Wikimania 2025

Pierpaolo Di Carlo

Pierpaolo Di Carlo is an anthropological linguist who has worked in the domain of language documentation for the past nineteen years in Pakistan and Cameroon. He is now a grantee of the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at the University “L’Orientale” of Naples, Italy, and his project aims to document two endangered languages spoken in the camp of Minawao (Dghwede and Chinene) in tight collaboration with local communities.


Session

08-06
15:45
25min
Preserving linguistic diversity using Internet-in-a-Box. Experiences from the UNHCR refugee camp of Minawao (Cameroon)
Pierpaolo Di Carlo, Tim Moody, John

Linguistic diversity is at risk, with many of the world’s 7,000 languages facing extinction, particularly among displaced populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Forced migration, loss of ancestral lands, and shifting aid policies threaten cultural continuity. This presentation explores how open-source, offline technologies like Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB) can empower refugee communities to document and preserve their languages. Nowhere is this more true than in Minawao, a UNHCR refugee camp in Cameroon, home to 80,000 people from linguistically diverse backgrounds. In February 2024, we launched “Minawao Youth – Our Cultures for Our Future,” training 30 volunteers to create community-driven, evolving, offline language archives using IIAB. IIAB enables local knowledge preservation despite digital barriers, and we highlight its role in safeguarding endangered languages and advocate for integrating refugee-led initiatives into global knowledge-sharing networks, ensuring displaced communities actively contribute to preserving their cultural heritage.

Diversity & Inclusion
KISUMU (Ballroom 3) 🌐 💬