We’ve all heard of groups like Doctors without Borders and UNICEF – non-government organizations that head into countries all over the world to help those in need. These organizations routinely need your money and your support in order to keep going. They need money to pay for supplies and other necessities in order to carry out their work. Once these organizations head into a foreign country, however, they need something else: good communication.
Whether it’s an environmental group cleaning up an oil spill in a foreign country or a team of doctors arriving in a remote village halfway around the world in order to offer basic medical services, the needs are the same. They need to be able to communicate effectively with the local population in order to offer help. They also need to be able to understand the culture around them in order to offer the best assistance possible.
That’s where groups like Translators Without Borders comes in. Translators Without Borders is a nonprofit group that was founded in 1993. To date, it has helped translate millions of words on behalf of charitable and nonprofit organizations. The group’s work shows exactly how important translators are. Without them, it’s difficult for groups such as UNICEF to do their work. Once charitable organizations gather up your money and the resources they need to help, they still need to be able to understand the culture where they are headed and need to be able to communicate.
If the charitable group is a team of doctors hoping to offer medical treatment, for example, they need to be able to speak with patients in order to understand symptoms and in order to explain medical treatment. If the group is offering to set up clean water in the form of a well, the group needs to be able to communicate with local authorities and with local volunteers. In order to keep the volunteer safe, the groups’ participants need to be able to communicate their intentions effectively with local police and with local people and need to be able to understand the local culture where they are trying to help. Translators can help with all of this, not only by translating words, but also by helping to explain cultures and cultural differences.
With translators, overseas volunteers and nonprofits are able to provide more help and are able to learn more about the cultures they visit. Translators even allow volunteers to build lasting friendships with the people they help. Overseas charity work simply cannot happen without translators. Charitable groups such as Translators Without Borders help provide charities with no cost translation services.
The next time you give money to your favorite nonprofit group, consider the role translators play in ensuring your donation is put to good use.