Author: Translators without Borders

Allison Kozicharow, Board Member, WiRED International Health Information and Education 

“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.”

 

Dr Doug Quarry, Group Medical Director, Medical Information and Analysis at International SOS:

“Good communication of medical advice is absolutely critical if Ebola is going to be contained. It must be viewed as one of the weapons the global community has in the battle against the disease. In an effort to support the vital work to stop Ebola, we have made our educational materials publicly available across the world.  It is extremely important to provide medically accurate and easy to understand Ebola information in a community’s local language. Our posters, leaflets and video materials are being used across West Africa: In shops, hotels and banks. In clinics, hospitals and mining sites. They are also present in airports and at a number of checkpoints.  The translations are being requested by client organisations, regional and national governments plus charities and NGOs in West Africa and further afield. When Translators Without Borders asked if they could translate our medical content into several local languages for non-profit organisations, we immediately said yes. The use of these materials would simply not be so widespread without the work of Translators without Borders to help get this medical advice to the people who need it most.”

 

Chris Thompson, President and Chairman of the Board, Humanity Road, when honoring TWB with the DaVinci Award: 

“As Typhoon Haiyan approached the coastline of the Philippines, Humanity Road reached out in partnership with Translators without Borders for assistance.  Their response to our request was fast and within hours we had our first translation assistance.  Lois Goldman and Noemi Katuin were assigned to our team and their support continued for weeks. They helped monitor social media in language and translated text and video messages emerging in social media.  The support provided by Translators without Borders helped save lives and also provided message relay support to reunite families who were rescued.”

 

Niels Peter Rygaard, DPA authorized psychologist, founder of FairStart, which trains orphanage workers around the world:

“On behalf of www.fairstartglobal.com, we wish to thank you for your fantastic work, assisting child psychiatry professor Kamikado Kazuhiro, Nagano University, in his efforts to improve foster care and orphanage systems in Japan. Thanks to TWB, our caregiver and leader training programs are now available in Japanese at www.fairstartglobaljapan.org . Due to cultural barriers, the process of de-institutionalization and starting foster care systems in Japan has been very difficult, and the suicide rate among former foster care children in Japan has been high. This is a major concern for Dr. Kamikado, and we feel reassured that the use of www.fairstartglobal.com programs will support his efforts to provide Japanese children with quality care educated foster parents.

We also thank TWB for other translations, and they have yielded major results.  For example, the Spanish version is now used in Spanish speaking areas, and recently Chilean Government has asked us to train trainers in the Spanish program version. Thanks again TWB for your invaluable help to create quality care for the 100 million children who grow up without parental care!”

   

Words received and delivered

After receiving in February a record 873,735 words to be translated in the Translators without Borders Workspace powered by ProZ.com, May 2013 represented the highest volume ever delivered, with a total of 766,699 words.

From January 2011 to June 2013, our volunteer translators have delivered 10.8 million words to humanitarian organizations. During the last 12 months our workspace processed 6.61 million words and delivered 6.49 million words. This represents increments of 15.0% and 27.5% respectively over the 12-month period reported in our last newsletter.

 

 

 Translators

The team of professionals approved by Translators without Borders reached 1,752 by the end of June, with a growth of 93 translators (5.6%) during the last 4 months. Since this is significantly lower than the growth in words received for translation, it serves as a signal that we need more translators recruited to cope with the expected demand.

Our top-five volunteers are: Eric Ragu, with an outstanding record of 157K words, followed by Edgar Marie-Hélène Cadieux (130K words), Ashutosh Mitra (116K words), Gail Desautels (103K words) and Ishaklamia (90K words).

Language pairs

During the last 12 months our translators accepted volunteer assignments in 94 language pairs. Top language pair was English to French, representing 19.7% of the operation, followed by French to English (15.8%), English to Spanish (12.5%), Spanish to English (3.3) and English to Arabic (3.2%).

 

Overall, the top three pairs represented 48.0% of the words posted for translation in the last 12 months, a slight increment in respect to the 47.3% recorded for the 12 months ending in February 2013. English to Spanish grew from 9.4% to 12.5% (this is welcome, as this is the pair with the most volunteers) and English to Arabic is growing faster than Spanish to English and could overtake it as the fourth pair in the operation.

