Wikimedia Foundation/Communications/WikiCelebrate
The Wikimedia movement exists because of the contributions of countless volunteers and other Wikimedians from around the world, people from diverse backgrounds and life experiences contributing to the sum of human knowledge. The sheer magnitude of this global collaboration baffles most outside our movement. Many editors have long contributed independently without much acknowledgement, and some like it that way. For others, love and recognition from peers can go a long way to encourage and uplift. We are here to celebrate the exceptional people of Wikimedia, the pillars of our movement, the puzzle pieces of our ever-expanding universe of knowledge.
Celebrating Wikimedians[edit]
Barnstars are a beloved way of expressing gratitude for each other in the movement, but often without further public attention. We have no shortage of amazing contributors to celebrate and we are dedicating this space to them. WikiCelebrate is an easy, collaborative way to spotlight Wikimedians and their amazing work throughout the year. Each month we will celebrate a different Wikimedian and invite your help in further celebrating them! If you know them, share a great anecdote about your work with them. If there are others we should celebrate, please nominate them. In addition to your love and gratitude of course, the Celebrated Wikimedians will receive a limited edition barnstar, a small gift, and posts on Diff and social media.
Read about all the previous Celebrated Wikimedians!
We plan on presenting the Wikimedians of the Year in this space as well and will soon create an in memoriam page as we mark the passing of fellow Wikimedia friends and colleagues.
Mea Hanohano[edit]
The word 'wiki' is at the root of our nomenclature. That’s Hawaiian for quick. Honouring this quintessential term, we are calling this section hanohano for honour, distinction, and prestige, and adding mea to create mea hanohano, an honourable person. So, we are here to celebrate honourable Wikimedians of the highest distinction and prestige, Wikimedians of exceptional commitment and contribution.
This month we celebrate...
Ellie[edit]
Like many now-contributors, Ellie discovered the Wikimedia movement through participating in an outreach activity. It was 2019 and Ellie took part in an Art and Feminism workshop held in the Centro Cultural de España en El Salvador. This event, dedicated to enriching Spanish Language Wikipedia content related to notable women from El Salvador, taught Ellie how to make first steps in the Wikimedia world, create her own user page, look for sources, discuss with other editors, and (most importantly) add content to Wikipedia. For her, a professional journalist and communicator, this newly discovered wikiworld, focused on sharing information and storytelling, was fascinating from the very first moment.
She started making her first edits and thanks to Ellie, Spanish Wikipedia gained content about female athletes, like swimmer Aurora Chamorro or long distance runner, Vanessa Veiga. She also engaged in Wikimedia Commons, where you can find her uploads of exhibits from Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares de El Salvador, and on Wikidata.
“Maybe I see it as very long term, but the digital gap in El Salvador is still a challenge. I would like Wikimedia projects to be a space with academic information and scientific dissemination, a tool to enhance knowledge about El Salvador and the Latin American region.”, she says when asked about what keeps her going.