From Lunchtime Conversation to the Launch of the Rana Tharu Wikipedia Project: An Inspiring Story from the Global Voices Summit 2024 in Nepal
Published: December 21, 2024
On December 21, Sadik Shahadu from the Wikimedia Diversity Hub and Amir Aharoni from the Wikimedia Foundation hosted a virtual discussion with the Rana Tharu community to explore ways to support their language on Wikimedia projects. The conversation resulted in a collaborative effort to create and edit Wikipedia articles in various languages and use TranslateWiki to begin documenting Rana Tharu culture and knowledge.
Supporting Rana Tharu Language on Wikimedia
Sadik Shahadu opened the session by introducing its purpose—discussing how the Rana Tharu language could be represented on Wikimedia projects. Several community members, including teachers, writers, and language enthusiasts, shared their goals of preserving and promoting the language. Amir Aharoni highlighted Wikimedia’s mission to share knowledge in as many languages as possible and outlined steps to start contributing to Wikipedia.
"Wikimedia's goal is to enable knowledge-sharing in as many languages as possible, and this project is a powerful step forward." — Amir Aharoni
Introducing the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia
The Rana Tharu community learned about the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia available in over 320 languages. Sadik and Amir explained how contributors could help expand their language on the platform through translations and article creation. Examples of successful language initiatives, such as Dagbani and Pannonian Russin, inspired the group to take the first steps towards creating Rana Tharu’s presence on Wikipedia.
What’s Next?
- Create accounts on Wikipedia/Wikimedia projects and TranslateWiki.
- Start translating interface messages on TranslateWiki.
- Begin writing articles in the Rana Tharu Wikipedia incubator.
- Organize a follow-up session with Amir to discuss Wikidata contributions.
- Create a communication group (Telegram or WhatsApp).
- Collaborate with the global Language Diversity Hub Telegram channel.
- Aim to publish the Rana Tharu Wikipedia by the end of 2025.
- Expand the contributor base after six months of initial work.
With unwavering enthusiasm, the Rana Tharu community aims to publish their language on Wikipedia by 2025. Follow their inspiring journey of collaboration and discovery as they continue to contribute to global language diversity!