How Can Translators Help the People of Ukraine?
óscar Curros
Director de Interkultural ? Periodista independiente ? Traductor autónomo de inglés y portugués a espa?ol y gallego ? Revisor de textos ? Contacto: [email protected] / +34 636 60 40 31
[Note added on November 2022: For updated information about Ukraine and the translation and localization industry, please visit and follow our dedicated page Interkultural for Ukraine ]
As the war unfolds in Ukraine, thousands of people are fleeing the country and becoming refugees. Both the combats within the country and the massive refugee flow pose pressing humanitarian challenges.
Since the beginning of the full-scale attack, I've seen our colleagues in the translation and localization industry post about this conflict and ask how to help.
Here are some ideas you can apply right now.
Join Clear Global and Translators Without Borders as a volunteer
I checked with them by e-mail on February 25th and they responded to me quickly. They said they "would absolutely be interested in signing up translators."
The situation is so urgent that any speaker of certain languages will be accepted: "It's not even necessary to be a qualified translator, anyone who speaks more than one language including?Ukrainian?or?Russian or Polish, etc. would be really valued," they explained.
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5. Updated information on the response held by Clear Global and Translators Without Borders six months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (February 24th, 2022)
According to the partner organizations, "the linguistic diversity of the people and places affected means there is high demand for language support."
Here's how they're helping:
?? Free language support for 31 organizations
?? 2.4 million words translated, for
?? 320 projects, into
?? 44 languages, by
?? 665 active community members
?? Cross-border research for improved two-way communication between refugees and host countries
?? A dedicated Ukraine Response team
?? Language data, resources, and educational materials available free of charge
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To volunteer, you must be over the age of 18. If you are, access https://kato.translatorswb.org/register/?to enter your name, last name, and e-mail address. You'll be asked to create a password.
The next step is checking a few automated emails you'll receive.
Those emails will feature links to TWB's website. There you will be able to complete your profile.
TWB will guide you step by step on how to work with them. Basically, when there are tasks you need to complete?in your language?pair, those will be visible on your homepage. However, in a crisis situation like this, they will also often get in touch directly via email to ask for help with more urgent tasks.
Share CLEAR Global's interactive map of Ukraine, hosted on TWB's website. According to CLEAR Global, "Organizations supporting those fleeing or trapped by violence need to know which of the 20 languages spoken in Ukraine they are most comfortable communicating in."
You can also donate using the button on the top right of TWB's website, as shown in the image above. The following link will take you to this webpage: https://translatorswithoutborders.org/support-us/donate/
Organize a community fundraiser. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to raise money for an organization. We tried both and got more engagement on Instagram. See the thank you message below to all those who supported the cause.
Share CLEAR Global's email ([email protected]) with people that need urgent reliable information. As stated by the organization, "information, answers, and services are most useful when they're in the right language and format." They support communication efforts in Ukrainian, Russian and more.
Offer pro bono services. If you are a language service provider (LSP) you probably have the capacity to help people in need with daily communication tasks. I've seen some CEOs put their LSPs at the service of people affected by this crisis. Teams can contribute in an organized way to surpass language barriers, as expressed by John Schnobrich's picture below.?
Take advantage of your language expertise to tell others how to translate valuable information and write in other languages. In the following example, I used my company's page, Interkultural, to share some tips on how to write about the Ukrainian crisis in Spanish.
Use your LinkedIn profile or page to support well-established humanitarian organizations. As marketing consultant Kathrin Bussmann points out, "trusted, well-established humanitarian organizations?have the most on-the-ground knowledge & experience." She leads by example:
Amplify the reach of your LinkedIn feed by using other social media platforms to spread the word. Instagram's stories now feature links, which you may use to drive your audience to articles and posts.
Take advantage of any communication channels you can access to share reports and pieces of news by trusted media. For instance, Twitter may be great to share information with your colleagues, like conference interpreter Giovanna Lester did on February 25th. She recommended this article published by NPR.
Learn from polyglot professionals how to play your part in informing about this crisis. A good example is Philip Crowther, a journalist whose coverage of the conflict in Ukraine has been recently highlighted by Multilingual Media.
Think global and act local as a world citizen. Many translators and interpreters have friends all over the world. It's a perk that comes with being able to communicate with people in different languages. However, it can also be a cause of worry. Some colleagues have already posted, here on LinkedIn, their concerns about friends living in Ukraine.
Even if you don't know anyone, this war affects you as a world citizen. What happens to humanity matters to you in some way. Don't be indifferent. Participate in local antiwar demonstrations, educate people around you on the causes of this conflict, try to influence politicians and institutions, be a rebel against brutality.
Act here and now
To sum up, as a translator or interpreter, you're a world citizen with multilingual communication skills. That's a superpower since you put it to use. Do it here and now. It's urgent!
You can go solo but joining the efforts of a well-established humanitarian organization will be more helpful. NGOs like Translators Without Borders and CLEAR Global are ready to work with you.
In case you own an LSP, you may talk to your team and organize pro bono services addressed to those affected by the war.
There's the option of donating money. You can also use your channels to inform how to give money to well-established organizations.
In war contexts, verified information is key. Check the content before amplifying messages. Take care of the sources used. Preferably, trusted media.
