Donate and help buy computers for volunteer photographers across Africa

By Jennifer 8. Lee

This the second of two blog posts, following WikiPortraits activities in Africa: Donating camera gear.

During Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi, WikiPortraits visited students in Dandora, an informal settlement close by. We worked with instructors and students to get their photos onto Wikipedia, to better illustrate Dandora, whose article currently includes mainly images of garbage discarded in the vicinity. Dandora is in fact a thriving community with its own stories to tell. By empowering residents to upload their own photos to Wikimedia, WikiPortraits can help change and improve the narrative.

Since coming from Wikimania, the WikiPortraits team has started collecting used DSLRs from other hobbyist photographers in the United States to send to Nairobi – four cameras so far, and we’re looking for more. 

Once we secured cameras for students and WikiPortraits volunteers in Africa, we then observed one new problem – it’s not always easy in Africa to download their photos, edit them and upload onto Wikimedia, since working computers and laptops are often scarce. In order to make do, the instructors have been uploading the photos at home on their own computers. 

WikiPortraits puzzled over how to address this challenge for quite a while… computers are expensive! 

But then, late in 2025, a literary non-profit I serve on the board of told me they are getting rid of their 2017 iMacs, and will sell them to WikiPortraits for $150 or so a piece (the market rate for these machines is $500 each in Kenya)!

In addition, the Kenya instructors have informed us that they can get a classroom with electricity starting in January where they can keep the computers in a safe place. So we’re seeking your donations to buy and then bring the computers over in checked luggage with our photographers!

Here’s how your donation will help:

Get more gear

• Help us obtain more DSLR and mirrorless cameras, new and used, for existing active photographers across Africa. These range from simple used DSLRs for students, to fast, advanced lenses for the sports, concerts, festivals and other more advanced photography situations.
• Send computers suitable for uploading (now students have these ancient desktops).
• Provide budgets for event travel, ranging from the African Games, to cultural festivals like Porto Novo Festival of Masks (you can see additional photos from the 2025 festival here, in collaboration with Wikimédiens du Bénin) to a project the Wikimedians in Nigeria want to do to get professional photos of the members of their legislature (which involves traveling to Abuja, the capital).

Cover software subscriptions and data

• Pay for more reliable data to upload, whether in the form of WiFi or mobile plans.
• Cover the costs of software under non-profit educational discounts such as Adobe Lightroom.
• Train volunteers about photo editing and other skills through remote or in person sessions.

This training includes classes operated by local teachers, Zoom sessions, and hands-on tutoring. This may involve “western” WikiPortraits photographers, as the founders of the program said the students find that very inspirational to know they are taking their time to teach them.

Donate and help improve diversity on Wikipedia

Your support will help WikiPortraits send more volunteers across Africa to photograph notable people at festivals and events and also use those sessions to improve their biographies on Wikipedia. This will ultimately help improve diversity on the platform.