Walking into the poster hall at Wikimania 2026 in Paris, I was excited, but also a little nervous. Months of planning, fieldwork, writing, designing and countless discussions had finally come together in a single poster. I wondered how people from different countries and cultures would respond to our work.
The answer came almost immediately.
Throughout the poster session, people kept stopping by. Some were curious about butterflies. Others wanted to know how Wiki Loves Butterfly works with children and local communities. Many were drawn to the colourful photographs and illustrations and simply asked, “Can you tell me more about this?”
Those conversations became the most memorable part of my Wikimania experience.
This year, we introduced something very close to our hearts, our multilingual storybooklets for children. Instead of creating traditional educational booklets filled with facts, we wanted to tell stories that children would enjoy reading while learning about nature.
We first created the story in Bangla. Then our team member, Dr. Sourabh Biswas, translated it into English, which was an important first step. After that, we reached out to many people, some were Wikimedians, while others were volunteers who simply wanted to help. Together, we were able to translate the story into Bangla, English, French, Spanish, Hindi, Assamese, Ol Chiki and Santali.
In the story, a curious little girl meets a butterfly. Rather than giving a science lesson, the butterfly becomes her friend and guide. Together they explore gardens and discover the butterfly’s world. Along the way, the butterfly shows where it lays its eggs, explains how caterpillars feed on host plants and shares the amazing journey from egg to caterpillar, chrysalis and finally to a beautiful butterfly. Every story is illustrated with real photographs contributed through Wiki Loves Butterfly on Wikimedia Commons.
What surprised me most was the response to our multilingual approach.
Many Wikimedians immediately understood that language should never be a barrier to learning about nature. People from different countries shared ideas about translating the stories into their own languages so that children in their communities could enjoy them too.
Those conversations reminded me that Wikimedia is not only about creating knowledge, it is also about making knowledge accessible to everyone, in every language.
It was inspiring to see people imagining how these stories could be used in their own schools and community outreach programmes. What started as a local educational initiative suddenly felt like the beginning of a global collaboration.
I left Paris with much more than feedback on a poster. I came home with new friendships, fresh ideas and renewed confidence that simple, creative ideas can make a real difference. Sometimes all it takes is a butterfly, a story and a conversation to connect people from around the world.
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation