Month: March 2016

In February, TWB announced the winners of the 3rd Access to Knowledge Awards.  The awards recognize individuals or organizations that contributed outstanding work that exemplifies the our mission to translate for humanity.

The Access to Knowledge Awards began in 2012 to honor volunteers, donors, and non-profit partners.  The awards are given within each of the organization’s six pillars: Organizational Excellence, Translator Community and Workspace, Training, Nonprofit Partnerships, Financial Sustainability, Awareness and Communications. The Translators without Borders Board of Directors, staff, and advisers nominate candidates and vote for 6 winners. In addition, a number of honorable mentions are also awarded.

“Without the assistance this past year from all our dedicated supporters, Translators without Borders would not have succeeded in helping as many people and translating as many words as we did”, said Aimee Ansari, Executive Director of Translators without Borders. “We reached the major milestone of 30 million words translated earlier this year. In 2015, we activated the Words of Relief crisis relief network to respond yet again to an urgent crisis (the European refugee crisis), and we continue to build the capacity and to train translators in our field office in Kenya.  These are just examples of the work that is being done and we hope to continue to build on our successes. That is only possible with the generous support of our donors, the dedication of our volunteers, and the commitment of our non-profit partners.”

The 2016 Access to Knowledge Award Winners

The Excellence Award 

Awarded to an individual who has gone above and beyond the call-of-duty in helping Translators without Borders meet its mission.

Winner: Sue Fortescue

Honorable Mention: Marek Gawrysiak – TextPartner and Ewa Gawrysiak – TextPartner

The Right to Knowledge Award

Awarded to an individual (or company contributor), who has made a difference through his or her ongoing commitment to the translation of humanitarian information.

Winner: The European Refugees Rapid Response Team

Honorable Mention: Eric Ragu and the Nepali Rapid Response Team

The Empowerment Award

Awarded to an individual whose work has allowed us to significantly move the barometer in increasing language capacity within a critical region of the world.

Winner: Nancy Matis

Honorable Mention: Simon Andriesen

The Humanitarian Communicator Award

Awarded to a non-profit who understands the critical link between language/translation and access to critical knowledge.

Winner:  Jus MacKinnon and Ji Lucas – Qatar Computing Research Institute

Honorable mention: Humanity Road

The Donor Award

Awarded to the individual or company or foundation/trust that has made a significant financial contribution to aid TWB in meeting its mission.

Winner: Renato Beninatto, Moravia

Honorable Mention: Will Lewis, Microsoft

The Communicator of the Year

Awarded to the person who has creatively used marketing and public relations to build awareness of the organization and the need to provide content in the right language.

Winner: Marleen Laschet

Honorable Mention: Bjarne Poulsen

 

 

This issue’s interviewee and Volunteer is Markus Meisl. Markus has been working as a part of the Sponsorship Team for Translators without Borders (TWB) for 5 years, always ready to communicate with sponsors and ensure they get the recognition they deserve.

Here is what Markus shared with us about himself and his work for TWB.

“I grew up in Berlin when the Wall was still up, so I grew up in the coolest place on earth”, says Markus, when asked to tell us about his story. “I’m a trained conference interpreter, I studied in Heidelberg and lived in Vancouver, Canada, for more than 8 years- and I didn’t really want to come back!”

Markus, who has been working at SAP since 1998 and is now  manager in its language department, tells us how he found out about TWB and why he decided to volunteer.

“I was at a Localization World conference, and Lori Thicke held a presentation about TWB (which she founded). I was at an age where what you do in your work life ideally also satisfies your moral needs of doing something good for the world every day, and this seemed to be a really worthwhile cause. I had volunteered for an immigrant settlement agency in Vancouver before, and I thought it was a good time to get back into something similar, so I contacted Lori and asked if there was anything that I could help with.”

Of his role at TWB Markus says, “I work as a liaison between TWB and the companies who provide it with sponsorships on a yearly basis, such as translation agencies. When an agency pays the money they pledged, I make sure that they provide us with their logo, a short description of their company, and all their social media ID, so that we can recognize their contribution and that they can support us through their channels.”
Markus says that getting people to respond to his emails quickly is the trickiest part of the job, but this doesn’t stop him from enjoying volunteering for TWB: “I find it really satisfying to be helping an organization that does social work in a broader sense, it’s where I get that moral satisfaction that in my regular day job I don’t always have.”

Aside from working at SAP and volunteering for TWB, Markus spends his free time doing a lot of physical exercise (such as running, playing soccer, and skiing) which he needs in order to stay balanced, “At least that’s what my wife says!”. He doesn’t just play football, he also supports Berlin’s own team, Hertha BSC. Most importantly, Markus enjoys spending time with his wife and his kids. “We love taking the dog out in the forest and hanging out at coffee shops”.

 

 

Translators without Borders latest project: The TWB Cookbook!

The Translators without Borders (TWB) Cookbook project, launched in January 2016, was inspired by posts in the Foodie Translators Facebook group, created by Claire Cox.  When a member posted a recipe from her grandmother’s cookbook, someone suggested creating a family cookbook from the dozens of posted recipes.  Other members suggested using it as a fundraiser and supporting TWB!  As TWB Volunteer Manager, I accepted this proposal and the TWB Cookbook is quickly coming to life. The cookbook will soon be published as a series of downloadable PDF files on the TWB website. People who who access the recipes are encouraged to donate using the Donation tab on the website.  We also hope to make a printed version available at a later date.

The first recipe is for the veggie soup Ifty and his team of volunteers serve to hundreds (sometimes thousands) of refugees every day on the Greek island of Chios.  The soup is served from a woodfired soup kitchen, shown in the photo below.

The cookbook project has attracted lots of interest from people wanting to participate with TWB.  The cookbook was also  featured in the Institute for Translators and Interpreters London Regional Group Newsletter! This is a positive and fun way to raise awareness for TWB. A big thanks to all Foodie Translators group who has helped make this a reality. Your support is wonderful.

TWB supporters are welcome to contribute original recipes, (not subject to copyright or taken from websites or cookbooks).  For more information and the template for submitting recipes, please contact [email protected].

To join the Foodie Translators Facebook group, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/FoodieTranslators/?fref=nf#