 Clients

A record 100 humanitarian organizations requested our services during the last 12 months, a 12% increase with respect to the number reported in our last newsletter.

Top client is Wikipedia project, followed by Médicos sin Fronteras (Spain), and then Acción contra el Hambre (also from Spain) and Action contre la Faim, two branches of the same humanitarian organization. Then comes Médecins Sans Frontières from Switzerland.

 

We have introduced some new processes and capabilities for the Workspace. Please let us know what you think!

Service agreements for translators

We have added service agreements to our process in order to protect the privacy of content and ensure confidentiality.  Translators acting as Translators without Borders (TWB) volunteers now will be asked to endorse a service agreement stating:

• The service provider agrees to treat as confidential all texts and other intellectual property of the client received or accessed in the Translators without Borders Workspace, and to take steps to protect that confidentiality.
• TWB volunteers are free to accept or decline any task offered to them. Once a task is accepted, it should be delivered with the same quality and dedication given to a paid job.

Since these commitments are included in ProZ.com professional guidelines {http://www.proz.com/professional-guidelines} for translation service providers, many of our volunteers have already endorsed then. Only translators who have not endorsed these guidelines will be asked to do so, or to endorse a TWB specific service agreement.

Files can now be uploaded in comments

It is possible now to upload a file in the comments posted on job pages. This will help translators who have already uploaded a file and marked the task as complete, and then need to release a new version, for instance because an error was found and corrected. It was previously necessary to reopen the task, but now the translator can simply upload the new file with a comment. This will also be useful for sharing glossaries, translation memories and other reference documents.

Enhanced dashboards

Both clients and translators will benefit from the enhanced dashboards accessible from the ‘home’ menu option. On their dashboard, clients will find two tabs for ‘active jobs’ and ‘overdue jobs,’ while the options for translators are ‘active assigned tasks,’ ‘available tasks’ and ‘completed tasks’. In all cases a list will be presented, and clicking on the link will lead to the corresponding job or task.

Work orders can be searched by keywords

There is a ‘search work order’ button in the ‘work orders’ -> ‘view work orders’ menu option for clients who need to find a previously posted work order. A new ‘keywords’ option has been added to allow for the search of work orders for keywords in titles and descriptions. Some clients have posted a lot of work orders, so an enhanced search feature will be welcome. Other search filters include ‘order status’ and ‘project.’

 

With some 275 lawyers working in 11 major US cities and a network of affiliates around the world, Epstein Becker Green (EBG) is ideally placed to help international organizations such as Translators without Borders (TWB). In recognition of its professional responsibility to the communities that it serves, EBG’s corporate ethos encourages attorneys and other staff to work on pro bono projects and to volunteer their time on community-based projects. In 2012 alone, EBG’s attorneys spent some 5,300 hours on more than 100 pro bono projects, including some crucial work for TWB.

Legal advice around the globe

Aime Dempsey, a senior attorney working in EBG’s New York office, explains: “Epstein Becker Green was founded in 1973 to serve the healthcare industry. Since then it has developed into one of the largest and best-known legal practices dedicated to the healthcare and life sciences sector. Translators without Borders’ focus on health information fits well with this key area. Our other four core practice areas are: labor and employment, litigation, corporate services, and employee benefits, and our international network means we have ready access to top-flight lawyers and legal advice around the globe.

“Our pro bono program encourages attorneys to focus on projects of personal interest or related to our specific areas of practice. We can identify these on our own or through the structured pro bono opportunities made available by the firm and through partnerships with other organizations. My contribution to Translators without Borders started early this year when I became aware of TWB through its Program Director Rebecca Petras – who is my sister. I had been unaware that so much critical health, education and crisis-related information was failing to reach underprivileged parts of Africa and India owing to language barriers – yet these are the very communities that are in most need of this information. Rebecca’s passion for and commitment to Translators without Borders is inspirational.”

