The Translators without Borders Healthcare Translation Training Center opens in Nairobi

We recently reported that Translators without Borders, the U.S.-based charitable organization that facilitates the transfer of knowledge to those in need, had received a $10,000 donation to further its work in fighting language discrimination. Now the non-profit organization has announced the opening of its first Healthcare Translation Center to improve access to knowledge for millions of people.

Based in Nairobi, the first Healthcare Translation Center will intensively train local Kenyans to be professional translators in order to get healthcare information out to the people who really need it.

The Center will empower Kenyan communities by forming a generation of translators. Local people will be trained to be able to translate simple and detailed vital health information into major Kenyan languages.

In Nairobi, there are adequate healthcare facilities and NGOs that provide vital health information in English or French. Unfortunately, the information is not accessible to the millions of Kenyans who speak only Swahili, the lingua franca of east Africa, or a tribal language.

There are not enough professional translators to provide this information to local people. Translators without Borders is striving to build local translation capacity to turn every language barrier into a bridge to knowledge.

"People do not just die from disease. People die from lack of knowledge," said Lori Thicke, CEO & Founder of Translators without Borders, "Information on how to live healthily tends to be in European languages. In Sub-Saharan Africa, these languages aren’t understood by nearly 80 percent of the population, cutting people off from the knowledge on how to keep themselves and their families healthy."

See Also

• More about translation
  An accurate professional translation can save a patient's life, win a bid, or persuade a shopper to buy your product.
• The complete Translators without Borders news release
  Translators without Borders launches first ever Kenyan Translation Center
• Translators without Borders launches Kenyan translation center (tcworld)
  Translators without Borders has opened its first Healthcare Translation Center to improve access to knowledge for millions of people.