VOA标准英语2012--Translators Bridge Communication in Kenya Healthcare

Translators Bridge Communication in Kenya Healthcare

Peer educator Susan Mwangi explains the finer points of reproductive health. The secret to Mwangi’s successful counseling is her ability to make her message understood.

"It is very important to know the language that the client speaks," she said. "But if the client understands Kikuyu, Sheng, etc., then the client can get the information that she requires in the language that she understands."

The use of accurate, clear language is essential in healthcare. A phrase translated wrongly could, in a worst-case scenario¹, cause a patient’s death. 

That is why Mwangi and about 29 of her colleagues have just finished a translation training program in Kenya’s capital given by Translators Without Borders. 

"It is true that people do not think of translation," said Lori Thicke, who co-founded Translators Without Borders in 1993. "It is absolutely not on the radar², but it is so critical if you think about it, for people to get information, whether it is how to take their medication, whether it is where to find supplies in a crisis situation."

The peer counselors³ work at the Family Health Options Kenya drop-in center in the Nairobi informal settlement of Kibera.

Mwangi speaks Kibera sheng and five other languages on a daily basis. But, she says, until now she has been interpreting - rather than translating - health-care information.

Translator and course instructor⁴ Paul Warambo is teaching the peer counselors how to put precise sheng subtitles⁵ on an English video about cholera⁶. 

"You are supposed to avoid translating word for word as much as possible because there are no two languages that look exactly the same in form of structure and the way the sentences are created. And so, we often encourage a translation that is majorly based on meaning translation," said Warambo.

Founder⁷ Thick says that understanding - and using - language is key to peoples’ empowerment. 

"I really never have seen people so excited about translation," she said. "I think they are seeing it as a way of getting their message through, so it is not just words, it is not just translation, it is actually the heart of communication with the people here."

Communication that Mwangi and her colleagues have taken to heart. 

1 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

4 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

5 subtitles   

n.说明字幕，印在外国影片上的对白翻译字幕，译文对白字幕；小标题，副标题( subtitle的名词复数 )；（电影的）字幕

参考例句：

• subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing 为耳聋和听力不佳者打出的字幕
• a Polish film with English subtitles 附有英语字幕的波兰影片

6 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。