Believing in the power of knowledge

“I passionately believe in the power of knowledge, and in trying to get assistance directly to those who need it most. I love being able to assist TWB, which has such crucial global reach. Though I am not fluent in any other languages myself, I am pleased at the thought of important information getting to people in their own languages, so that they can augment their own knowledge on their own terms. I am delighted to be able to assist Translators without Borders with its mission in all ways that I can. I have consulted with TWB on a couple of matters this year, most recently on a proposal to adjust the size of the Board of Directors and make some potential future adjustments to its by-laws and governance. If I can play a small part in this inspirational organization from my office in New York, that’s great – I love it!”

 

Norlha was founded in 2005, in Switzerland, and today has delegations in several European countries. This secular NGO, whose membership consists mainly of private individuals from all walks of life, provides development assistance through various projects in Tibetan areas of China, in Bhutan and in Nepal, in cooperation with local partners, with an aim to help communities achieve self-sufficiency. Norlha works with Translators without Borders for the translation of documents mainly to and from French and English, as well as French into German and Spanish.

Norlha’s Partnerships Manager and Gender Equality Coordinator, Cosima Thommen, spoke with us about her work and the NGO’s partnership with Translators without Borders. “I seek out project financing and establish partnerships with organizations that share our vision and goals, in order to create a bridge of solidarity between the Swiss Alps and the Himalayas. My team and I also develop a regional program for Himalayan women which promotes gender equality, strengthening the role of women in the region’s development. Before my current position, I spent a year and a half in the Tibetan regions of China as Norlha’s Program Director for China. My degrees are in project management and Chinese, so being able to contribute to the improvement of living conditions in the Himalayas with Norlha is a great pleasure!”

Thanks to Translators without Borders’ work for Norlha, the NGO has been able to reduce their operating expenses, freeing up funds that may then go directly to Norlha projects. As Thommen explains, “Translators without Borders has helped us improve the quality of our communications and our financing efforts, thanks to well-written texts with correct terminology. Recently, Translators without Borders helped us translate a presentation of one of our projects in Nepal, and with that, we were able to gain initial financing for it! TWB also helped us translate our 2012 annual report from French into English, an excellent communication tool that we will be able to use to introduce Norlha to even more people.”

Norlha benefits from local personnel in the Himalayas for translation into regional dialects. “We mainly [request Translators without Borders to] translate from French into English, German, and Spanish, and from English into French. In the regions where we work, there are dozens of local dialects. With our personnel on the ground, we are able to translate documents for improving knowledge on hygiene, environmental protection, and so forth.” These communication tools are essential towards meeting Norlha’s goals of improved healthcare, nutrition, education, and the environmental conditions for indigenous populations.

In the spring, we conducted a comprehensive survey of the Translators without Borders volunteer translators, receiving 440 replies (about 30% of the surveys that were sent out). The results were quite encouraging, and we have used them to make changes and improvements to the Workspace (detailed in our 08 article in this newsletter).

 

Question 1: How did you first learn about Translators without Borders (TWB)?

• The majority of repliers (67.5%) found out about TWB through ProZ.com.
• Word of mouth was the second choice (9.6%) followed by the TWB webpage (7.8%).
• Then came social media (6.9%), industry event/association/magazine (3.2%) and web searches (2.5%).

 

Question 2: How did you become a translator without borders?

• 43.8% of respondents were accepted when their sample translation was approved.
• 38.5% were fast-tracked because they were ProZ.com certified PRO members.
• The third source of volunteers (14.1%) corresponds to jobs and direct requests posted in ProZ.com.
• The remaining translators were fast-tracked because they were ATA certified (2.0%) or were recommended by a trusted outsourcer (1.6%).

Question 3: How long did your application take to be processed?

• For 43.8% of respondents the applications were processed in less than a week.
• This delay was one to two weeks for 24.4% of respondents.
• It took 3 to 4 weeks for 16.6% of the replies.
• 6.4% of replies reported a processing time of 5 to 8 weeks, while 8.8% indicated a delay longer than 8 weeks.

 

Question 4: How long have you been with TWB?

• About half of respondents (50.6%) reported more than 12 months with TWB.
• About half of the remaining respondents (23.4%) reported 7 to 12 months.
• 16.6% had been with TWB for 3 to 6 months.
• 5.1% answered 1 to 2 months, while 4.4% reported less than a month with TWB.

Question 5: What is the main factor that motivates you to accept a TWB assignment?

