How curiosity, Wikimedia and friendship connected Peru and Malaysia
Some conversations end when a conference closes. Others become the beginning of something unexpected.
What began as a conversation between two Wikimedians during Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi gradually evolved into a year-long journey of discovering each other’s territories through Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and a shared curiosity about the world.
It did not begin with a project proposal or an editing campaign. It began with simple questions: What mountain best represents your home? , Which flower tells the story of your country?, What traditional instrument would you recommend?, What place should every visitor experience? Each question naturally led to another article, another photograph and another conversation.
Curiosity transformed Wikipedia from a source of information into a bridge between two cultures.
The first discoveries came through landscapes. Learning about Mount Kinabalu and Huaytapallana revealed that mountains are much more than geographical landmarks. They embody history, spirituality and cultural identity. Plants opened another unexpected chapter. Discovering Rafflesia, one of the world’s largest flowers, challenged previous ideas about biodiversity, while exploring Cantuta, Capsicum pubescens, and other emblematic plants showed how closely nature and culture are connected. The conversations soon expanded into forests. Reading about the giant tropical tree Menara, species of Shorea, and the ancient rainforests of Borneo completely changed one perspective on the scale and age forests can reach. At the same time, revisiting Peru’s heritage trees reminded us that every territory contains extraordinary stories waiting to be rediscovered.
Sometimes it takes someone from another part of the world to help us rediscover our own home.
One of the most unexpected outcomes of this exchange was realizing how little we sometimes know about our own territories until someone asks a simple question. Searching for answers encouraged us not only to explore another country, but also to learn more about our own landscapes, biodiversity and traditions. Every conversation became an invitation to continue learning. Rather than ending with an answer, each discovery naturally generated another question.
The journey soon extended beyond nature. Articles about the Sompoton, Suling, Gong, and traditional Andean instruments became opportunities to understand cultural identity through music. Historic places such as Museo de Sitio de Wariwillka, Santa Rosa de Ocopa, Poring, and Molles of Wariwillka revealed different ways communities preserve memory, culture and their relationship with nature. Wikipedia offered historical context. Wikimedia Commons allowed us to experience these places visually. Together, they transformed reading into exploration.
Every question opened another path through Wikimedia.
Living in different time zones and communicating through translation tools could easily have limited our conversations. Instead, curiosity became our common language. Each shared article encouraged another discussion. Each Wikimedia Commons photograph inspired another question. Little by little, what began as an exchange of links became an exchange of perspectives. We were no longer simply discovering Peru and Malaysia. We were learning how another person understands and values the place they call home.
Looking back, we realised that Wikimedia is much more than a collection of articles. It is an ecosystem where questions become conversations, conversations become friendships, and friendships become collaborations. Our experience also made us wonder what could happen if more Wikimedians explored each other’s territories in the same way. Imagine contributors from different countries beginning with one simple question:
“What should I know about your home?”
That single question could inspire new Wikipedia articles, Wikimedia Commons photographs, collaborative editing events, cultural exchanges or simply new friendships across communities.
Perhaps that is one of Wikimedia’s greatest strengths. It not only helps us understand the world. It helps us understand each other.
More than a year after our first conversation, we met again during Wikimania 2026 in Paris. By then, we were no longer simply exchanging Wikipedia articles. We had discovered landscapes, forests, flowers, music, traditions and heritage through each other’s eyes. Looking back, we realised that none of this started with a formal project. It started with curiosity. And perhaps that is one of the simplest ways to build international collaboration within Wikimedia.
What began as curiosity gradually became a connection built through shared knowledge.
What should I know about your home?
Perhaps the next Wikimedia collaboration will begin with that simple question.
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