Welcome to Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge, sponsored by Google

We invite you to take part in this challenge to create Wikipedia articles in Kiswahili. We hope to make the online experience richer and more relevant for 100 million African users who speak Kiswahili. You've never created a Wikipedia article before? No problem. We will have training available at the start of the competition. The articles you create will be attributed to you, which will earn you instant and lasting online fame, and prizes will be given away to the winners who qualify. You could win a mobile phone, netbook or even a laptop. Other prizes include wireless Internet modems and wearable Google gear. All participants who meet the set criteria will receive a certificate of participation from Google for your efforts.

What is the Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge?

This is your opportunity to bring Africa's information online by creating Wikipedia articles in Kiswahili. You can participate by translating English Wikipedia articles into Kiswahili or by writing your own articles from scratch. You can choose your own topic to write about. Are you a pursuing a degree in Physics? Translate the entry for 'condensed matter' from English to Kiswahili. Studying literature? Write an entry on your favorite local author. Or translate an article about your favorite musician or sports team. Just think about what topics would be of interest to some of the 100 million Kiswahili speakers worldwide.

Eligibility

The Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge is open to students enrolled in participating schools and individuals who are passionate about the Kiswahili language.

How it will work

As a participant, you will be either creating original Wikipedia articles in Kiswahili or translating existing Wikipedia articles from English to Kiswahili. If you're creating a new article, you will do so via Wikipedia.org’s entry tools. If you're translating articles from English to Kiswahili, you will use Google Translator Toolkit, which integrates with Wikipedia so that you can upload your new article from there. Once you register, you will receive information on the venue and time for a one-day training. The training will include how to create Wikipedia articles with the help of the Google Translator Toolkit as well as general overview of Wikipedia. All articles submitted will be reviewed by Kiswahili Wikipedia Jury members who will assess the quality of your article and assign a 'point' per article. 
 

Winners and Prizes

Winners of the prizes will be determined by a point system taking into consideration the number of articles submitted and the quality of the articles. We will also award prizes to the second place participants and runners up.

Prizes includes laptops, mobile phones, prepaid internet access modems, Google T-shirts, and more. Participants will also receive certificate of participation.

Please contact kiswahili-wiki@googlegroups.com if you have any questions.