Wikimedia training Suriname and the Caribbean

By Sandra Fauconnier

In April-June 2021, Wikimedia Nederland (WMNL) has organized an online Wikimedia training for people who manage knowledge and heritage related to Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean. This training, supported by a grant from the Dutch Stichting GO Fonds, was part of the longer-term project Netherlands and the World by WMNL, which focuses on knowledge equity, especially involving organizations, volunteers and other participants from regions with which the Netherlands historically has strong ties (mainly because of its colonial past).

The Wikimedia training for Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean consisted of four tutorial sessions of four hours each, and a final day in which participants executed small personal projects, helped by active Wikimedians.

Illustration: video https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_training_Suriname_and_the_Caribbean_-June_11,_2021-_Wikisource_introduction.webm

The training was quite popular. Nearly 40 participants from Suriname, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and the Netherlands took part. Some attendees were staff of smaller or larger GLAM institutions; quite a few of the participants were also researchers, writers or teachers.

A diverse group of trainers and guest speakers introduced the course participants to various Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and Wikisource) and showed them practical applications of the potential of these projects. The course participants also met active members of the Dutch and Caribbean Wikimedia community, and held in-depth discussions about topics like knowledge equity, respectful use of 'sensitive' language on Wikimedia projects, and the types of knowledge they would like to see represented there.

As a follow-up, Wikimedia Nederland is having conversations with several course participants to talk about potential new projects, building upon various interesting ideas and topics that have emerged during this course. Some of these ideas may be incorporated in Wikimedia Nederland's activities of the following years. Such ideas include:

• A pilot project on oral knowledge and oral history on Wikimedia projects with indigenous communities from Latin America, potentially including videos and transcriptions of conversations on Wikisource.
• Follow-up projects with a focus on the Papiamento language that is spoken in the Dutch Caribbean, including first steps on Wikisource in this language.
• Media uploads and data donations related to heritage and the history of Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean.

The course's project page provides an overview of the program and contains recordings of presentations. In the Commons category, you can also find recordings and additional supporting materials. Please get in touch with Wikimedia Nederland if you want to know more, or if you have suggestions or ideas for (other) follow-up projects.