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Q: Why is there a paid staff?
A: Currently, Translators without Borders is completely volunteer run. However, we are raising funds in order to hire one paid staff person. While Translators without Borders is run primarily through volunteer support, including our volunteer board of directors, managing the overall team and coordinating our efforts so we canhelp more people is a major job. Without one person responsible full-time for management of the overall organization, we would not be able to maintain or increase our current activities. After 18 years of solely volunteer work, growing at fits and starts, it is now time to take a big leap forward with a general manager at the helm.
Q: Where does my money go?
A: The money we raise is used primarily to coordinate all facets of the organization, including bringing on new NGOs who need support, managing the testing of new volunteer translators, and overseeing the very agile Translators without Borders project management platform. Additionally we have a number of special projects currently underwayincluding translator training in remote parts of Africa and India.
For more information see our Training Center page.
Q: Are translators paid?
A: All translators are volunteers who offer their skills and time through Translators without Borders to humanitarian organization. Translators do not receive any payment for their work.
Q: Are the translators professional?
A: Translators without Borders only works with professional translators with at least 2 years of translation experience. We are very committed to providing our NGO partners with the best translations possible. Often the documentation they need translated is critical medical, humanitarian or educational material that must be translated well. Our expectations are for the translations to be as good as those expected by multinational companies around the world.
We carefully check the curriculum vitae of translators who offer their skills and time, and then they perform a translation test which is carefully reviewed by 2 or 3 TWB translators. The test results are reviewed by TWB and only if we are convinced of the translator’s capabilities, the translator is accepted to the pool of volunteers.
Q: Why don’t you just use machine translation?
A: Machine translation does not always give acceptable results for all language combinations and for all subject fields. Many of the translations TWB provides are medical in nature or are documents intended for use by thegeneral public and it is not acceptable that these documents would contain errors or not have perfect clarity.
Q: Can’t NGOs pay for their translations?
A: NGOs have money to do their humanitarian work and to pay their internal cost, such as for staff and offices. Often there is nothing left for translation and the hard work of the NGOs does not reach those in need because materials are only in a language not understood by the general public. Additionally, by providing humanitarian organizations the opportunity to save money on translations, those organizations can stay focused on their frontline humanitarian work.
Q: English is a universal language, especially in the medical industry. Why do you need to translate medical information for doctors?
A: In developing countries not all doctors speak English well enough to understand all crucial information, and this is even more the case for nurses and other healthcare workers. Many people in developing countries just speak their own, sometimes regional, language. Even in the African countries where English is one of the official languages, having healthcareinformation in English does not help. Due to the shortness of doctors in many developing countries, many children die who have not been seen by a doctor and whose parents do not know what to do, because the information is either notavailable, or in a language they do not speak.
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