Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Preserving Refugee Languages and Cultural Heritage in West Nile through Wikimedia Platforms (ID: 23750909)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
LikamboisaacK
- Organization
Wikimedia Community User Group For Refugees
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
I'm a group leader of an informal Wikimedia group.
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Preserving Refugee Languages and Cultural Heritage in West Nile through Wikimedia Platforms
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-04-13 - 2026-10-12
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Uganda
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
This project seeks to transform refugee communities in West Nile from passive subjects of documentation into active producers and custodians of open knowledge by preserving endangered languages and cultural heritage through Wikimedia platforms. The wider change we aim to bring is greater knowledge equity: refugee cultures, languages, and histories becoming visible, accessible, and valued within the global digital knowledge ecosystem.
At present, most refugee languages and cultural traditions in Bidibidi, Imvepi, and Rhino Camp remain undocumented or are transmitted only orally. Displacement, disrupted education, generational gaps, and assimilation pressures are accelerating the loss of indigenous languages, oral histories, folklore, and traditional knowledge. At the same time, refugees especially youth and women face limited access to digital skills, internet connectivity, and opportunities to participate in Wikimedia projects. This results in systemic underrepresentation of displaced communities on Wikipedia and its sister projects, reinforcing global content gaps and cultural invisibility.
If this proposal is implemented, refugee communities will be positively affected in several ways. Cultural custodians and elders will see their knowledge preserved and respected in open, permanent formats. Refugee youth will gain practical digital literacy and editing skills, strengthening their confidence, employability, and civic participation. Globally, Wikimedia users, educators, and researchers will gain access to reliable, diverse content on underrepresented refugee cultures and languages.
To achieve this change, the project adopts three complementary strategies:
1. Building the capacity of refugee contributors We will train refugee youth, women, and community leaders in Wikipedia editing, Commons uploading, Wikidata contribution, and Wiktionary language documentation. Capacity building is chosen because evidence from Wikimedia community programs shows that sustained participation depends on practical skills, mentorship, and confidence. Training addresses the primary barrier to participation: lack of technical knowledge and familiarity with Wikimedia norms.
2. Community-based documentation and co-creation of knowledge Rather than external researchers documenting refugees, this project centers refugees as authors of their own histories. Through oral history recording, cultural photowalks, and language documentation sessions, community members will generate verifiable, locally grounded content. This participatory approach is effective in safeguarding intangible heritage and aligns with best practices in community archiving and Wikimedia’s knowledge equity strategy.
3. Mentorship, peer support, and sustainability mechanisms New editors will be paired with experienced Wikimedians and supported through themed edit-a-thons and review sessions. This approach is selected because retention and content quality improve significantly when newcomers receive ongoing mentorship and feedback. Establishing local documentation hubs and a refugee editor task team will ensure continued contributions beyond the grant period.
This proposal introduces an innovative model by combining refugee-led cultural preservation with structured multilingual contributions across four Wikimedia platforms (Wikipedia, Commons, Wikidata, and Wiktionary). By integrating language documentation with multimedia and structured data, the project not only preserves heritage but also strengthens the visibility, discoverability, and long-term reuse of refugee knowledge.
Overall, the project addresses urgent cultural loss, digital exclusion, and knowledge inequity through proven, community centered approaches that are well aligned with Wikimedia’s mission and strategic direction
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
The project will be implemented through a coherent set of programmatic activities directly aligned with the strategies of capacity building, community-based documentation, and mentorship for sustainability. These activities are designed to progressively move participants from awareness and skills acquisition to active content creation and long-term engagement on Wikimedia platforms.
1. Community Mobilization and Project Launch Meetings The project will begin with community sensitization and launch meetings in Bidibidi, Imvepi, and Rhino Camp refugee settlements. These meetings will engage refugee leaders, cultural custodians, youth groups, women representatives, and local educators to introduce the project objectives, explain Wikimedia’s mission and open knowledge principles, and identify priority languages, cultural themes, and documentation sites.
This activity is chosen to ensure strong community ownership, ethical consent, and relevance of content. Early engagement with cultural leaders increases trust, improves participation of elders and women, and ensures that the documented knowledge reflects community priorities.
2. Training Workshops on Wikimedia Editing and Cultural Documentation Three in-person regional training workshops (one per settlement) will be organized for approximately 60 participants. Training modules will cover:
Introduction to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, and Wiktionary
Editing basics and article creation on Wikipedia
Uploading and licensing media on Wikimedia Commons
Creating structured data items on Wikidata
Contributing vocabulary and definitions on Wiktionary
Copyright, Creative Commons licensing, verification, and ethical documentation
Youth safety and safeguarding procedures
These workshops are selected because skills gaps and lack of familiarity with Wikimedia policies are the main barriers to participation. Hands-on, localized training has been shown in Wikimedia community programs to significantly increase newcomer retention and content quality.
