Make Ongiini speak Oshiwambo.
Maak dat Ongiini Oshiwambo praat.
Nearly half of all Namibians speak Oshiwambo at home. No big AI company will ever build proper Oshiwambo support, because there's no commercial reason to. So we're going to do it ourselves, starting with its two written standards — Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama. Free. Open. One sentence at a time.
Byna die helfte van alle Namibiërs praat Oshiwambo tuis. Geen groot KI-maatskappy gaan ooit behoorlike Oshiwambo-ondersteuning bou nie, want daar is geen kommersiële rede daarvoor nie. So ons gaan dit self doen, beginnend met sy twee skryfstandaarde — Oshindonga en Oshikwanyama. Gratis. Oop. Een sin op 'n slag.
Why this matters
Hoekom dit saak maak
If we don't, nobody will.
As ons nie doen nie, doen niemand dit nie.
Today's AI models know dozens of languages. Oshiwambo isn't on the list — not because it's hard, but because almost no English↔Oshiwambo training data exists anywhere. So we're going to make it.
Vandag se KI-modelle ken dosyne tale. Oshiwambo is nie op die lys nie — nie omdat dit moeilik is nie, maar omdat amper geen Engels↔Oshiwambo opleidingsdata bestaan nie. Dus gaan ons dit maak.
Ongiini already chats with Namibians every day. The people using it are the ones who can teach it to speak their language. We just need to ask.
Ongiini gesels reeds elke dag met Namibiërs. Die mense wat dit gebruik, is dié wat hom kan leer om hul taal te praat. Ons hoef net te vra.
Starting with the two written standards
Beginnend by die twee skryfstandaarde
Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama, side by side.
Oshindonga en Oshikwanyama, langs mekaar.
Oshiwambo has several spoken variants. Two of them — Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama — have standardised written forms used in schools, churches, and Bible translations across the wider Oshiwambo community. They're mutually intelligible, and together they're what the writing side of Oshiwambo actually looks like today. That's where we start.
Oshiwambo het verskeie gesproke variante. Twee daarvan — Oshindonga en Oshikwanyama — het gestandaardiseerde skryfvorms wat in skole, kerke en Bybelvertalings dwarsdeur die breër Oshiwambo-gemeenskap gebruik word. Hulle is wedersyds verstaanbaar, en saam is hulle hoe die skryfkant van Oshiwambo vandag werklik lyk. Daar begin ons.
Every translation in the dataset is labelled with the dialect you speak. The result will be one open Oshiwambo dataset with two clean subsets — usable by anyone who wants to train models in either dialect, or both.
Elke vertaling in die datastel word met die dialek wat jy praat, gemerk. Die resultaat sal een oop Oshiwambo-datastel wees met twee skoon subgroepe — bruikbaar deur enigeen wat modelle in een of albei dialekte wil oplei.
How it works
Hoe dit werk
Send one message. Get one sentence. Translate.
Stuur een boodskap. Kry een sin. Vertaal.
The whole flow lives inside WhatsApp. No app to install, no website to log into, no account to create. You message Ongiini the way you'd message a friend.
Die hele vloei is binne WhatsApp. Geen toepassing om te installeer nie, geen webwerf om in te teken nie, geen rekening om te skep nie. Jy boodskap Ongiini op dieselfde manier as wat jy 'n vriend sou boodskap.
Say you want to help
Sê jy wil help
Message Ongiini with "I want to help translate", or just answer in Oshiwambo when you chat with it. We'll explain the loop and ask which dialect you speak.
Stuur Ongiini "I want to help translate", of antwoord net in Oshiwambo wanneer jy met dit gesels. Ons sal die proses verduidelik en vra watter dialek jy praat.
Translate one English sentence
Vertaal een Engelse sin
We'll send you a short English sentence — the kind of thing Namibians actually ask Ongiini every day: a CV question, a study tip, a banking question, an encouragement. Reply with how you'd say it in your dialect. About 30 seconds.
Ons stuur 'n kort Engelse sin — die soort ding wat Namibiërs elke dag vir Ongiini vra: 'n CV-vraag, 'n studiewenk, 'n bankvraag, 'n bemoediging. Antwoord met hoe jy dit in jou dialek sou sê. Omtrent 30 sekondes.
Do another, or stop any time
Doen 'n volgende, of stop enige tyd
After each translation we ask "want another?". Say yes for the next sentence; say no and we stop until you message us again. No quota, no streaks, no badges. Just one sentence at a time, as many or as few as you have time for.
