Volunteering for Translators without Borders
This week's Apertis Verbis post comes straight from the first edition of IGNITION, the ITI's (Institute of Translation and Interpreting) new biannual publication for those getting started in their translation or interpreting career. You can have a look at the publication in its entirety here.
Marina is a translation project manager based in Leeds, UK. She is the Italian subtitling tutor at the University of Leeds. She holds an MA in Applied Translation Studies (University of Leeds) and a BA in Foreign Languages and Civilisations, with Russian and English (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice).
Miruna is a translator at the Council of the European Union. Previously, she was a trainee at the Council and freelanced in the UK as an interpreter. She holds an MA in Conference Interpreting and Translation (University of Leeds) and a BA in Intercultural and Linguistic Mediation (University of Bologna-Forlì).
Translators without Borders (TWB) is a US non-profit organisation that aims to bridge the language gaps that can hamper humanitarian relief efforts when aid workers and people affected by crisis situations do not speak the same language. TWB connects humanitarian agencies and non-profit organisations with its community of volunteer translators to ensure that vital information is delivered in the right language.
We became familiar with TWB at a Professionalisation Talk at the University of Leeds, during our MA studies. This is where we met Sue Fortescue, Ambassador for TWB, who shared her mantra: ‘Do well by doing good!’. We were both inspired by her talk and decided to start volunteering as project coordinators for TWB’s Rapid Response Team (RRT). The RRT was part of TWB’s European Refugee Response programme, which provided useful information to refugees in Arabic, Farsi, Greek, Urdu and Kurdish. Messages such as how to manage the harsh winter, where to find reliable immigration information, news about border closures and medical services were critical to refugees. This is why volunteering for TWB makes you feel like you are making a difference by ensuring people gain access to crucial information in languages they understand.
As project coordinators, we assigned articles provided by TWB partner Internews in English to Farsi, Arabic and Greek translators and proofreaders. Accuracy was a top priority and time was of the essence – most texts had to be delivered by the end of the day for publication on the website News that Moves.
In Miruna’s case, adding this experience to her CV helped her highlight useful transferrable skills. After her MA, she completed a traineeship at the Council of the EU. After the traineeship, Miruna was offered a temporary contract there as an in-house translator and is currently Brussels-based. In Marina’s situation, volunteering for TWB has given her an insight into the project manager role and prepared her to communicate efficiently with clients and translators – an essential part of her job today. This experience also helped her find a job in the translation industry, allowing her to improve her CV while helping others.
If you would like to volunteer for TWB, visit the website. You do not need professional translation experience to volunteer as a project coordinator, you simply need enthusiasm and a desire to do good. It is a great way of helping out, while developing transferable skills which are essential for the translation industry.