• The top reason reported was availability (58.9%).
• Next came the organization asking for help (13.0%) and the impact of the project  (13.9%).
• The subject of the translation  came next with 10.9% of votes.
• Finally came a generous deadline (0.5%), the format of the files (0.2%) and a combination of the above factors  (2.6%).

Question 6: How many assignments have you completed for Translators without Borders? 

The picture below displays the answers received:

• None so far (16.1%)
• One or two (26.4%)
• Three to five ( 21.8%)
• Six to ten (16.1%)
• More than 10 (19.7%)

 

Question 7: If you answered none so far to question 6, can you please tell us why?

Almost 80% of the translators who did not deliver words so far said that there are few jobs in their language pairs. The replies were:

• Limited or no opportunities in my language pair (46.9%).
• Others pick up the jobs quicker than me (32.1%).
• Limited time to help (21.0%).

Question 8: Do you always feel the work you are asked to do is strictly humanitarian?

• Yes (92.7%).
• Subject was Business/Admin/Technical (4.6%).
• I think some NGOs could pay for the translations (1.7%).
• I don’t think Wikipedia is humanitarian (1.0%).

Question 9: What changes in the TWB Workspace would motivate you to take more TWB assignments?

A total of 242 replies were received for this question. Since they were sent as free text, they were classified into categories as follows:

• 40.5%  No changes required.
• 7.0%    Longer/more flexible deadlines.
• 7.0%    More opportunities in my language pair.
• 6.6%    Shorter, more frequent translations.
• 6.2%    More time to decide/time-zone.
• 5.8%    I don’t know yet.
• 5.8%    More assignments related to my fields of expertise.
• 3.3%    Better format/no tags.
• 2.9%    Better coordination in multi-translator jobs/TMs and glossaries.
• 2.9%    Public exposure to help me get jobs/references.
• 2.5%    Better selected/more visible humanitarian projects/feedback on impact.
• 2.1%    A better/easier to use translation page/better assistance.
• 1.7%    Translating for organizations that are transparent, texts that clearly add value to the organizations’ work.
• 1.2%    Online TMs and glossaries.
• 1.2%    Receiving tokens of appreciation/advantages/motivational gifts.
• 0.8%    Indication of language variant.
• 0.4%    Better quality of the source texts.
• 0.4%    Disentanglement from ProZ.
• 0.4%    It is fine now, however, it may contain the translator’s credentials and memberships as well underneath the translator’s name.
• 0.4%    Monolingual proofreading jobs available.
• 0.4%    More concrete information about the job poster: how they are organized and financed, do they have other volunteers and what do those volunteers do, why have they chosen to use TWB’s services and to what use will they concretely put the money they’re not spending on paying translators. Also, I would like the screening process of NGOs by TWB to be transparent and explicit, for example what are the criteria to let NGOs use TWB. I haven’t been able to find that on the TWB website.
• 0.4%    Possibility of applying translations for each segment in a web-based translation memory specific to the translator.

Question 10: How would you rate the job posting page (the page from which you either accept or decline the job)?

‘I am not familiar with it’ was the answer selected by 8.2% of respondents. Of the translators who are familiar with the platform, the answers were:

• Adequate (92.6%).
• Not very clear (4.8%).
• Should include more information (specify)  (2.6%).

The additional data requested in the last category include more information about the job poster, the subject matter, the language variant, glossaries and translation memories.

Question 11: Do you find the TWB workspace http://twb.translationcenter.org/workspace easy to use?

‘I am not familiar with it’ was the answer selected by 11.9% of respondents. Of the translators who are familiar with the platform, the answers were:

• Very easy (62.9%).
• Somewhat easy (32.6%).
• Somewhat difficult (4.5%).
• Very difficult (0.0 %).

Question 12: What is the main CAT tool you use (if any) to process the TWB jobs?

Trados was the most frequent answer (40.2%) followed by Wordfast (12.9%), MemoQ (5.5%), Deja Vu (2.1%) and Across 7 (1.7%). A third (33.3%) reported using no CAT tool for these assignments and 4.29% reported using other CAT tools.

 

Question 13: How helpful would it be to have a TM available from TWB when translating a 1,000- 2,500-word text?

• Very helpful (41.6%).
• Helpful (27.4%).
• Somewhat helpful (21.3%).
• Not helpful (9.7%).

