In the fight against Ebola, Translators without Borders (TWB) recognises the critical role language and translation play in improving crisis response and saving lives.
Through the Words of Relief project, currently being piloted in Kenya with Swahili and Somali, Translators without Borders supports efforts to reduce the information gap by providing Ebola key messages, posters, public service announcements and voice over in six languages: Krio, Themne, Mende, Fula, Malinke, and Pidgin English (audio only) for the most affected populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
The team hopes to extend the project to other key local languages such as Bambara in Mali. Current content is provided by International SOS, WHO/UNICEF and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The project intends to expand the source messaging to more organisations as well as national government messaging. Organisations interested in translating public messages into local languages can contact Translators without Borders.
Translations are completed by rapid response translation teams made up of either professional translators or community translators trained by Translators without Borders. Posters in other languages can also be found on International SOS website.