Once the information is flowing, there will be translation needs. You can use your linguistic knowledge to educate others on how to write and speak about the crisis in specific languages. Get inspired by other multilingual professionals.
In any case, you're a world citizen. Look for the best ways to influence and impact people within your reach.
Do you have any other suggestions? Tell us in the comments.
Useful information gathered will be posted below as updates.
[From now on, you'll be getting contributions from our readers]
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Translator Emma Burns'?preferred ways of helping are signing petitions, donating, buying Ukrainian products, sharing links on Instagram, and donating to trusted charities... not merely talk but action ??.
Interpreter Gentiana Hasko has engaged with her network to donate to this war's victims through the Ukrainian Embassy in Albania.
This is not an isolated action. The Ukrainian embassies across the world are asking for help. Check with the nearest Ukrainian embassy how you can help. You can check their website or their social media profiles.
Right after having seen Gentiana's comment, I tried to check the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in Spain (Embajada de Ucrania en el Reino de Espa?a). For an unknown reason, it wasn't working.
However, their Facebook page was working. It showed a big antiwar cover banner and there was a post on how to make donations. It linked to a website explaining how to donate to the fund of the National Bank of Ukraine from abroad. I tried to access it but it was down
too.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Spain acknowledged on February 28th that it had been impacted by "kiberatakami" (this looks like a transcription of the Ukrainian word for cyberattacks). Can you imagine such an institution using generic Gmail accounts? Read the screenshot below...
This is why talking directly to the local Ukrainian embassy in your country may be a better option. For instance, Language Quality Assurance Specialist Sarah Chaya Presch?has just posted (February 26th) that they're donating in the Czech Republic: "Tomorrow me,?Alan Presch?and the kids are going to be putting together supplies and taking them to the Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic." Check and support her post.
Since donations in physical supplies are harder to take to their destiny than financial ones, please follow strictly the instructions given by the embassy and their contributors.
If you want to donate but you can't go deliver the goods yourself, you can ask some colleague if they could do it for you. Marketing Consultant Alan Presh is one of those open to taking donations.
Sarah and Alan got to raise 1,200 in less than 12 hours. See the items they left at the Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic:
Ukrainian localization professional Marta Chereshnovska posted a comprehensive list of ways to help her country now:
Marta recommends a super-site created by the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. It consists of a network of Hubs developed and led by young people.
You can check it at https://how-to-help-ukraine-now.super.site/. It's partially localized into several languages.
There were demonstrations to support Ukraine all over the world on Sunday, February 27th. Entrepreneur Fardad Zabetian, the CEO of KUDO, took his kids to the #standwithUkraine rally at Times Square.
During the subway ride, he shared with them some stories of his own childhood during the Iran Iraq war. He says he can understand the pain and the fear the Ukrainian children are going through.
KUDO has supported the event "Language of Peace" as a multilingual sponsor.
Fardad suggests supporting Save the Children.
The massive refugee flow to neighboring countries like Poland has made translators' and interpreters' associations in the country respond by putting together a website for volunteer translators from Poland to any language. This is how interpreter and translator Agnieszka Nowińska tells it:
You can access the website at https://tlumaczedlaukrainy.pl/. This is how it looks:
Shortly after having posted this article on how to help, (the original content, without the supplement yet), I noticed Tom Gray's support (in other words, he liked this post). He's the president of Sussex Online Speakers, a virtual club affiliated with Toastmasters International focusing on helping their members develop public speaking and leadership skills. All of us are volunteers and work together to improve our education. My role is taking care of the club's communications, as the club's Vice President of Public Relations.
Since I'll be opening our next meeting on Monday 28th, I asked Tom if we could make a reference to the war's victims, as well as a call for peace. He responded to me by sending the quote below by Ralph C. Smedley (February 22, 1878 – September 11, 1965), the founder of Toastmasters International, an advocate of communication and dialogue.
You can attend our event for free. The only requisite is registering here.
Nowadays there's a Ralph C. Smedley Fund you can donate to. It's used to finance education initiatives, as well as for disaster relief. You can access it here.
This is all, folks! At least, for the first week. There may be more updates.
Telecommunications Professional Outside Plant Engineering and Construction Management/Project Management Civil Engineering Inspector, Assistant Resident Engineer, Construction office Field Office Engineer
2 年Elizabeth Ferris your help is needed, how are you, are you overwhelmed? I'll kick ass and take names for your Afghan people so you can answer the call. #suitUpandShowUp
Professional member en Spanish Association of Translators, Proofreaders & Interpreters ASETRAD
2 年Thank you so much Oscar!! You are doing a wonderful job!!!
Dear óscar Curros, allow us to share that our Ukraine Appeal is now live, with more information about our urgent response here: https://clearglobal.org/partner-with-us/ukraine-appeal/.
Arabic Linguist - Language Analyst- Published Interpreter- Conference Interpreting, Remote Interpretation: English Arabic.
2 年It was a great experience deploying a large roster of interpreters and translators to rapidly respond to the European Refugee crisis in 2016-17. TWB rapid response team is the best in the NGO world, providing vital and life saving information where most needed. In addition to training NGO interpreters in Athens and West Africa, I had the chance to interpret within various refugee camps.