With the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes increasingly urgent for the entire population to have access to key information on preventive measures against the spread of the virus, as well as information on the new dynamics in each region, for example: what are the essential services in operation and the procedure for obtaining Emergency Aid. But how can you inform quickly and efficiently if not everyone is fluent in the local language?
This is one of the challenges faced in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas (RMC), which is home to 2651 foreigners and refugee migrants, according to a diagnosis carried out this month by the Population Studies Center 'Elza Berquó' at the State University of Campinas (NEPO Unicamp).
To solve this problem, the City of Campinas has activated, on an emergency basis, the research group coordinated by professor Ana Cecília Cossi Bizon, from the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) at Unicamp, to translate informative and documentary texts into Haitian Creole languages, French, Spanish, English and Arabic, in order to serve the largest foreign and refugee communities residing in the RMC.
The project, currently in its initial phase, will be developed by the group “Insertion and language policies for foreigners and refugee migrants” and intends to involve, in addition to four scholarship students from Unicamp, volunteer students from the two IEL degrees: Degree in Literature and in Portuguese Second Language/Foreign Language. It will also count on the collaboration of the research group “And speaking of translation”, coordinated by professors Viviane Veras and Érica Lima, from the IEL translation area.
With the high demand for translations, Bizon highlights the urgency of creating a platform to register volunteer translators and interpreters and manage translation and/or interpretation requests to serve refugee communities.
“This is a broad project that, in addition to the social aspect, will generate data and processes for research in the area of language, translation and public policies aimed at the foreign and refugee population. With the pandemic, it became urgent to optimize the receipt and distribution of these translations in an organized and quick way to satisfactorily serve these people”, explains the professor about the problem the group faces.
Startups in the development area that are available and interested in developing a platform for a database of translators and interpreters can contact the professor and her fellows to better understand the processes and needs.
Contacts:
- Ana Cecília Bizon (IEL Unicamp)
- Francesca Rose, Literature graduate (IEL Unicamp)
- Allan de Oliveira, graduating in Social Sciences (IFCH Unicamp)
Published article originally on the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency website.