Question 14: Would you be willing to share the translation memories corresponding to your TWB translations?

• Yes (85.4%).
• No (14.6%).

Question 15: What changes in the TWB Workspace would contribute to improving the quality of the translations?

We received 178 meaningful suggestions, including:

• Editing, especially in jobs involving several translators.
• More information on the target audience.
• A glossary of preferred terms for each client, including all acronyms used.
• Availability and sharing of translation memories.
• Faster and better response from clients to queries from translators.
• A style guide, general and per client.
• Rules for the translators to follow, like font, size, spacing, indents, headings, and subheadings, etc. so all parts would be compiled and be in harmony together.
• Take into account the translators’ specialization when a job is assigned.

Question 16: How would you rate the information provided about the organization that asks for the translation?

• There is enough information and it’s well displayed (60.5%).
• There is enough information, but it is poorly displayed (6.0%).
• It is well-displayed, but there is not enough information (15.7%).
• There is not enough information and it is also poorly displayed (5.5%).
• I’m not familiar with the TWB Workspace (12.4%).

Question 17: How would you rate the information provided about each project?

• There is enough information and it’s well displayed (61.5%).
• There is enough information, but it is poorly displayed (4.7%).
• It is well-displayed, but there is not enough information (17.7%).
• There is not enough information and it is also poorly displayed (3.5%).
• I’m not familiar with the TWB Workspace (12.5%).

Question 18: How would you rate the Translators without Borders notifications?

• Adequate (84.2%).
• Not very clear (3.5%).
• Should include more information (6.1%).

◦   (the most relevant request was deadline for the job)

• I have not received any (6.1%).

Question 19: How would you rate the feature for communicating with other translators, the project manager (PM) and the client about the job?

• Excellent (22.1%).
• Good (40.9%).
• Somewhat good (9.3%).
• Not good (3.1%).
• I did not use it yet (24.7%).

Question 20: How would you rate the support provided by the project managers in the TWB Workspace?

• Excellent (33.6%).
• Good (37.4%).
• Somewhat good (6.9%).
• Not good (1.7%).
• I never used the TWB Workspace (20.5%).

Question 21: Do you feel appropriately appreciated for the work you do for humanitarian organizations through TWB?

• Yes, very much (50.9%).
• Yes, somewhat appreciated (41.9%).
• Not properly appreciated (7.2%).

Some comments received from translators who don’t feel properly appreciated:

• No thank you message received.
• No proper acknowledgement for reviewers (word count and badge).
• Lack of feedback and proper replies from clients to queries.
• Lack of credit for the translated documents.

Question 22: Do you follow Translators without Borders activity on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Twitter, blogs, etc.)? Please specify.

• About half the respondents do not follow TWB on social media.
• Among those who do, Facebook is the most common channel, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn.
• A few mention TWB’s newsletter and Lori Thicke’s blog.
• Most translators who follow TWB in social media mention a single channel.

Question 23: Do you use the TWB badge in other webpages besides the TWB Workspace and your ProZ.com profile?

• Yes (15.1%)
• No (41.2%)
• I don’t know about the TWB badge (31.5%)
• I don’t have a TWB badge (12.2%)

Question 25: Did you know that you can enter your contributions through Translators without Borders in the project history section of your ProZ.com profile and have them validated?

• Yes, and I have done so (11.1%)
• Yes, but I have not done so yet (15.6%)
• No (73.3%)

 

Question 24: How could TWB provide better recognition to its volunteers?

Many translators report that they don’t need any additional recognition beyond the pleasure of giving, but a few have some interesting suggestions for improvement:

• The interactive badge is much appreciated. A similar device for the words edited and also for the translation samples reviewed would be very welcome.
• WWA feedback in the translator’s ProZ.com profile is very appreciated.
• Endorsed project history in the  translator’s ProZ.com profile is appreciated but most translators did not know about this feature and some find it difficult to enter.
• The “translator of the week” on Facebook and LinkedIn is much appreciated.
• TWB certificates of donation, especially monetized, so they can be used as donation certification for tax purposes.
• A window of “featured volunteer” in the TWB webpage similar to the one displayed on ProZ.com.
• Credit to translators and editors in the final client documents.
• Special thanks sent to translators when they reach milestones (for instance multiples of 10K words donated).
• A thank you note from the client who posted the job.
• By offering references to potential clients, upon request.
• By reviewing the translation samples more quickly.
• By linking the projects to the translators’ ProZ.com profiles.
• For those on Twitter, an automatic tweet to notify jobs and acknowledge receipt of translations.
• Some token gifts for top contributors.
• Encouraging virtual meetings among volunteers.

