Author: Translators without Borders

From November 2014 through February 2015, Translators without Borders (TWB) deployed its Words of Relief crisis relief program to West Africa to combat the Ebola crisis. The extension from the Words of Relief pilot in Kenya was funded by the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, a program managed by ELRHA (Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance), and the Indigo Trust. Following the intense four-month program, the organization took time in Kenya to answer a very important question: Does information in a local language actually improve understanding?

The resulting impact study on Ebola information, funded by the Humanitarian Innovation Fund and entitled Does Translated Health-Related Information Lead to Higher Comprehension? A Study of Rural and Urban Kenyans, was commissioned as part of TWB’s Words of Relief crisis program in Kenya, the first translation crisis relief network intended to improve communications with communities when crisis response aid workers and affected populations do not speak the same language. The objective of the study was to examine the level of comprehension of health-related information when presented in English and then the same information provided in Swahili. The results of this study demonstrate just how important it is to have crucial healthcare information widely available in the local language.

197 Kenyans in urban and rural areas who spoke Swahili plus some English were surveyed on what they knew about Ebola. Participants were asked questions about language competence and preferences and some pre-task questions on their knowledge of Ebola – only eight per cent of participants answered basic questions on the disease correctly. Participants were then given an English-language information poster on Ebola prevention and symptoms and the correct answers to questions rose to 16 percent. But when given this same poster in Swahili, respondents got 92 percent of the questions correct. The information was in the form of a simple poster created and translated by TWB and used throughout West Africa after the disease had fully taken root.

“The results of the Impact Study on Ebola Information demonstrate just how important it is to provide crucial healthcare information in the local language and in the right format,” said Grace Tang, Global Coordinator, TWB Words of Relief. “We will use the results of the survey to continue to raise awareness to aid organizations that language matters and true comprehension should be considered in all development and crisis programs.”

Summary of Key Findings:

• 16 percent answered correctly when shown Ebola information in English
• 92 percent answered correctly when shown Ebola information in Swahili
• 82 percent of participants would prefer to receive health-related information in spoken format
• Apart from information leaflets, public gatherings, church and radio were listed as preferred modes of communication for health-related information
• Prior knowledge of Ebola was low among participants, regardless of age, gender, or abode
• Reading of the English poster did not lead to any increased comprehension of Ebola
• Reading of the Swahili poster led to a significant increase in comprehension of Ebola.

Translators without Borders has produced an infographic, showing the key findings from the study. To view the infographic in pdf format,click here.

As part of its ongoing advocacy work, TWB now uses the impact study with aid organizations to highlight the importance of comprehension in all communications with affected populations. Communications is aid – but it needs to be in the right language. #LanguageMatters.

Paul Warambo has been a very important member of the Translators without Borders (TWB) team since 2012. He was our first trainer at Translators without Borders Kenya (TWBK), and as we built the center there, he became increasingly involved in overall management and training. Since spring of this year, he has been full time Translation and Training Manager for TWBK. Keen to integrate our TWBK team in all we do, we sent Paul to Europe in July to attend the annual CDAC-Network Forum in Geneva, and to Moravia headquarters in Brno, Czech Republic. It was his first trip beyond the Kenyan border. Below, he describes some of his experience there.

Attending the CDAC Network Forum was not only insightful and eye opening to the real need to have translation factored into the Communicating with Communities agenda. It was also a real testimony that TWB has gone further than most in making sure the global south is not left behind in accessing information relating to crisis and health.  Among the issues that came up very strongly during the summit is that people from the global south and affected populations that need humanitarian assistance must be represented at the decision making level.  Over the years, humanitarian organizations have neglected the translation component and assumed that delivering material aid was enough. But that is not the case anymore, as Rebecca Petras clearly illustrated in a thrilling evidence-based presentation on research arising from the Ebola crisis and Nepali earthquake.

 

Attending the summit made me appreciate the fact that translation can be a game-changer in a crisis situation. It brought out the fact that in a crisis, rapid response translation can be life-saving. For that reason, managing translation in such a circumstance has to be super efficient.

