International Service Award for Serving as Translators

It has crossed my mind, more than once, that translators have a natural gift to give back to their communities. Can you imagine how many conflicts arise out of missunderstandings due to language and cultural differences? I don't think this has been systematically researched, but my guess is that it is not a negligable number. History is littered with such incidents.

I read today that a junior in Princeton University will be honored with the 2008 International Service Award presented by the Davis International Center. Tashfin Samiul Huq, a Bangladesh student majoring in Biology, will be presented with the award as a recognition to his dedication to cross-cultural humanitarian endeavors. Mr. Huq has helped establish a NGO dedicated to raising the awareness of Bangladeshis to combat AIDS and protect the environment.

This is a small example of what we translators can do to uplift our communities. For a long time, the thought has crossed my mind to create an organization called Translators Without Borders. Perhaps, if you are reading this post, this idea sounds appealing. Give me a call, and let's see if we can get enough people interested.