Template:2011FR/appeal-basil-1214 sg/en

Until I was in the second grade, I was writing everything from right to left.

Having learned Arabic as a child (my dad is from Syria), I automatically continued to write “backwards” in English, leading my teachers to become deeply concerned about my cognitive abilities.

It’s safe to say I didn’t have the easiest time at school. But then I made a life-changing discovery in Wikipedia. With the help of this amazing resource, I was free to learn and study however it worked for me. I even started editing.

I can’t imagine having survived high school or college without Wikipedia. It’s like the center of the information universe, with everything you ever wanted to know.

How incredible is it that the #5 website in the world is free, doesn’t have ads, and is supported by readers like me and you? I bet there’s some branch of science or economics that doesn’t exist yet that’s going to explain it all some day.

Wikipedia accomplishes so much with just a handful of resources. Compare our operation to the other leading websites – the thousands of servers and staff at Google or Yahoo – and you see how incredible Wikipedia truly is: we have 679 servers and 95 staff, but hundreds of thousands of volunteers.

Now, I use Wikipedia every single day. So I feel obliged to contribute every year when I see the fundraising campaign. And I’m hoping you’ll feel the same way, because Wikipedia depends on our support.

Help keep Wikipedia alive in this crazy world by making a donation of $5, $20, $50 or whatever you can today.

Thanks,

Basil Soufi

Wikipedia Author