It is with that understanding that TWB saw the need for me to get more project management skills by taking up onsite training in the Czech Republic at Moravia. Moravia, being one of the top translation firms in Europe, has very sophisticated technology and highly experienced project managers who were very willing to teach me. My full-week training and interaction with staff at Moravia opened my eyes to a number of new ways to manage translation projects, and enhance project efficiency. In particular, I learned that quality in training can be enhanced by proper project management skills in the areas of managing terminology databases, glossaries and use of modern translation tools.

Other than achieving one of life’s dreams of stepping into a top translation firm in Europe, the skills I acquired have greatly changed and enhanced my project management skills. I will forever be grateful to TWB and Moravia for making the training possible.

 

 

Whether they are supporting a floating health training facility in the Amazon or running training sessions with solar-powered hardware stored in a single backpack, the volunteers at WiRED are dedicated to delivering health and medical education to remote communities in Africa, Latin America, Asia and elsewhere. Many of these communities have no access to the electricity or Internet grids. WiRED offers healthcare training and provides access to free computer-delivered courses so that remote communities are health-aware and health educated, thereby being better able to address routine and epidemic health problems.

Translators without Borders has been part of this adventure, translating WiRED’s Express Series and other health training modules on a broad spectrum of topics. The training modules were brought to Amazonian communities on WiRED’s most recent field trip, with its partner Project Amazonas. “Language is central to all of our educational efforts. Health education material is useless to people who cannot understand the language in which it is written. TWB greatly extends the reach of our programs and enables us to fully serve these remote areas,” explains Allison Kozicharow, a WiRED Board member. The results that the organization has achieved though its two-year collaboration with TWB volunteers are significant: with more than 250,000 donated words, TWB volunteers have delivered professional translations of training modules into Spanish, Portuguese and French.

WiRED’s Learning Center currently carries more than 300 interactive modules, serving grassroots audiences and medical professionals in under-resourced countries. TWB has worked with WiRED to translate 70 health and medical education modules. These included community- and individual-level Ebola and infectious disease training, professional-level medical training in new and improved procedures, and non-communicable disease training. While community workers and individuals can learn about basic health issues, prevention and treatments, medical professionals can gain knowledge on the most recent techniques such as how to treat severely malnourished infants, polio, or interpret echocardiograms. Many modules are also appropriate for school children to learn about basic biology and health.

Like TWB, WiRED is a volunteer-driven organization with limited resources to cover translation costs. “To translate our materials, we used to put the word out, usually to universities, where we often relied on translators without special skills in medical translations.” By cooperating with TWB, WiRED resources can be focused on creating professionally written, peer-reviewed health and medical education modules and fully serving remote areas.

Find out more about the WiRED Learning Center here.

 

 

 

 

This past summer, political conflict in the small central African nation of Burundi forced thousands to flee. Refugee camps were set up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania for thousands pouring over the borders. While French is spoken in many regions of Central Africa, the refugees were mostly Kirundi speakers. Aware of the growing crisis, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) East Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, jumped to action with a Communicating with Communities response to assist the affected population.

As part of the effort, the UNOCHA asked Translators without Borders Kenya (TWBK) to organize a Rapid Response Team (RRT) modeled after the RRTs developed in West Africa and the spider network system developed in Kenya. TWBK jumped to action, putting the call out to Kirundi translators and bilinguals in the fields of teaching and journalism. The assembled team was trained and tested using the new Translator without Borders Words of Relief RRT Orientation, developed as part of the Words of Relief pilot. They then worked together over a five-week period to help aid organizations communicate better with affected populations in the refugee camps. One of the most significant outputs was cholera information in Kirundi to assist with a major cholera outbreak in one of the Tanzanian camps.Two of the RRT translators were Crescent Niyontwari and Alexis Yesashimwe. Below, they tell their stories in their own words.

