rachmat Wahidi from Wikimedia Indonesia, where she shared insights on our Ghana Polls campaign—an initiative which was designed to combat misinformation and disinformation surrounding Ghana’s elections in December 2024. The campaign is now being expanded across the West African sub-region, and ultimately within the continent.

Reflections on Sessions

Being new to the movement, it is easy to feel less immersed—almost like an outsider looking in. However, my time at Wikimania, through the various sessions I attended and the individuals I had the privilege of meeting, made it clear to me not only how vast the movement is, but also the significant impact its members are making within their communities and beyond through the Wikimedia and Open movement.

Are you the builder, the listener or both? Put your communication skills to the test with Legos

I gained invaluable knowledge from some of the sessions I attended, which were relevant to my work as the Communications Officer at OFWA. For instance, a session organised by ‘Let’s connect’ on communication was very insightful. This session involved teams of 6+ people. Each team was divided into two sub-teams: the Builders and the Listeners. The Listeners were tasked with working together to build a Lego castle by patiently listening to the Builders’ verbal instructions on how to construct the Lego castle. The Builders and the Listeners were on opposite sides of the room so that there was no temptation to show each other’s legos at any time. The Listener was tasked with replicating the creation solely based on the Builder’s verbal instructions from an already built lego castle. This was a fun session. After the end of the game, participants shared lessons learnt regarding communication, which included being patient, committing to a strategy, speaking in a language the team understands, while acknowledging the hindrance of language barriers among others.

Demonstrating Impact: Telling Your Story as a Wikimedia Affiliate

This session provided guidance on demonstrating impact through data-driven storytelling, helping affiliates strengthen their external engagement, fundraising efforts and community relations. The facilitator emphasised the importance of storytelling in demonstrating impact, as opposed to relying solely on data. Storytelling helps with seeking funding and partnerships. It is not just about telling a story, but the right story. In response to the question of what donors, partner organisations, and communities are seeking, the facilitator clarified that donors primarily look for impact—specifically, how a community has been inspired. Partners, on the other hand, seek evidence of aligned impact and credibility, while community members wish to feel recognised and valued.

The way your story is told should match where it is shared. For example, a newsletter should have more visuals and should be able to be read from a phone. The considerations should be who you are, why you’re addressing the problem you are about to share, data and personal story, and what’s next – why you need the additional support and how the person can address that. The facilitator mentioned about the importance of metrics in telling an impact story. It is the change you’re making in the world, due to the work that you’re doing. Metrics include reporting measurable outputs, outcomes and impact. Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire shared their impact story, followed by the opening of the floor for comments and contributions from participants to end the session.

I, together with other members of the OFWA team, had the opportunity to attend many other sessions at the Wikimania Conference. We engaged with brilliant individuals doing incredible work both within the movement and in their respective countries, and most importantly, I gained a deeper appreciation of the commitment of Wikimedians to the movement. This was demonstrated during the opening ceremony, where we witnessed the presence of participants who had been part of Wikimania since its inception, through to the most recent gathering in Nairobi.