Template:2010/AbbasLetterA/en

Here in Kenya when I think about Wikipedia, I think about a young African girl. I don’t know exactly what Wikipedia means to you. But, to her, it’s the chance of a lifetime. The way things stand now, she must wake up at 4am and go fetch water at the nearby river in order to bathe her six younger siblings. By the time she arrives at school, she is probably already tired and late for classes since she had to walk from home to school due to the lack of bus fare. The class teacher demands to check her homework, but she couldn’t do it because her Primary Math textbook is hopelessly out of date. So, the angry teacher suspends this innocent girl from school because she couldn’t afford to buy the latest textbook to do her homework with. Just imagine what a difference it would make if students in Kenya’s schools had regular access to Wikipedia, which is constantly updated and always current. Open education projects such as Wikipedia and its sister project Wikiversity could transform the lives of people like that young girl and so many others like her. Each of us has our own reasons for helping to protect and sustain Wikipedia. Whatever your personal reason is, I hope you will take part in the annual fundraising drive now with a gift of $20, $35, $50 or whatever you can to keep Wikipedia free. Thanks so much, Abbas Mahmood

Mombasa, Kenya

P.S. Please remember that editing Wikipedia and donating to support it go hand-in-hand. Editors are the windows to Wikipedia and donors are the hinges that keep those windows open.