WiserEarth Group Support

In 1993 Eurotexte created the not-for-profit association Translators Without Borders to provide free translations to humanitarian organizations. Today this pro bono work assists organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, winners of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize, Aides Organization, which are then able to use the funds they saved to extend their humanitarian works. Many Eurotexte/Lexcelera translators and staff volunteer their time for these important translation jobs so that translations can be provided free to humanitarian NGOs.

VOLUNTEER TRANSLATORS AND EDITORS NEEDED

If you have ever wondered how to combine your translating skills with lending a hand to a worthy cause, then perhaps you'd like to volunteer for Translators Without Borders. Translators Without Borders has urgent needs for French to English and English to French translators and editors to take on short documents pro bono for humanitarian organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Aides and Handicap International. We also have pressing needs for medical translators.

You could find yourself translating a witness report from Afghanistan or Chechnya, or describing the latest research into preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. (Though the subject matter may be tough going, the work is always meaningful.) Documents usually range from one to ten pages (though educational institutions occasionally take on lengthy documents as group projects). Even a couple of pages per year is helpful! According to TWB volunteer Karen Tucker:

"You're getting the word out on some important issues that a lot of people don't know about, and you feel you're contributing to an extremely important organization in some small way.

"I like doing this because it is interesting. I believe in what they're doing, and I feel good that I'm volunteering in some way. It's also standard language-there's not a lot of jargon. They write very natural language, so it's easier to translate than a lot of business translations.

"The most interesting assignment was when I had to do witness testimony. It was a very harrowing report about several families escaping from Chechnya over the mountains into Georgia. It was breathtaking. Like reading a novel-I was the edge of my seat and very sad. The report went into great detail about how they got through the mountains."

Letters of appreciation for TSF assistance...

"I admit that without your help, I would have been in serious trouble once again! So I assure you that all of my colleagues requesting translations have all, without exception, been fully satisfied, even beyond their expectations, I might add, since in the past they had been accustomed to receiving translations that were only rough approximations because they were done by volunteers who were not professional translators. The comments that I want to pass on to you all mainly concerned the following points: professional work, impeccable translation quality (considering the fact that our documents are generally very complex, with terminology that is specific to Handicap International, which our volunteers often have difficulty adopting), the translations are always delivered on time - rush jobs in most cases, and substantial cost savings that free up resources for the beneficiaries of our programs. On behalf of the managers of the various departments at our headquarters, I thank you once more for the extremely valuable assistance you have given us, and wish you the best for the ongoing development of translators Without Borders. Surely, very few recognize the importance of this service for meeting the needs of an NGO like ours."

Handicap International

"A big thank you on behalf of all the member organizations of the ODSE collective" (Observatoire du droit à la santé des étrangers, or Foreigners Health Rights Watch)

"I want to thank Translators Without Borders, as well as Guillaume Nail, my direct contact, and the whole team of translators, for all of the help you have given us ever since I first contacted your organization in January 2003. I told you about my problems in coping with the huge volume of translation requests coming from the various departments of Handicap International's headquarters, which are usually urgent and have very limited budgets. My own job includes developing a network of volunteer translators, supervising the preparation of lexicons and technical glossaries, and revising and quality control - at least for the French-to-English translations, which account for 99% of our requests.\

- Aides

"I did not have a chance to thank you - but now that we have recorded the English narration and dialogues of this documentary, I want to congratulate you on the quality of the translation work you have done!
We will be airing this documentary beginning on November 26th, in connection with World AIDS Day on December 1st."
- AIDES international

RECENT PROJECTS:

Here are just a few recent TWB projects:

- Over a period of a week and on a daily basis, TWB translated the journal of a Doctor without Borders physician faced with appalling conditions on the front line in the Liberian conflict. Our translation was published in the French newspaper, Le Monde.

- TWB translated letters from Cuban journalists which were read out (by Catherine Deneuve, Pierre Arditi, Sophie Marceau, etc.) at a conference held by Reporters Sans Frontières at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, in Paris.

- TWB handled an urgent request for Handicap International: we delivered a certified translation of Arabic into English and sent it directly to Sarajevo where one of their team was waiting for authorization to fly to Bagdad via Jordan!

These are just some of the many documents TWB volunteers have translated to help NGOs save money that can put to use in the field.

QUOTES:

"Many, many thanks for your support. These translations are very useful to us. I look forward to meeting your team in person one of these days."
- Ashouka (Client)

« Traducteurs Sans Frontières nous a, à plusieurs reprises, apporté son soutien. Son engagement à nos côtés, comme celui de nos nombreux partenaires, nous permet de développer nos actions concrètes sur le terrain en faveur des 130 journalistes emprisonnés dans le monde. »
- Reporters sans frontières