Na elke vertaling vra ons "nog een?". Sê ja vir die volgende sin; sê nee en ons hou op totdat jy ons weer boodskap. Geen kwota, geen reekse, geen kentekens nie. Net een sin op 'n slag, soveel of so min as wat jy tyd voor het.
'Thank you very much.' Tangi unene. Saved — that's contribution 1 for you. Want another sentence, or done for now?
One important thing
Een belangrike ding
Contributions are permanent.
Bydraes is permanent.
Once you send a translation, it becomes part of the public Oshiwambo dataset. It can't be taken back — the same way Wikipedia edits can't, because that would compromise the resource for everyone else.
Wanneer jy 'n vertaling stuur, word dit deel van die openbare Oshiwambo-datastel. Dit kan nie teruggetrek word nie — op dieselfde manier as Wikipedia-wysigings, want dit sou die hulpbron vir almal anders beskadig.
You can stop contributing any time. Saying "delete my data" wipes your conversation history — but it does not wipe contributions you've already submitted.
Jy kan enige tyd ophou bydra. "Delete my data" vee jou gespreksgeskiedenis uit — maar dit vee nie bydraes uit wat jy reeds gestuur het nie.
What happens to your translation
Wat met jou vertaling gebeur
Review, publish, fine-tune.
Hersien, publiseer, verfyn.
A native Oshiwambo speaker on our team reviews submissions before any data leaves the system. Once we have enough reviewed pairs, we publish the dataset openly so any Namibian project, university or developer can use it. At 10,000 pairs per dialect we fine-tune Gemma 4 on it — and Ongiini starts replying to you in your language for real.
'n Oshiwambo-moedertaalspreker in ons span hersien bydraes voordat enige data die stelsel verlaat. Sodra ons genoeg hersiende pare het, publiseer ons die datastel oop sodat enige Namibiese projek, universiteit of ontwikkelaar dit kan gebruik. By 10 000 pare per dialek verfyn ons Gemma 4 daarop — en Ongiini begin in jou taal terugantwoord vir regtig.
Your translation isn't just helping Ongiini. It becomes part of the first proper open dataset for Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama — a resource future projects will build on for years.
Jou vertaling help nie net Ongiini nie. Dit word deel van die eerste behoorlike oop datastel vir Oshindonga en Oshikwanyama — 'n hulpbron waarop toekomstige projekte vir jare sal bou.
Who's behind this
Wie hieragter staan
Small, open, non-profit.
Klein, oop, niewinsgewend.
Ongiini is the first project of the Common Intelligence Foundation. The whole stack is open on GitHub. The Oshiwambo dataset itself will be published openly once reviewed.
Ongiini is die eerste projek van die Common Intelligence Foundation. Die hele stapel is oop op GitHub. Die Oshiwambo-datastel self sal oop gepubliseer word sodra dit hersien is.
Schools, NGOs, language departments — if you want to coordinate a bigger contribution drive, email hello@ongiini.ai.
Skole, NRO's, taaldepartemente — as jy 'n groter bydrae-veldtog wil koördineer, stuur 'n e-pos na hello@ongiini.ai.
Let's do this ourselves.
Kom ons doen dit self.
One Oshiwambo sentence is enough to start. The dataset is open, the model is open, the bot is open — only your language is still missing. Help us add it.
Een Oshiwambo-sin is genoeg om te begin. Die datastel is oop, die model is oop, die bot is oop — net jou taal ontbreek nog. Help ons om dit by te voeg.
The fine print
Die fynskrif
We store your translation, the English source sentence, the dialect, and a one-way scrambled ID from your WhatsApp number. We don't store the number itself next to translations, and we automatically scrub personal-data patterns (emails, IDs, account numbers) before saving. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (your consent, given by submitting after reading the permanence note) and Art. 89 GDPR / § 27 BDSG. Full details in our privacy policy.
Ons stoor jou vertaling, die Engelse bronsin, die dialek en 'n een-rigting geskommelde ID van jou WhatsApp-nommer. Ons stoor nie die nommer self langs vertalings nie, en ons vee outomaties persoonlike data (e-posse, ID's, rekeningnommers) skoon voordat ons stoor. Regsgrondslag: Art. 6 (1) (a) AVO (jou toestemming, gegee deur in te dien nadat jy die permanensie-nota gelees het) en Art. 89 AVO / § 27 BDSG. Volle besonderhede in ons privaatheidsbeleid.