A Project for Cultural and Technological Inclusion

The Deepin community continues to grow and push new boundaries. Recently, I had the honor of meeting with Pedro Franco, President of Cybersecurity, Free Software, and Open Government, and Gina Brito, Executive Director of Internet Governance, Digital Security, and Open Data. Both are founders of the Ubuntu community, established in 2006, and one of the most influential free software communities in northern South America. Additionally, they have founded Huaira Compañía, specializing in cybersecurity.

The purpose of our meeting was to introduce them to an exciting project developed by the Deepin Ecuador community: translating Deepin into Kichwa. Kichwa is an indigenous language from the Andean region of Ecuador and plays a crucial role in the cultural identity of indigenous communities. This language is a vital vehicle for transmitting ancestral knowledge, traditions, and Andean worldview.

Preserving Kichwa is fundamental to keeping the cultural heritage alive for future generations. However, globalization and the pressure of Spanish have led to a decline in the number of speakers and the intergenerational transmission of the language.

From the perspective of free software and equitable access to education, preserving Kichwa is an act of inclusion and democratization of knowledge. Just as free software promotes accessibility and participation in technology, translating digital content into Kichwa fosters cultural equality and access to education in the native language of indigenous peoples.

Our project to translate Deepin into Kichwa is an important step towards technological inclusion. It not only celebrates linguistic diversity but also enables Kichwa speakers to benefit from technology in their mother tongue, promoting more inclusive education.

During the meeting with Gina and Pedro, we developed a plan to expand Deepin to all social sectors of the country. Our dream is to see Deepin installed on computers in schools and universities. Gina and Pedro shared our enthusiasm and considered the project very tangible and promising.

The plan includes several steps, such as training Kichwa speakers to join translation efforts and developing promotional content to expand both the Kichwa project and the Deepin community in Ecuador. Subsequently, we aim to bring the project to Colombia and Venezuela. Currently, we have 10 volunteers ready to translate.

Additionally, we had a meeting with Mauricio Matabay, founding secretary of the Association of Ecuadorian Students at Kansas State University and Kichwa advisor. We discussed logistical aspects of translating Kichwa in Deepin and adapting an application he is developing, similar to Duolingo, but for learning Kichwa. We also considered using Deepin in the language labs of a continuing education program on Kichwa, aiming to provide a complete, friendly, and engaging environment.

This project not only seeks to preserve a valuable language and culture but also to transform how technology can be accessible and inclusive. What other initiatives do you think could contribute to the preservation of languages and cultures in the technological realm? Technology has the power to unite and strengthen communities in ways we are just beginning to explore.

Here are the first posters that we will use to promote the project, the originals are in Spanish