Karvachar Wikiclub continues its activities online
Author: Tamara Grigoryan
Social Media channels or hashtags:Armenian Wikipedia, WikiClubs, Karvachar Wikiclub
Summary: As the Karvachar city was handed to Azerbaijan as a result of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war, all editors of Karvachar Wikiclub had to change their settlement. And now the Wikiclub acts online giving opportunity the editors to continue working together.
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The last photo taken at Karvachar Wikiclub -
Joint translation -
Meeting at wikiclub -
Taking photos for Commons
As a result of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war, Karvachar city was handed to Azerbaijan and the Armenian population had to leave their homes. Karvachar Wikiclub is one of the few institutions in Karvachar, which continues to exist after the announcement of November 9, 2020.
Karvachar Wikiclub, which is now acting completely online, has about 15 active editors per week. While in Karvachar, it was acting offline also, that number was near to 25 per month. The editors had the opportunity to visit the Wikiclub building for the last time on September 25, 2020. On September 27, as the war against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) began, the schoolchildren of Karvachar were taken to the different settlements of the Republic of Armenia and after it had no opportunity to return to Karvachar.
The online work brings together more active editors who now live in various settlements.
Karvachar Wikiclub was founded by “Wikimedia Armenia” NGO, on 15th March 2017. The Wikiclub aims to give the opportunity to teenagers, especially in rural settlements to get a better education, to improve translation skills, to study via creative work. Wikiclub in Karvachar was a unique nonformal educational center, where the teenagers had the opportunity to partake in numerous educational and cultural events.
We did not have a large number of educational centers. Many of us visited Wikiclub, it was our place. The Wikiclub had a huge impact on the students who visited it, various projects were to assist our personal development. We also got many friends. ― Lena Ghazaryan, 15.
As for me, Karvachar Wikiclub was the most important activity I did in Karvachar. ― Armine Mirzakhanyan, 12.
Armine considers online activities are also essentials. “Despite numerous difficulties, we continue to work”.
Another active editor, Rima Chilingaryan, says:
As now I work with my friends online, I feel as if we are at the Wikiclub, together again. It gives me nice memories.
The editors have some hours on some fixed days when they connect via Zoom and have joint translations of the same article together. So they have a chance to share their knowledge with each other and also to work together.
According to Harutyun Chilingaryan (14), Wikiclub is a second house for him and all the members are his family.
As working online we are still connected to each other.
Besides editing, Karvachar Wikiclub members also have some other cultural online meetings.