Translators without Borders Releases Video to Raise Awareness
DANBURY, CT, USA – 23 June 2015 —Translators without Borders (TWB), the US-based charity that uses
language to increase access to knowledge, has released a short promotional film to raise awareness of the
work TWB does to help global communities in crisis by providing humanitarian translations.
The four-minute film, which communicates the effectiveness of translation in increasing communications with
communities, was developed to increase awareness among aid organizations of the language gap that is
prevalent in humanitarian work. Developed as part of the organization’s Words of Relief crisis program,
funded by the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, the video highlights the critical importance of local language
communications in health, education and crisis situations.
Lack of understanding is a hidden perennial issue in humanitarian work, and needs to be addressed in order
for health and crisis outreach to be truly effective. The film also aims to help drive more financial support for
the TWB charity, as funds are continually required to sustain and grow the organization, particularly in underresourced languages.
To view the video, visit https://youtu.be/nWFVmRGcUFE
“We are thrilled with the video and hope it will help increase awareness and further understanding about
Translators without Borders and the importance of translation aid.” said Andrew Bredenkamp, Chairman of
the Board, Translators without Borders. “The short film features one of our translators trained at our
Translators Training Center in Nairobi as he works with a Kenyan Red Cross employee to distribute healthcare
posters on breastfeeding to mothers in Kenya. The film documents real-life situations and demonstrates just
how important it is to enable the flow of critical communications in native languages.”
Recent data speaks to the issue of lack of understanding due to language issues. Earlier this year we surveyed
200 Kenyans in urban and rural areas who spoke Swahili plus some English on what they knew about Ebola.
Initially, only eight percent of respondents answered simple questions about the disease correctly, despite
widespread English-language coverage of the epidemic in West Africa. When respondents were given simple
information about the disease in English, correct answers rose to 16%. But when given this information in
Swahili, respondents got 92% 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. Here is
more information on TWB’s work with the Ebola epidemic.
The film was produced in Kenya by the organization’s Kenyan team in collaboration with the Kenyan Red
Cross, and it was first shown at Localization World Berlin, 4 June 2015.
“At Translators without Borders, we are always looking for more support and we do need continual financial
aid to keep the organization running effectively,” said Rebecca Petras, “We developed this short film as a way
to show the results of some of the TWB projects and it features never-before-seen footage of some of our
volunteers and the great work they do. I hope it will help spread the word and inspire new supporters for this
fantastic charity.”
To view the Translators without Borders video, please visit: https://youtu.be/nWFVmRGcUFE
How Can You Help TWB? You can support TWB in a number of ways:
By Donating. We are a small team and need funding to help keep TWB operating. Please consider even a
small amount. To donate, please visit: http://translatorswithoutborders.org/donors
By signing up for our Biannual Newsletter and Monthly Updates. Our communications won’t overcrowd
your inbox but will keep you up to date all on the crisis, health and education work that TWB does around the
globe. To sign up for our newsletter, please visit: http://translatorswithoutborders.org/News-and-Events
If you are a trained translator, please consider joining our Workspace. In the Workspace, we do ongoing
translation work for our non-profit partners. We need more Nepali and Newari translators for that work. To
sign up, please complete the volunteer form: http://translatorswithoutborders.org/volunteers/translator-app
You can also follow TWB on Twitter, @TranslatorsWB #TranslationMatters
About Translators without Borders
Translators without Borders envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. The US-based
nonprofit provides people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting nonprofit organizations
with a professional community of volunteer translators, building local language translation capacity, and
raising awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1994 in France as Traducteurs sans Frontières
(now its sister organization), Translators without Borders translates more than five million words per year. In
2012, the organization established a Healthcare Translators’ Training Center in Nairobi, Kenya. For more
information and to volunteer or donate, please visit: http://www.translatorswithoutborders.org or follow on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TranslatorsWB.