See how Translators Without Borders uses Simple English to help save lives in Africa.

1. Can Simple English Save Lives?

2. Translators without Borders
is the world’s largest community of
humanitarian translators

4. About Content Rules
• Content services firm specializing in global
content strategy, content creation, and global
readiness
• We donate global readiness services to
Translators without Borders
• Global readiness: Simplify source content prior to
translation
• Global readiness: Makes source English easier to
read for everyone

5. Projects
• Kenya Health Services Information
• Wikipedia 80 x 80
• Translator training in Nairobi
• Health Education And Training (HEAT) in Africa
• More projects every day

6. More people die
from lack of
information than
from lack of
medication

7. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
1 IN 8 CHILDREN DIE
before the age of 5

8. Kenya Health Services
Africa has 25% of the world’s
disease burden and 2-3% of
its doctors and nurses

9. Health information in
Thange, Kenya

10. Regina in
Thange, Kenya,
does not speak
English

11. Her community
healthcare worker
barely speaks
English

12. Kibera, Kenya

13. Kenya Health Services Information
• Brochures often distributed in English to
Kenyan residents
• Prior to simplification, most brochures were
thrown away due to lack of understanding
• Edited 16 health-related brochures to use
simple English
• Difficult but essential topics

15. Results
Trained 19 sex workers
how to translate brochures
to distribute in Kibera

16. Wikipedia 80 x 80 Project
• Take the 80 most often used medical articles
on Wikipedia.org
• Simplify the English – vetted by physician
• Post to simple.wikipedia.org
• Translate into 80 languages (mainly African)
• Expected to take 3-5 years to complete

17. Why Wikipedia?
• ~200 million page views for more than 25,000
medical articles
• More than 40 million page views for medication
articles each month
• 50% to 100% of physicians use Wikipedia (most
frequently used source by junior physicians
besides Google)
• 35 to 70% of pharmacists admit to its use

18. Content Rules Editors
• Requested help from Content Rules editing
community
• Received >50 volunteer responses
• Had to turn people away (!)
• Many continue to edit
multiple articles

19. Before

20. After

21. Before

22. After

23. Translation Center
• After simplification, articles go to the
translation center hosted by ProZ

24. Results
• 18 articles simplified to-date Yoruba
Kinyarwanda
• All posted at simple.wikipedia.org Telugu
Norwegian
Urdu
Chinese
Portuguese
German
Spanish
French
Russian
Italian
Armenian
Arabic
Dari
Dutch
Czech

25. Training for Nairobi Translators
• Held Simple Writing
training via Skype
• 5 sessions X 25
translators

26. Taking the training to
the Maasai Lands

27. Healthcare Translators’
Training Center
Introduction to Simple Writing
How to write using simple and clear language
Translators without Borders
27

28. Contents
• Why write using simplified English?
• Simplified English best practices
• Visual content best practices

29. Today’s Translator
Training Centre

30. Quotes from Translators
“I am in total agreement with the philosophy of Translators
without Borders: that never again should people die of lack of
information whilst there is something we could do to avert the
situation. I therefore would love to become a professional translator in order to
help avail information to the average, less privileged population, which cannot
access important medical information because it is encoded in a foreign
language (quite literally).”
- Matthias K. Kathuke

31. Quotes from Translators
“Translators without Borders came in handy at a time when I
had just completed my training and ripe for health
promotion, and as a Health Promoter, I felt it would be
quite prudent to give information in a language that is well understood by the
majority in my country. Therefore when I got the chance to be part of the
translators at the Translators without Borders Healthcare Translators’ Training
Center, I totally embraced it because it is a positive engagement that would
enable me to promote health through a language that the majority would
understand.”
- Anne Njeri Mwangi

32. Summary
• Translators without Borders work is essential
for saving lives
• Simplifying English saves lives
– Makes it easier for ESL readers
– More accurate and simple translations
– Makes mobile delivery possible

33. Ask us how you can help today.