 

Question 25: Your message for Translators without Borders?

We received 260 messages, most of them telling of the translators’ joy and pride of being part of TWB. Some of them regret that there are not more jobs in their language combinations. A few samples:

• All contributors to this cause are doing a great job, and I encourage everyone to keep up the good work.
• Better communication with volunteers, even if there are no jobs, just to let us know we’re still on the books and valued.
• By volunteering my skills and time, it’s made me feel good about myself and I did not expect anything back.
• Congratulations for your work. I feel that our contribution can make the difference, and thank you for making it possible.
• I have been a professional translator since 1997 with no need for further recognition or experience, but TWB could be a great place for young translators to gain some exposure while trying their hand at real-world texts and CAT tools. Maybe you could put in place some kind of mentorship program which could make TWB even more appealing to beginners and guarantee better translations from them.
• I believe that this is a wonderful initiative. I am very impressed by the number of translators participating in this initiative, and this proves to me that a world based on collaboration rather than competition is possible, especially today because of the internet. TWB is the right model and there is no excuse not to expand it in all directions (tous azimuts).
• I cannot find words that may express accurately and fairly enough the amazing job you are doing. Creating and managing a team of so many people around the world, giving part of their time sharing their knowledge and skills to help people who they will not even see, just for the pleasure to help is beyond words. Thank you very, very much for letting me be a part of such a wonderful team!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caroline Ahlquist took on the role of Translators without Borders’ (TWB) international marketing intern from January–July 2013. She was interested in working with TWB in part due to her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay.  Here she tells stories from the front-line and calls on all translators to make a difference.

I served in Villa Oliva, a small town in Paraguay, from 2010-2012. Villa Oliva was lucky, it was located on the Argentine border and thus, most people spoke Spanish and had access to the Argentine medical system. It was unlike other towns in Paraguay, where poverty means you speak Guarani and you only see a doctor when you are born and when you die.

Despite the fact that Villa Oliva was relatively well-informed in Paraguay, there is still lack of knowledge that could be addressed with more information provided to villagers in their own languages (Spanish or Guarani). Here are three stories from my service that shed light on the front-line knowledge gap.

There was a rumor that I was a vegetarian. Even though people regularly saw me eat meat, they knew that I ate a lot of vegetables and had a large veggie garden in my backyard. Thus, in their eyes I was a vegetarian. One day as I was walking to school, I ran into an eighth grade student of mine. We started talking and she asked me about being a vegetarian. I gave her my stock answer, that meat is like beer, it’s only good if it is consumed in moderation. She looked at me with relief and explained that she had been worried about me because she had heard of an old man in the next town over who was a vegetarian and died because of a lack of cow’s blood.

A woman came down with something I had never seen before. It was basically an open wound that, even after months, refused to close. She had gone to the town doctors and then to a private doctor in the capital city. She was complaining about the pain to a friend one day, lamenting the fact that doctors weren’t doing anything to help her. The friend responded, “Well Aunty, at this point there is only one answer. You will have to capture a toad and put it on the wound.”

Like all Peace Corps volunteers, I spent three months of training living with a host family. My family was amazing and adopted me as their own. To this day, if you go to their house, my little host sister will say the room I lived in is Carolina’s room, despite the fact that she has been sleeping in it for three years now. My host mom was telling me one day about how her aunt saved her life. Apparently, as a young girl she had fallen out of a tree and become concussed. Her aunt went running to the bathroom and then the kitchen. She came back with her own urine mixed with salt and spooned it into her niece’s mouth. After hearing this I obviously grimaced. My host mom told me that, as her daughter, if I ever pass out she will spoon me the same concoction because, in her word, nothing is better for a knock on the head than pee-pee.

