ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/Hayati Mayang Arum

As a woman born in the land of Sunda and who often works on Wikimedia projects in the Sundanese language. I am certainly proud to be able to attend the Wikimedia ESEAP conference in 2024. This ESEAP conference is my first, making it an invaluable experience as I can share my experiences and introduce my mother tongue during the conference. Moreover, I have the opportunity to learn many things from the projects that have been carried out by volunteers in their respective countries.

Certainly, as someone engaged in the field of culture and local languages, I have also learned a lot about the languages and local cultures of other countries through the presentations on Wikimedia projects from each ESEAP participant's country.

This ESEAP has been a very memorable event, not only because of the full scholarship but also because of everything I encountered at the conference. New friends, new knowledge, new insights, new ideas, and of course, the warm camaraderie. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to various parties for this very precious opportunity.

Things the Participant Contributed or Participated in the Conference

As a speaker

I had the opportunity to be a speaker in two class sessions at this ESEAP conference.

WikiRenjana

The first one is titled WikiRenjana: Perpetuating Sundanese Culinary on Wikibooks Indonesia to Maintain Cultural Heritage. This project is one that I worked on in 2023 on Indonesian-language Wikibooks with my friend, Rafli Noer. The project was made possible by a Dana Wiki from Wikimedia Indonesia. It was initiated out of our concern for the evolving times that continue to erode the traditional culinary heritage of Sunda. The goal is to ensure that Sundanese cuisine can be documented and that these recipes can still be enjoyed in the future.

After presenting at this ESEAP conference, I hope that more contributors will be encouraged to write about traditional culinary recipes from their respective regions, and hopefully, we can collaborate someday.

You can learn more about WikiRenjana here.

WikiRenjana

WikiNaskah

The second presentation is titled ESEAP Conference 2024/Submissions/WikiNaskah: Digitization of Manuscripts as a Massive Effort to Provide Resources for the Development of the Sundanese Wikisource (Wikipabukon) This time, we shared our experiences with the WikiNaskah Project, which involves the digitization of old manuscripts that have yet to be preserved and are not widely accessible. For this presentation, I was accompanied by my friend, Saepul Ramdani (who had the opportunity to attend virtually). This project was realized through a Rapid Fund from the Wikimedia Foundation.

The project aims not only to digitize these manuscripts but also to disseminate them via Wikimedia Commons and to increase the number of manuscripts on Wikipabukon (Sundanese Wikisource), which has just emerged from the incubator. Through this project, it is hoped that neglected old manuscripts can be preserved and made more widely accessible via Wikimedia Commons and Wikipabukon. Additionally, it aims to increase the number of contributors proofreading pages on Wikipabukon.

You can see the results of WikiNaskah here.

As a attendee

Pre-conference (Thursday, 09 May 2024)

Welcome Sunset Reception & Dinner
Cultural Performance

Day 1 (Friday, 10 May 2024)

Day 2 (Saturday, 11 May 2024)

Day 3 (Sunday, 12 May 2024)

Plans After the Conference

I have several plans after the conference concludes. Here are some of the things I intend to do:

Share my experiences with my local community (Wikimedia Bandung Community), both directly during meetups or indirectly (offline).
Apply the insights and knowledge gained from the conference to continue contributing to Wikimedia projects in a more varied and innovative manner.
Expand the WikiRenjana Project to a broader scope.
Collaborate with various parties to create innovative projects related to the Sundanese language and culture (in Wikimedia Sunda projects).
Share my experiences on the Wikimedia Indonesia blog and social media.
Be more active and involved in Wikimedia Movement activities, whether local, national, or global.

Things to Learn During the Conference

I am very grateful to be a participant who did not miss a single session. I would regret missing any moments of the conference series. Because from the entire conference series, I learned how to sustain and solve problems in our respective countries regarding the Wikimedia projects we are working on. Additionally, I realized the importance of prioritizing collaboration in developing Wikimedia projects, including developing Wikimedia projects in regional languages. And there are many other lessons as well.

Comments or Suggestions about the Conference

The conference went very well. As a comment, I thoroughly enjoyed and liked the entire series of events. I hope to have the opportunity to learn at future ESEAP conferences. I also really enjoyed the trip to Mari-Mari and, of course, the karaoke session. :)