Significant Progress by WikiLinguila: Advances, Campaigns, and Future Projects

We are excited to inform you about the recent advancements achieved by our group, WikiLinguila, and to share the significant successes of our projects. Since the transformation of Wiki na monɔkɔ mua bísó into WikiForMotherTongue, we have made notable progress in promoting Central African languages, particularly Tshiluba, Kikongo, and Lingala.

Developments on Wikipedia in Tshiluba

Our Wikipedia project in Tshiluba, currently hosted in the incubator (Lua), has experienced impressive growth. We have increased from 2 to over 450 articles, with a notable rise in the number of active contributors, now reaching 15 or more.

Progress on TranslateWiki

On TranslateWiki, we have observed significant advancements for Tshiluba, Kikongo, and Lingala languages. Here are the highlights:

• Wikipedia in Lingala (Ln): The number of articles has increased from 3400 to 4000, with an increase in active contributors, now 35 compared to 18 previously. We also have 5 administrators, including two members from our group, one of whom is a Wikitongues fellow for the revitalization of Kikongo on Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia in Kikongo (Kg): The number of articles has grown from 1100 to 1340, with 29 active contributors, a significant improvement from the previous 12 contributors.

Achievements and Future Initiatives

We are particularly proud of the WikiNkento campaign, which followed WikiGap, and saw massive participation from female contributors. This campaign facilitated the writing of articles about women in three Central African national languages. Notably, female participation was twice as high as male participation, with female trainers taking the lead over male trainers, highlighting the importance and engagement of women in our movement.

In less than six months, our group has made significant progress with over 30 volunteer contributors involved in 5 organized activities. According to our Pool’s strategic plan, we plan to celebrate Wikipedia in Lingala every January starting in January 2025 to mark its 20th anniversary. Similarly, we will hold celebrations in March 2026 to commemorate the launch of Wikipedia in Kikongo, which was launched in August 2004 but became active in March 2006.

We are also closely collaborating with Wikimedia volunteers from the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) and hope to establish a partnership with the new Angolan group in Cabinda to advance Kikongo on Wikimedia projects. Given that Kikongo is a national language common to these three countries (and an official language in Angola), and that Lingala is also a national language in both Congos, this partnership is crucial for the revitalization of our primary languages.

We are enthusiastic about continuing these efforts and expanding our impact. Thank you for your continued support of our mission.