Crescent Niyontwari

“I am Crescent Niyontwari, and I speak Kirundi, English, French and a little Swahili. A few months ago, when I was following news on Burundi via Twitter, I came to find a note from Translators Without Borders that there was a need for Kirundi – English translators to help in the Burundi crisis. I stopped and read carefully as it is my habit to pay attention whenever I see a tweet containing the word “Burundi”. It was the very first time I learned of the organization, and then I came in contact with the team in Kenya. That’s how everything started.

“It was not the first time I worked as a volunteer; in 2012, I volunteered with onlinevolunteering.org. I am very happy to offer my services. In the case of RRTB (Rapid Response Team Burundi), it was something special since my services would help to save lives of my fellow citizens who were in desperate need of help. I think my services really helped as access to information can save lives. I would have liked to offer more than what I did, but I hope to do so in the future. I appreciate the way the team co-operated with me via skype and e-mails during the training and the work itself. It was marvelous.”

 

Alexis Yesashimwe

“I am Alexis Yesashimwe, and I speak five languages:  French , English , Swahili (East and Central Africa), Kirundi and Kinyarwanda (and some Lingala). I drew my inspiration from my convictions and values as well as from the philosophy of the organization itself (focused on communications). I have been in very vulnerable situations, so I dedicated my life to serving mankind; offering my services, skills and talents is a small contribution I can give to my fellow human beings in distress.

“The orientation [Words of Relief RRT Orientation] was so informative and encouraging; it personally motivated me to serve more.

“Together with the team I believe we empowered the new Burundi refugees to prevent some incidents that may have resulted in loss of lives when not aware. Some of the messages were “Knowledge is power” and “Prevention is better than cure”.  Sure I would work again for RRTB and for TWB with pleasure!”

Our team at Surrey Translation Bureau has been working hard over the summer months to complete the last stage of ‘Simple Words for Health’, a terminology project launched by two Translators without Borders’ (TWB) board members; Val Swisher (Content Rules, Inc. founder) and Andrew Bredenkamp (Acrolinx founder). This English language database of simplified medical terms was put together with the goal of making medical terminology more accessible and our task has been to weed out any unnecessary duplicate entries.

We first volunteered our services following a chance encounter at the Institute of Translation and Interpreting’s conference in Newcastle earlier this year, where TWB’s Sue Fortescue and I struck up a conversation when our stands were placed side by side. Sue really inspired me and our team to do something to help and as soon as we were back in the office we put our heads together to see what we could do for TWB! This project was a great match for us as our in-house team has a strong medical translation background and a keen interest in terminology, plus it was something our translators and project managers (who are fully-qualified linguists) could work on collectively.

The project has required a real team effort and our staff put in the hours to make sure this really important work was completed to a high standard. Special thanks go to our in-house translator, Jenny Mallinowski, who, as well as completing the lion’s share, has coordinated the project internally and even made an FAQs and software ‘How to’ guide for the rest of us to keep things running smoothly.

Last year we donated to TWB at Christmas instead of sending presents to our clients and this year we have tackled this rewarding terminology project. We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do next to help such a fantastic cause.

Two devastating earthquakes struck Nepal in April this year, leaving villages flattened, displacing 450,000 people and taking 8,600 lives. As soon as news of the disaster came in, Translators without Borders (TWB) used its network and social media to establish a virtual Rapid Response Team (RRT) of translators based around the world.

Without knowing the organization before, Kajal Pradhanang came across TWB’s Facebook post recruiting Nepali translators, and volunteered as a native speaker just a day after the first earthquake. “I wanted to help in any way possible, especially since I am so far away. It was about 4am when I received an email with details about the team, and two minutes later I was in. I started to translate humanitarian appeals to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) a couple of hours later.”

Worrying about the well-being of her family in Nepal, Pradhanang was not getting much sleep and instead, kept translating. “I think that lots of people were feeling the same way I did. We were all online, working on a joint Google document so we could see the progress we were making. With five people translating simultaneously, we would be done in two hours. At the end, one person would edit and proofread the entire document.”

When aid organizations are being stretched too thinly providing material and medical aid during such crises, TWB helps deliver information in local languages, connecting communities in distress with aid agencies and nonprofit organizations through its Translators without Borders’ Words of Relief program. RRTs, consisting of professional and community translators, are set up to meet the need.

