How Translation Can Do Good
More than half of the world’s population speak more than two languages (estimates vary from 60% to 75%) and 13% are fluent in three languages. Meaning that if you only speak one language, you’re in the minority. While many people are forced to take up a second language in schools, Duolingo, the free language learning app, reports an astounding 200 million active users. While by no means is that indicative of fluency, it does point to a growing interest in speaking another tongue. Most people are interested in learning another language for personal reasons — common motivations include: improving employment prospects, skills required for their job, interest in that culture or language, ability to communicate when travelling, and even to keep mentally fit. These reasons are compelling, but being proficient in additional languages has yet another advantage: being able to do good.
Having not to resort to frantic miming and being able to hold a conversation with natives may impress your travel partner, but to vulnerable groups of people such as refugees, this can be a matter of survival.
People who have fled their country to seek asylum in another or who are stuck in refugee camps are often surrounded by locals and aid workers who hardly understand them. This is confusing at best, but if the individual is ill, being able to communicate in another language is key for medical personnel to provide an accurate diagnosis and to prescribe accordingly. Translation is also crucial in explaining emergency procedures such as an evacuation. In the event of an impending attack or a natural disaster near relief areas, people need to be able to understand instructions. It can be especially problematic when trying to communicate with refugees that speak less common languages like Somali, where Google translate is unreliable and inconsistent.
As part of an attempt to address this need for accurate, reliable translation, app Bots such as Bridge and Tarjimly, have been created to connect refugees and translators in real time.
While communicating immediate needs is one aspect of the problem, asylum seekers also go through complicated legal procedures that require translation of personal and identification documents. In Germany, the basis for the decision in asylum proceedings lie in the mandatory personal interview conducted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). In their interview, refugees have to explain their reasons for fleeing their home country and their inability to return. Most refugees do not know German, thus require the presence of an interpreter, by law. Interpreters are then left with the responsibility to assure accurate conveyance of information as mistakes in translation can reduce the credibility of the refugee and affect their chances of a successful application. What’s alarming is that some interpreters have previously been criticised for distorting statements by refugees to fit their own political agenda — leading to one incident of Eritreans being registered as “persons with unknown nationality”.
Translation is also critical to the success of humanitarian efforts. Successful engagement of the affected population underpins the efficacy of any aid program. Even if humanitarian organisations were armed with an abundance of supplies and trained personnel, their efforts are encumbered if they cannot communicate to the local population about the best course of action, such as what areas to avoid or what precautions to take.
The Ebola Crisis from 2014 to 2016 was the most severe outbreak of the Ebola Virus in history, causing international panic and major loss of life in the epicentres of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in West Africa. The World Health Organization reported a total of 28,616 Ebola cases and a devastating 11,310 deaths.
Previous outbreaks of Ebola had been contained within a few weeks. The unprecedented epidemic proportions of the 2014–16 outbreak was caused by many reasons, including dysfunctional healthcare systems, WHO’s delayed response to the crisis and a deep distrust of the local government. Rebecca Petras, a founding board member of Translators without Borders asserts that the Ebola outbreak is also very much a crisis of language; faulting the language gap for hindering the communication between the aid workers and the local population.
Most information on how to handle Ebola was initially only in English and French. Although English is the official language of Sierra Leone, the use of English is limited to the educated minority. Around 95% of the population speak Krio instead, meaning the English posters aimed at educating the public were unfortunately of little use.
The locals remained unaware of how Ebola spread* and the correct precautions to take around people who were infected. A survey by UNICEF found that in Sierra Leone, 30% of the population thought that Ebola was spread by mosquitoes and four out of ten respondents believed that hot salt-water baths were an effective cure.
*The Ebola virus is transmitted among humans through close and direct physical contact with infected bodily fluids, the most infectious being blood, faeces and vomit. (WHO)
What was particularly problematic, were the local burial rites — an indispensable tradition for some West Africans. It involves careful bathing and dressing of the body, and in certain villages, a street procession through the community, where loved ones will put a cup to the lips of the deceased before drinking the beverage within. These practices accounted for a large part of the transmission of Ebola. However, locals were understandably unwilling to abandon their traditions at the instruction of people who did not even speak their language.
It was only later that TWB and their partners translated key social mobilisation messages into Krio.
Beyond humanitarian work and responding to crises, translation can also serve NGOs on a non-immediate, long-term basis. Depending on the scope of work, translation can be useful for an organisation’s official documents, social media outreach, press releases or training documents. Particularly since many have international operations and are based in multiple locations, translation allows them to reach people in need across the globe.
Unlike large multi-national companies, NGO’s usually don’t have the luxury of hiring in-house translators as it’s often expensive and disproportionate to their other costs. (Professional translators for common languages can charge up to $80 per hour). For some NGOs based in dangerous locations or where there are few native speakers of the language they need, their translation work is often on an ad-hoc basis. It is more practical for NGOs to outsource their translation work online.
Make a Change World is a non-profit that aims to encourage people to live more sustainably by launching expeditions and creating awareness through 1 to 2-minute video campaigns. Their recent project, Keliling Bali, had a group of activists circumnavigate Bali on a recycled traditional fishing boat with the purpose of bringing awareness to marine plastic pollution and to celebrate existing local efforts. For their introductory video, they partnered with Jala, a community-powered translation platform, to translate subtitles into Bahasa Indonesia. This allowed Make a Change World to better reach their target audience in Bali with reliable and cost-effective translation. From conservation to education to political activism, the impact of NGOs will definitely be magnified if their work can be translated to reach a wider audience.
Beyond fun and career prospects, learning and being accomplished in another language gives you a chance to put what you learned to good use by translating for those who need it. In fact, 1 in 2 of us already know at least two languages.
Since most NGOs are looking for translation volunteers online, you can do good by translating even simple works such as an infographic or pamphlet from the comfort and safety of your home. However small the effort, the impact can be significant.
Want to help? Start by heading over to Jala and browsing through projects submitted by NGOs or individuals in need. Don’t be daunted if you haven’t done translation before — the machine translation provides you with a basic foundation to work with and you can even opt to use similarly translated sentences or alternative terms suggested by Jala’s system. Still skeptical? Join the Jala community to chat with other translators and get inspired!
By Yi Jia Loh
