Dear Respond Community:
Our hearts are heavy with sorrow and worry as the people of Iran rise up in protest of the Islamic Republic. We are thinking of all of our sisters and brothers and of all the oppressed. We are thinking of young women like Jina (Mahsa) Amini, our Kurdish peers, the Baha'i, Afghan refugees, and LGBTQ communities. We are watching you with awe. You’ve let the world know how brave the people of Iran are.
We hold infinite gratitude for the work our impacted team members have done for Respond Crisis Translation. We stand with you.
The Respond Team
In this edition:
Although these have always been Respond’s values, we've recently added them to our website and wanted to share them with you. Find out more on our website here.
EQUAL ACCESS
We fight for the right to equality of access to all spaces and services for people of any and all nationalities, origins, and native languages.
We work alongside asylum seekers and refugees navigating complicated and hostile legal, medical, psychological and other human services systems in languages they don’t speak, to make sure that language is not a barrier to gaining access to the support they need. We also collaborate with partner organizations offering services so that these can maximize their assistance to asylum seekers, refugees, and other immigrant communities.
FREEDOM OF MOBILITY
All people deserve access to excellent interpreters and translators as they move through dangerous and challenging journeys, and navigate the complicated process of applying for asylum and (re)building their lives. We refuse to remain silent when language is used as a tool to limit freedom of mobility, and we advocate for systemic reform in the U.S. immigration system to protect the rights of immigrants coming to the U.S. in search of safer and more stable lives.
LANGUAGE DEMOCRACY
We are committed to working with all directly impacted by language exclusion and violence to create platforms for insisting on justice and reparations for people in the aftermath of language violence. We partner with activists and organizations to ensure that research, resources and training are linguistically accessible across electoral politics, legal advocacy, education, social services, housing and tenant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, and more. Through collaborative policy proposals, voter mobilization, and advocating for a culture that values and funds translation, we are working together to build the language democracy we envision.
ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Translation and interpretation work is essential labor.
For asylum seekers, refugees, deportees, immigrants, Indigenous-language speakers, and others belonging to historically marginalized communities, work in translation, interpretation, language justice and language democracy can become a pathway to economic empowerment and stability. Funding their work allows us to ensure just wages for folks who are systematically under-paid or unemployed while ensuring all asylum seekers, refugees and migrant communities receive access to high-quality, compassionate language support. We therefore prioritize paid and professional development opportunities for language speakers from these communities.
COLLABORATION
Respond is the only rapid response language access collective in the U.S., filling a critical gap in the system and working to dismantle the root causes of language violence. Our approach is to plug in as “language allies” to organizations that are leading on the frontlines.
We tailor our work so each of our 225+ partner organizations can overcome language barriers to meet their clients’ specific needs.. We believe in building each other up and that strength and movement building comes from working together.
COMMUNITY CARE
While providing high-quality and compassionate translation and interpretation services to asylum seekers, refugees, deportees, migrants and anyone experiencing language barriers is extremely important and rewarding, it is also very challenging to all who are involved. That is why we offer trauma-informed training to all our translators and interpreters, so that they understand and know how to manage traumatic content and declarations, both in compassion towards clients and to themselves.
Respond Crisis Translation’s network is also supported by a dedicated therapist who can work with our language practitioners to support them as they work with difficult content, and experience vicarious trauma and other difficult effects resulting from this work.
Afghan Languages Team:
The Afghan languages team is in the process of translating 5339 words from English to Pashto, for We are CASA and ImmSchools.
21 pages of an asylum seeker’s documents were translated from English to Pashto, and 17 pages of a refugee’s documents were translated from Dari/Pashto into English, for attorneys.
Two incredible Afghan team members did simultaneous interpretation in a live event for We are Afghan/Afghans for a Better Tomorrow.
An Afghan team member translated 54 pages of an urgent asylum application.
Haitian Kreyol Team:
Our interpreters worked with Haitian Bridge Alliance on several asylum cases that involve sexual violence, as well as on the transcription and translation of almost 30 mins of audio files from the events that unfolded in Del Rio last year.
