An open letter to Attila Piróth, Kevin Lossner, Loek van Kooten, Rose Newell [Regarding translationtribulations/2014/10/translators-without-borders-cui-bono.html and the comments there and on a facebook watercooler discussion about Translators Without Borders (TWB). I tried to comment there but the system kicked me out again and again (a technical glitch I guess, not Kevin Lossners fault!)] I do agree with you that labeling voluntary work publicly leaves a somewhat bad taste. Maybe thats a German attitude I have here: In contrary to the US, a lot of voluntary work and especially monetary spending in Germany are done anonymous. And while I feel a deep need to spend more time on volunteering myself, I can barely even find the time to do the necessary volunteering for a local kindergarten that Im involved in. Im just missing the time and, yes, energy to put more into it. At least currently. My personal activity is, that I spend a serious amount of money to an organization that delivers (in my opinion) a great job for humanity. (No, its not TWB, but this does not mean, that they do not do this!). And yes, I do this anonymously (as its good habit here in Europe) and in fact only my tax office knows about it. But anyway: Translators Without Borders is an organization run by volunteers. Their budget is ridiculous compared with other NPOs. As far as I know, everyone works for free and no one makes any profit out of it. The few money that they raise (and I can tell from my own experience that its surprising how closed the pockets from people with a big mouth become suddenly when you ask them for some money for a good cause) is barely enough to pay one person to get at least the basic administrative jobs running (other NPOs have a big bunch of people). None of the TWB people runs around and says, hey, Im so good, look at me, Im supporting TWB, now give me (or my company) some jobs. So what should TWB do? Hide their supporters on the website and do not release their supporters? Hide the people that are on the board? That would make it even more suspicious. Making the supporters public as they do now? Oh yes, of course, then they all only do it only for their career. Constructing it like this makes it impossible for the volunteers to get out of this without harm. And they do not deserve this. I completely agree that TWB needs to publish more content on their website that makes it more transparent. Because, if they would have done, this whole discussion would not even exist. Because there is no secret plan to rule the world. Because there are no big TMs to monetize (AFAIK there is only one small for one language pair). Because there are no people who adorn them self with borrowed plumes. Because there are only people who spend the few time and energy they have left after their demanding day jobs for a good cause. Because such an organization needs people who keep it running. Because it needs some sort of organization. People who do the strategic work, people who do some organization, people who are well connected to the industry, people who do not consider them self too good to beg for at least a little bit of money or practical help. Im sure that not a single one of the TWB peers got only a single more job, because they volunteer for TWB. But TWB would not exist without their work. By the way, Im not affiliated with TWB. Im not a member of the board, I do not support them financially, I do not translate for them (Im not a translator after all). But I follow them for quite some time now and I appreciate and highly respect their work. And I know many people of the (management) board personally and with many of them I had conversations about TWB, our industry etc. And I can tell for sure, that they are not the greedy, career-only, evil persons that some people seem to see in them. Give them a chance! Go and have a drink with them and discuss TWB with them. And dont forget while doing that, that sometimes the personal, private volunteering work does not necessarily need to match with the requirements that you have to fulfill in your main job. This is also, why I, personally, think that Loeks 35$-Moravia comment on Renato Beninatto is completely inappropriate. You might think about Renato or Moravia whatever you want to think. But what I can tell you for sure based on my personal experience with him, that he really does not need to proof himself, advertise or market himself or do volunteering work only to get new jobs for him or Moravia. And the same applies to most if not all of the other TWB people. If you ever find the time, talk to Lori, Renato, Andrew, Anne-Marie, Scott or any of the other people in person. Im sure, your opinion will change. And: If you think, things at TWB should change: Then please help them to do it. They need every single hand. And every hour that people like you can afford to spend to help is appreciated and will help to make TWB better. Just dont blame them for not being perfect. Just dont blame them for not having done everything that already should have done, not for not writing down all ideas, visions, missions, strategies, calculations. Not for formatting and publishing them all on the website. There is a lot of work to do. But there are only a few people with very few time. They are not perfect. They dont claim to be it. They do need help. Personally, I have put volunteering for TWB on my plan for next year. Im not a translator, but there are so many other things that need to be done. Kevin Hendzel has already written most of the things on Kevin Lossners blog that needed to be said here, Renato and me already did on the watercooler forum. But just let me emphasize one thing again: Instead of talking bad about other peoples volunteering for a good cause (because of whatever their very personal reasons might be and whatever your personal reasons to blame them might be), lets better participate in it and work on the cause itself, instead of bashing on the people who already do it. I am willing to do it. And I would be very happy to see you, Loek, Kevin, Rose, Attila and all the others, join me and volunteer as well. If you dont want to, for your personal reasons, no problem. It will not change my appreciation of your persons and I will still appreciate you as a highly respected members of our community. But if you agree, I think we can all help together to make TWB better and get the jobs done, that have to be done. I do not want to chime into silly mutual recriminations. Thats just not me. I do not see any value in it. And I do agree on some of the critical positions. And I also know that its often simply not so easy to fulfill all the requirements of all the peers around you that monitor your work. Especially when its a voluntary community project without a big budget. But what I know is, that its a good cause. A cause that we all should support. Because it shows the importance of the translation industrys work. Because it shows the importance of human translations. Because it helps people who need our help - and very often just helps them to simply survive for sometimes even the most simple reason: Access to translated information in their native language. Cheers!
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:29:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015