These stories are always entertaining and my American friends and family always enjoy a good laugh when I tell them. Truthfully I have hundreds more like this, not only from Paraguay, but from my time in India and Korea as well. We can laugh at them, but they sadly illustrate the continuation of a power structure that is as old as the printing press: those who hold information hold power; those who do not are left in ignorance.

When I talk about access to information, I receive blank stares. I have one foot in the development industry and one foot in the localization industry, and professionals from both are confused and/or uninspired by the idea. When you speak English, the language of business, the language of medicine, but really the language of power, you don’t have to care about where a non-English speaker goes for their information. We can Google any question that might arise. But where does a speaker of Guarani go for information?

They go to someone they know who probably has the same bad information as everyone else. Doctors in Paraguay study in English, even if they can’t speak it. That is why my friend couldn’t find an answer to the problem with her open wound.

The only people in the world who hold the key to breaking down the information power structure are translators. This is my call to arms for the translation industry: Get out of your comfort zone in the industry and give access to information to those who don’t have it. It is on you, the translators and localizers, to make people see the problem, to make information a part of the development dialogue.

Information is power: It was true in medieval times when priests would not allow their followers to read the bible in their language; it is true when dictators come to power and ruin the education system in their countries; and it is true when we speakers of the power language allow ourselves to be blind to the lack of information available to those who don’t speak it.

Swahili Translations

July saw the completion by our Health Translation Center in Nairobi, Kenya, of the translation of some 250,000 words of high-level health information. The content was written by the Open University (UK) to train community health workers in the Swahili-speaking regions of East Africa. The completed modules are Prenatal Care, Labour & Delivery Care, and Postnatal Care. Other modules are in the pipeline, and these are about topics such as Infant Care Nutrition and Family Planning.

The team also recently completed the Swahili translation of ten videos on New Born Care. These instructional videos have been conceptualized and produced by Deb Van Dyke’s Global Health Media (http://globalhealthmedia.org/newborn/videos ).  In total the team has translated more than 20 videos. The work involved the translation of the English captions (subtitles) and putting the Swahili subtitles in the video, as well as recording the narrative, with Rodha Moraa, one of the translation team members, serving as the ‘voice actor’.

The translation team, recruited and trained in the summer of 2012, has now developed into a super group of experienced health translators. The team is also rather unique, as in East Africa there is no other group of experienced linguists and health workers whose skills and educational backgrounds are combined to work on the translation of such material. We are speaking with international as well as local NGOs about involving our translation team in their projects.

Training-In-A-Box

During the coming months we will be investigating the possibility of a program called ‘Training-In-A-Box’.  All training material, lecture notes and exercises will be evaluated, and if relevant, updated. The material will then be organized into one package – one ‘Box’ as it were –  which TWB can use to support the translator training of linguists and health workers all over the world.

The medical modules concern 15-20 ‘Africa-relevant’ topics, including pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, bilharzia, as well as topics from the social medicine field, such as malnutrition, unsafe abortion, female genital mutilation, and more. Each module has between 15 and 50 slides, and we are in the process of typing in the narrative. The material also includes a large section about the profession of translation.

“The Training-In-A-Box program is an attempt to bring together our know-how and best practices from years of training a host of translators in many different countries,” says TWB President Lori Thicke. “I’m sure it’s going to make the starting up of new teams in the future a whole lot easier.”

Thank you Fund-A-Translator Charity Ride Sponsors!

The second Fund-a-Translator Charity Ride, developed and organized by TextPartner in Poland, took place earlier this summer.  Our dedicated cyclists organized a ride through five countries in eastern Europe for a total of 589 kilometers!  Each kilometer was available to sponsors for $5. The purpose of the annual ride is to raise funds and awareness for our trainees in Kenya.  Each $1,000 raised helps us train a translator for a year.

This year the event was so successful that the team raised the $2,945 for the ride and then kept going beyond $3,000, ending up with a total of 652 sponsored kilometers ($3,260).   As promised, they rode the additional kilometers in an extra ride to make sure every sponsored kilometer was cycled.

The TextPartner team conceived of the charity ride in 2012 and did their first ride that year to the ELIA conference in Budapest. Plans are underway for the 2014 ride and the route will be announced soon!