Grants:Project/Rapid/Bikol Wiktionary Edit-a-thon/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2020-21 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Bikol Wiktionary Edit-a-thon.
You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Yes, we have met our goals and on top of it, BCL Wiktionary was finally hatched from incubator status. Originally, this project was designed to be an online edit-a-thon but my request for in-person was granted so we were able to do physical meeting and conduct a much focused tutorial. The BCL Wiktionary was also featured in one website and was also provided space. See here. Philippines was devastated with three strong typhoons by October and November, so this project was extended until the end of December. It was a good thing that as the year end, it was finally considered for final approval. Now, the project has finally its own domain and continuously developing. Also, on December 12, 2020, I have got a chance to talk with the Language Committee with regards incubator projects in small languages and I was provided with suggestions and tips how to develop the Bikol Wiktionary. This was through the efforts of a fellow Wikimedian during the ESEAP virtual meeting. The goal of having to recruit new editors was also successful through the social media page of Bikol Wiksyunaryo on Facebook. The next stage to be taken is to pattern its syntax and orthography to the existing MTBMLE(Mother Tongue- Based Multilingual Education). The team has already received references and guides for the MTBMLE.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets. Please be sure to review and provide metrics required for Rapid Grants.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
2000 words to be improved or added	1800 words	The tasks was delegated among editors. Others have added, categorized words, provided references and pronunciations using the Lingua Libre. Some entries are to be reviewed because of issues on affixes. But having the ease of editing, the entries has been continuously increasing just after the Wiktionary become an official wiki.
Invite new editors and improve skills for existing editors	6 new editors, 10 existing editors, 2,547 total edits from 16 users based on Catanalysis	New editors have participated on the development of the Wiktionary and it actually helped boost the stats so the project could finally be approved by the language committee.
Released the BCL Wiktionary from incubator status	bcl.wiktionary.org is now working.	The wiktionary was approved on December 16, 2020. It's official birthday was on January 12,2021. After 13 years that it was requested on Meta, finally it was now an official wikiproject.

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?

The collaboration of the editors have helped to meet the criteria of the Language committee for incubator projects. I would also note that providing proper communication with the rapid grants team is always helpful since they provide helpful suggestions.

What did not work so well?

This project has coincided with the three typhoons that hit the Philippines. There was almost two weeks of power interruption and lost of data connection. After things has went back to normal, it still requires a lot of motivation to get back to the project and start again considering that some of our participants have to fix their houses and get back to their jobs. The last two weeks of December was a double-time work for all of us.

What would you do differently next time?

In-person meetings are finally approved provided that we still would follow safety protocols and this meet ups should be utilized for tutorials and workshops. Adapting to online set-up requires additional effort where we should take in consideration the devices, stability of internet connection, and the know-how of the one who'd do the tutorials. Planning beforehand the actual grant request is always a must. During this times of pandemic, it'll take an effort to invite individuals to partake in this activity especially if it will eat up the time they should be doing other important personal matters. It will always be helpful if the whole program is structured in a specific direction so whatever would take place in the middle of the event, still the target objectives will be accomplished. A physical hand out or brochure will also be helpful to serve as reviewer or manual while editing.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on."

Food and Drinks = PHP 33,777.00
PC Rentals = PHP 30,000.00
Internet Service = PHP 14, 994.00
Communication Expenses = 2,295.00
Purchase of Bikol Dictionary and Bikol Orthography Guide = PHP 5,500.00
Other Expenses = PHP 2,928.00

Total Expenses: PHP 89,494.00

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

Remaining funds have been used or will be used for other approved mission-aligned activities. This use has been requested in writing and approved by WMF.

The remaining fund amounted to PHP 1,006.00.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?

If the basis of the success of this project was how the Wiktionary has got its own wiki during this time that the grant was requested, then it is indeed successful. The team was also inspired on the possibility of having to hatched another wiki project on incubator. Actually, we are already planning on doing another one which is the BCL Wikiquote and with the skills we have developed during the whole duration of the grant, the approval of this project may take a lesser time. That instance where a conflict has arise, I hope that everyone would always have the understanding and tolerance so the project will not be put at stake. A volunteer can be part of the project regardless of how small or big his/her edits are. An edit-a-thon isn't just measured by the edit count as the so-called return of investment, but how a community achieves a healthy collaboration of knowledge. I am always thankful on how the grants team respond with my requests and queries.