A three-day capacity-building workshop has been organised for five language communities in Northern Ghana, with the objective of enhancing their skills in digitising their cultural heritage, including traditions, customs, and languages.

The initiative spearheaded by Dagbani Wikimedians User Group aimed to empower the Kusaal, Dagaare, Gurene, Moore, and Dagbani language communities to preserve and promote their cultural identities in the digital age.

Twenty-four representatives from these communities participated in a series of engaging presentations, training sessions, and reflective discussions.

These interactive activities aimed to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to document their linguistic heritage, while also boosting their motivation and confidence to continue capturing the historical evidence of their languages for future generations.

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Participants also embarked on a guided tour of the Mole National Park in the Savannah region to observe and appreciate the diverse number of indigenous wildlife inhabiting the park, further enriching their cultural exchange experience.

A Open Educational Resources (OER) Developer and team member of the Dagbani Wikipedians User Group, Fuseini Musah led a session on leveraging OER to foster the growth of indigenous languages, with a focus on Mabia languages.

Mr Musah, who played critical role as a co-lead in the development of the Kusaal Wikimedia Community also shared his expertise and experiences from participating in the Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW) Program for three consecutive years, indicating the importance of OER for community members' personal development and language preservation.

Another group member, Fuseini Mohammed Kamaldeen, conducted a training session on effective slide presentation techniques, explaining how to utilize existing templates on Slideshare and Canva to craft visually appealing and engaging slides.

Mr Kamaldeen also provided guidance on creating dashboards using the Wikimedia Outreach Dashboard platform, enabling participants to track quantitative data on their contributions and other key metrics.

The CEO of Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, Sadik Sahadu, urged members to persist in documenting their people's languages, culture, and traditions.

He emphasised that preserving their indigenous language is a collective responsibility.

The group, which is leading efforts in this area, has initiatives like training and onboarding new members to share the workload and maintain quality standards, ensuring the successful digitization of their languages.