Kaapse, Khôi and San Xam'issa Language Project
Khoi and San Xam'issa Language Project is a outreach project run by Wikimedia South Africa to encourage Khoi, San and (hopefully) Kaapse language speakers to edit Wikipedia and encourage the incubation of San, Khoi, and/or Kaapse language versions of Wikipedia.
Background[edit]
A group of representatives for their communities, and as descendants of what seems to be one of the oldest peoples and language groups in the world, have partnered with WikimediaZA to attempt and create a user group for the Khoi and San Xam'issa language. The language is thought to have lost its name, and identity, and its etymology has been obscured for so long that it seems almost an impossible task to consider. The group and volunteers from WikimediaZA had their first event which was aimed at launching the user group, as well as introducing the youth to Wikimedia Foundation as well as letting them know about the South African on (30 April 2022).
Objectives[edit]
- Creating a learning platform for tracing the language
- Enhance social cohesion
- Encourage youth development
- Restore dignity to the language
- Grow the Khoi and San Xam'ssa language and content on Wikipedia
- To help people learn how to contribute to Wikimedia projects
- Generally to add the Khoi and San-related content to Wikipedia and sister projects.
- To establish the presence of Wikimedia in communities.
Proposed Activities[edit]
- Organizing Wikipedia edit-a-thons through the user group.
- Promote editing of content on Wikimedia projects that relates to the language, history, heritage
- Training the involved communities on how they can contribute to Wikimedia projects as well as their user group.
- Participating in Wiki Loves Activities.
- Creating partners to extend the course of Wikimedia in South Africa the Chapter.
The Launch[edit]
The first launch held on 30 Apirl 2022 at the Cape Town Castle went well, we were joined by 10 enthusiastic young men and women (youth), who all hail from the Phillipi community in South Africa, they were accompanied by Andre Naidoo the founder of Care Non-Profit Organisation. The organization works with youth from so-called disadvantaged backgrounds. The launch was held at the Camissa Museum tells the stories of the peopling of the Cape. It reveals the rich and complex history of Camissa Africans, those classified as ‘Coloured,’ who has been portrayed by others for centuries but never by themselves. This history and these stories, that have been buried and hidden for centuries, are now told for the first time.
On arrival, they were registered, then taken on a tour of the museum and given a background of the museum and the history it holds. Andre sang some songs to the youth which represented the purpose of the launch and resonated a great significance to the purpose of creating the user group and trying to restore this Khoi and San language. Lunch was served and commenced in the training room, where we were joined virtually by User: Discott he presented on Wikimedia Foundation and WikimediaZA. The presentation ended and the second date of training which will be held on (21 May 2022) Pictures and videos were taken on the day which will be uploaded on Commons.
Expense report[edit]
The following expenditures were made for this project.
| Date | Expense | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 April 2022 | Catering for 20 people | R5,000.00 | For the event on 30 April 2022 at the Castle |
| 21 May 2022 | Catering for 22 people and transportation | R1,400,00 | For the event on 21 April in Retreat Cape Town, we budgeted less for this event, because we wanted to see the amount of attendees |
Training on Wikipedia[edit]
1st training on Wikipedia took place on (21 May 2022). The training had 22 attendees, this includes one of Wikimedia South Africa board members Michael Graaf. Michael Trained the youth or rather gave a presentation on Wikipedia and showed them when they do begin to write or translate articles would be like. The youth with a lot of enthusiasm asked questions about Wikipedia which Michael and Shupai answered. Michael and Andre exchanged books, The Lie of 1652 and First People the lost History of the Khoisan these books will help in the translating of articles. Pictures of the training are uploaded on commons
it was discussed that an upcoming event will be discussed.