3. Formation of Community Documentation Teams and Language Focus Groups Participants will be organized into small thematic teams based on language groups and cultural expertise (e.g., Kakwa, Bari, Lugbara dialects, Moru, Avokaya). Each team will include youth editors, a community elder or cultural custodian, and a trained facilitator.
This activity ensures accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. Group-based documentation is chosen because it improves verification of oral knowledge, supports mentorship between elders and youth, and reduces individual drop-out.
4. Oral History Recording and Language Documentation Sessions Structured documentation sessions will be conducted in each settlement to record:
Oral histories and migration narratives
Folktales, proverbs, songs, and traditional stories
Descriptions of cultural practices, festivals, food traditions, and crafts
Vocabulary lists and basic phrases in endangered refugee languages
Audio and photographic documentation will be collected and prepared for upload to Wikimedia Commons and Wiktionary.
This activity is essential because most refugee cultural knowledge is oral and at immediate risk of loss. Community-led recording is an effective heritage preservation method widely supported by cultural documentation research and aligns with Wikimedia’s open access mission.
5. Cultural Photowalks and Heritage Mapping Supervised photowalks will be organized to document cultural artifacts, traditional attire, musical instruments, community events, and heritage sites within the settlements. Images will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons with proper descriptions and licensing.
Photowalks are selected because visual documentation significantly increases the usability and educational value of Wikimedia content and has proven effective in GLAM and cultural heritage Wikimedia initiatives.
6. Themed Edit-a-thons and Content Creation Campaigns Monthly themed edit-a-thons will be organized focusing on:
Refugee ethnic groups and languages on Wikipedia
Cultural traditions and festivals
Biography and history of community leaders and cultural figures
Wikidata items on languages and ethnic identities
Wiktionary entries for endangered language terms
These edit-a-thons will consolidate training into practical production and ensure measurable content outputs. Themed campaigns are chosen because they create focus, motivation, peer learning, and rapid content growth, a model widely used across successful Wikimedia programs.
7. Mentorship, Peer Review, and Quality Assurance Sessions New contributors will receive continuous mentorship from experienced Wikimedians and project facilitators. Regular peer-review sessions will be held to:
Improve article quality and sourcing
Ensure compliance with Wikimedia policies
Support uploads and structured data creation
Mentorship is selected because evidence from Wikimedia newcomer programs shows that sustained guidance significantly improves editor retention, confidence, and long-term contribution rates.
8. Community Showcase, Reflection, and Sustainability Planning Workshop At the end of the project, a final community showcase and reflection workshop will be organized to present created content, recognize contributors, document lessons learned, and establish a Refugee Language and Culture Wikimedia Task Team.
This activity ensures accountability, community recognition, and transition into post-grant sustainability by formalizing a local contributor network and future activity plan.
Partnerships and Collaboration
The project will collaborate with:
Refugee community leadership structures in Bidibidi, Imvepi, and Rhino Camp
Local cultural custodians and language speakers
Volunteer Wikimedians from Uganda for mentorship and technical support
These partnerships are essential for cultural legitimacy, safeguarding, and technical quality.
These activities are selected because they address the core barriers of skills gaps, cultural loss, and low participation through proven, community-centered approaches. Together, they form a coherent pathway from mobilization and training to documentation, publication, and long-term sustainability, ensuring both immediate outputs and lasting impact aligned with Wikimedia’s knowledge equity strategy.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
The primary target participants are refugee youth (18 - 30 years), women cultural custodians, community elders, and refugee educators from Bidibidi, Imvepi, and Rhino Camp refugee settlements in West Nile, Uganda. These communities host diverse language groups from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo whose cultural heritage and oral languages are highly underrepresented on Wikimedia platforms. Special priority will be given to women and speakers of endangered or minority languages.
Before the activities, participants will be engaged through community sensitization meetings, coordination with refugee leadership structures, announcements in learning centers and youth groups, and direct outreach to cultural custodians and language speakers. Introductory sessions will explain the project goals, open knowledge principles, and participation requirements to ensure informed and motivated involvement.
During the activities, participants will be supported through hands on training workshops, small documentation teams, continuous facilitation, and peer mentorship from experienced Wikimedians. Collaborative editing, regular feedback sessions, and safe learning environments will promote retention and quality contributions.
After the activities, follow-up will include continued mentorship through online groups, periodic community edit-a-thons, recognition of active contributors, and integration of participants into the Wikimedia Community User Group for Refugees to sustain long-term engagement and contributions.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
Yes
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RWsOMnGC1H0tE4uQUF9tomUFjohLnrcFPuUr9Pk4DwM/edit?usp=sharing
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Identify Topics for Impact
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 60 | |
| Number of editors | 30 | |
| Number of organizers |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 100 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 200 |
| Wikidata | 100 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | 1 |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
N/A
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
UGX
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
4500 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).