42 young Africans took part in the sixth training session of the Higher Education Initiative, the WikiAfrica Education Programme for African university students, held from 17 March to 06 April.
Students came from numerous institutions and partners including the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Scholarship Programme year 2022/2023, African Research University Alliance (ARUA), African Leadership University (ALU) and the University of Nairobi.
During the training weeks, students were invited to participate in both theoretical and practical training sessions, organised by the promoter foundations, Fondazione Aurora and Moleskine Foundation. Among the keynote speeches, Professor Clarisse Hager, assistant lecturer in linguistics at the Université Alassane Ouattara – Côte d’Ivoire, presented to the students her work on bilingualism in Africa and invited them to participate in a global reflection on the preservation of African languages:
“Knowing the value of a given language (cf. Vigotsky, 1934, “Thought and Language”), African languages are in fact the fundamental tools for expressing the cultural-historical dimension of black people and all members of black communities. Therefore, we cannot separate language, which forms our identity, from culture, you young people must have to promote knowledge today with a cultural-historical approach.”
In the four weekly meetings led by Tochi Precious, Wikimedian in residence and trainer for the Moleskine Foundation, the students learned how the Wikipedia platform works and started to produce content in their local African languages.
Already 62 new articles have been uploaded, adding to the 247 created in previous editions.
The next training session will be from 12th May to 16th June, application are open until 16th April for all young people willing of growing with new digital skills and desire to contribute to an authentic narrative of Africa.
For info contact agyemang@fondazioneaurora.org