The team received an urgent request from NYU Law’s Global justice Clinic to translate documents for them totaling 7000 words with a one-week turnaround! Laura Wagner - Haitian Kreyol team Co-Lead took on one document and one of our star translators Ralph worked on the other part. It was for a blog post on water rights and a memorandum of understanding.
Last month the Haitian Kreyol team on-boarded a new partner organization North Bay Rapid Response Network, a grassroots, multi-racial, and multi-issue organization uniting people to build leadership and grassroots power for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice. They connected the team with a lawyer who needed a handwritten declaration translated—449 words.
The Haitian Kreyol team took on and completed a quick turnaround translation of an affidavit from CASP, Community Asylum Seekers Project—2418 words.
The team translation request from CAWTF, California Welcoming Task Force for a 1388-word document, and received another request for 1300 words. The Haitian Kreyol team did a large project for ImmSchools. They translated 2956 words for 2 surveys and a consent letter that will be shared with immigrant students and their families.
Last but certainly not least the team is working on a 10,109-word project for El Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración, IMUMI which consists of several documents and charts.
LFR-Less Frequently Requested Languages Team:
The Turkish team has been providing translation for Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, RMIAN. They have translated several documents that will help RMIAN's clients to read important documents in their native language. These documents include 3 handouts that contain information on notices to appear, expedited removal, and release options. The team also worked on a letter for clients who need pro bono services. Now this information will be available for all RMIAN's Turkish-speaking clients!
A marvelous Urdu translator worked relentlessly to support one of our partners' clients. He translated evidence to be presented before the court, giving the client the opportunity to have his case heard.
Mandarin Team:
A Mandarin interpreter worked with the Migrant Center for Human Rights. Her work helped a detainee with their asylum application process.
A Mandarin interpreter worked for 7 hours on a project that allowed the parents of immigrant kids to share information on their culture and identity on a virtual parent panel.
Russian/Ukrainian Team:
The Ukrainian team translated medical documents for 14 individuals and one organization, for a total of 95 pages into 6 languages: Ukrainian, Russian, German, French, Czech, and Polish. Medical translations for Ukrainian refugees are the biggest priority for the team. The majority of complex medical cases are for chronically or terminally ill patients fleeing Ukraine and seeking urgent treatment in hospitals in France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Israel, and the Czech Republic. These cases are complex, full of medical jargon, and handwritten notes from doctors. And, they are in language combinations the team has never worked in, requiring significant outreach and training to complete.
The team translated education documents and certificates for a Ukrainian refugee so she could apply to practice medicine via the Refugee and Asylum seekers center for Healthcare professionals, REACHE.
Team Spotlights:
The Respond Crisis Translation team is comprised of language experts, technicians and marketers, professional interpreters, project managers, and curriculum designers who are passionate about the intersection of immigrant justice and language democracy.
Meet 4 of Respond Crisis Translation’s amazing translators and interpreters, who have been working around the clock to dismantle language violence!
Read more about Arpeeta, here.
Read more about Nathan, here.
Read more about Demeke, here.
Read more about Aurora, here.
Girasol provides training, consultations, and resources to create a global community of trauma-informed professionals that prioritize the mental health and well-being of all immigrant families.
Our partners Justice For Our Neighbors of the Delaware Valley, care about language and economic justice as much as we do! We are so grateful for our partnership, and to our joint commitment to paying systems-impacted translators and interpreters just and dignified wages.
"You can’t really know someone as a full human being with a complex interior life unless you can communicate with them."
– Laura Wagner-Respond Haitian Creole Team Co-Lead
Join an incredible global community of thoughtful multilingual people putting their language skills to work for asylum seekers.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!!
We will need more volunteer support in the upcoming months:
Sign up hereif you are interested in translation and interpretation
The development team is looking for volunteers to to help with donor engagement and grant research. If you are interested in learning more and perhaps joining this team, please reach out to development@respondcrisistranslation.org