Likambo Isaac Kangu is a passionate humanitarian and community leader committed to empowering refugee and conflict-affected communities. Based in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement, Uganda, he is a Social Work and Psychosocial counselor with extensive experience in community-based initiatives. He co-founded The Refugee Voice, which focuses on sustainable life skills training, and serves as the Executive Director of the South Sudan Relief Foundation (SSRF). Under his leadership, SSRF implements programs in livelihood, WASH, health, and protection to foster peace and development. Isaac is also dedicated to language preservation, recently advocating for the inclusion of the Keliko language on Wikipedia to promote cultural identity and education for marginalized communities. He is also a member of the Wikimedia community user group of South Sudan.
Kẹ̃lị̃kọ́ tị (Keliko) is a Central Sudanic language, of the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family, spoken by the Keliko people. There are an estimated 40,000 speakers, primarily in South Sudan and also parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Though the language remains an important part of Keliko identity, limited digital representation and educational resources pose challenges to its long-term preservation. Expanding Keliko’s presence online is a crucial step in ensuring its accessibility for both current speakers and future generations.
Isaac and his team are working to address this gap by developing the Kẹ̃lị̃kọ́ tị edition of Wikipedia, with the goal of publishing at least 200 quality articles by the end of the project. These articles will cover a wide range of topics, including Keliko cultural heritage, history, language resources, and contemporary subjects such as health and technology. To ensure the sustainability of the project, at least 50 community members will be trained as active contributors, with 30 Kẹ̃lị̃kọ́ tị-speaking volunteers receiving hands-on instruction in Wikipedia content creation. Experts in linguistics and culture will be involved in quality assurance and peer review, ensuring accuracy and depth in the articles. Workshops and collaborations with local organizations and educational institutions will further engage the Kẹ̃lị̃kọ́ tị-speaking community, fostering long-term participation.
Wikitongues Fellows are bold, community-rooted leaders driving the future of their languages. Through a year-long accelerator, they receive funding, hands-on technical training, and strategic mentorship to launch and scale projects in documentation, education, lexicography, media, and Wikimedia platforms. Each Fellow joins a global cohort of language activists who share tools, experiments, and hard-won lessons, transforming local initiatives into sustainable movements. The result is practical, community-owned work that keeps languages spoken, taught, recorded, and alive for generations.