“TWB believes that people deserve to be spoken to in their own language in times of disaster. I have realized myself that if you can’t communicate with people, you can’t help them,” Pradhanang explained.

Apart from translating UNOCHA press releases, or social media posts, Pradhanang also assisted collaboration between international nonprofit Humanity Road and locally based Kathmandu Living Labs crisis mapping project, (quakemap.org). “Volunteers’ efforts responding to Nepal crisis were impressive,” she remembers. “It was amazing to see how people came up with lots of great things, helping out in different ways. For example, one person provided us with an app that vocalizes Devanagari script.”

With a background in Business Administration and Management, Pradhanang is not a professional translator, but wanted to help people at home despite living overseas. “After the first earthquake I was not in the best place in my mind, I was not in contact with my family for six hours and it was nerve-racking. Especially when I was worried about my immediate family, working for TWB and Humanity Road, it helped me help myself while helping others.”

Activity

Since 2011, when the Translators without Borders Workspace powered by ProZ.com started running, to the beginning of December, our amazing volunteers have delivered 22 million words, or more than 27 times the word count in King James’ Bible.

The following chart shows that during the last 12 months we delivered more than 8.3 million words, with an average of almost 700,000 words per month. 

In order to investigate patterns in this data, an additional analysis was performed comparing total words delivered and last-6-months averages for each month during the last 3 years.

A clear trend can be perceived in the next chart, displaying the monthly values of 6-month averages. We can appreciate long periods of growth separated by ‘plateaus’ of stable or even slightly decreasing traffic.

 

Translators

The team of professionals approved by Translators without Borders reached 2,639 by the end of October. This is impressive, but demand could be outgrowing our resources, especially in pairs such as English into French, Arabic and African languages. This could explain the apparent deceleration in the 3-year average-values curve above.

In order to investigate this gap we analyzed the number of jobs canceled on a monthly basis (as the most common reason for this cancellation is the lack of acceptance of the job by translators).

 

 The rate of canceled jobs is high, with an average of 52 jobs per month. The monthly averages throughout 2013 and 2012 were 30 jobs and 22 jobs respectively.

In order to alleviate this lack of resources, ProZ.com members in the certified PRO program were invited to act as reviewers of potential volunteer translators, and 120 accepted to accept this critical role. Having additional active reviewers increases the rate at which volunteer translators can be approved to operate in the TWB Workspace.

Our top volunteer translator is Eric Ragu, who has donated 312,000 words, followed by ishaklamia (278,000 words), Ashutosh Mitra (249,000 words) and Denise Tarud (212,000 words). Taken together, our four top translators have donated a breathtaking total of over a million words.

Language pairs

During the last 12 months our translators accepted volunteer assignments in 111 language pairs. The top language pair was English to French, representing 23.0 percent of the operation, followed by English into Spanish (13.6 percent), French into English (11.7 percent), English into Portuguese (7.1 percent) and Spanish into English (5.3 percent). Overall, the top three pairs represented 48.3 percent of the words posted for translation in the last 12 months, down from 51.2 percent in April.

 

This information is important because TWB strives to deliver translations in many languages, especially those from Africa and India, but our operation tends to concentrate on a few Eurocentric languages. In particular our top language pair is English to French, where demand tends to be stronger than our resources can deliver.

The next chart displays the monthly evolution of the top language pairs. We can see that the top pair shows moderate fluctuations around its average value of 23.0 percent. The top three and top five pairs show wider variations around their averages of 48.3 percent and 60.6 percent respectively, but no clear upwards or downwards trend.

Client NGOs

A record 160 humanitarian organizations requested our services during the last 12 months, a 15 percent increase with respect to the 139 reported in our last newsletter.

Top clients during that period were the Wikipedia project (900,000 words delivered), followed by Médicos sin Fronteras from Spain (722,000 words), The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (581,000 words) and Médecins Sans Frontières from Switzerland (415,000 words).