NewsletterVolunteerVolunteer of International Conference Volunteers NewsNews Issue 8, January 2003 Page 1: Page 2: Page 4: IN THIS ISSUE: Reducing the digital divide Headphones and Microphones... Activities 2002 Agenda Reducing the digital divide January 2003 Geneva 2003... Training for Victims of Antipersonnel Mines Tunis 2005 February to December 2003 The World Summit on the Information Preparation of the World Summit on Society (WSIS) —Geneva 2003 and the Information Society (WSIS) Tunis 2005— will provide an opportu- nity to discuss issues raised by the March 2003 emergence and current development UBUNTU, Meeting of the Information Society. Offering a new interactive approach, the Summit May 2003 will involve UN agencies, govern- Meeting of the Secretaries Town Halls To be able to participate in the debates, ments, civil society, the private sector from across Switzerland it is essential to know and understand and the media. The priority of the WSIS the key issues: a series of training June 2003 is to find solutions to bridge the "Digi- sessions for journalists from Least 2nd Convention on Sustainable tal and Knowledge Divide". Developed Countries (LDCs) will be organized in 2003. Development (SDC03) This divide between those who have ac- place in Bamako from 28 to 30 May 2002. CantareS, gathering of several cess to knowledge and information Over 1,000 international and regional rep- Iberamerican choirs through new technologies, and those resentatives attended this event. who do not, has widened the gap be- September 2003 tween North and South. The Bamako Conference was an oppor- 2nd Conference on Post-Primary tunity to launch the training project for Refugee Education It is also evident that the less advantaged, Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Media in particular the Least Developed Coun- Action International in collaboration with December 2003 tries (LDCs), are becoming increasingly UNITAR, UNDP, ICVolunteers, the Gradu- World Summit on the Information marginalized. Society (WSIS) ate Institute for Development Studies and They are often excluded from interna- InfoSud organized two workshops in or- Other activities tional decision-making processes concern- der to present the “Training for LDCs to Regular activities include writing texts, ing ICTs infrastructure, services and ap- the WSIS”. transcribing audio and video tapes, plications, access to information or regu- A workshop organized by Media Action translating, mailings, lations. Internet-based research, etc. International followed in Haiti and another In this situation, the LDCs and their civil is planned in Zambia. societies are left out from any meaningful These training workshops for the WSIS ICVolunteers, PO Box 755 participation in the emergence and growth aim at providing the Least Developed 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland of the worldwide Information Society. Tel.: +41 22 800 14 36, Fax: 14 37 Countries with the most recent knowl- The first regional conference in the offi- Email: [email protected] edge and insights on strategies and is- http://www.icvolunteers.org cial preparation process of the World Sum- http://www.isv2001.org mit on the Information Society (WSIS) took Continuation on page 2 2 volunteer news No. 8, January 2003 Continued from page 1 looking after the victims of landmines— and acting as a linguistic bridge. It is a sues related to ICT-development. Other Portrait win-win situation for everyone. projects linked to the Summit are also emerging, all with the objective to inte- Headphones and Claire, you have done voluntary work grate civil society, media and the academic with ICVolunteers on several occa- sector in the preparation process of the Microphones... sions. What motivates you? Summit. Claire (25), professional translator and in- A Portrait of Volunteer terpretation student at the Geneva School Call for volunteers Interpreters for Translation and Interpretation (ETI): In the framework of the World Summit One of the many services offered by Through these practical exercises, I can on the Information Society, we are look- ICVolunteers includes providing vol- see what the profession I am learning is ing for volunteers with skills and knowl- unteer interpreters. These are gener- really about. I give a lot through my vol- edge in the following fields: ally multilingual persons without di- untary work, but I receive just as much. ploma, student interpreters or young Of course, the contact with participants ♦ Information technologies professionals who wish to gain more from all over the world, as well as with ♦ Creating videos experience. As always with ICVolunteers, other volunteers, is also rewarding. this service is available exclusively to ♦ Translating and interpreting In which projects have you participated? organizers of non-profit conferences ♦ Writing session summaries . and events, usually pursuing a social Claire: When I was still studying transla- or humanitarian goal. ICVolunteers tion, I started with proofreading and trans- offers its help for simultaneous inter- lating articles for ICV News and the Volunteer News (English) pretation both in conference rooms Internet site. Later on, I worked as a vol- Editors both with and without booths. In the unteer interpreter during the preparatory Viola Krebs, René Delétroz latter case, the whispering method is meeting for the World Civil Society Fo- Randy Schmieder often used. rum (2001), and then this year during the Forum itself. Photos Viola Krebs, you are offering this ser- Viola Krebs vice with the help of volunteers. Is At the Forum, I had a conversation with a Publisher Design this not unfair competition for people delegate from Benin who had listened to ICVolunteers MCART.org who make a living out of interpreta- my interpretation. It was very interesting Translation Printing tion? to talk about my work and find out if my René Delétroz CopyQuick rendition of the proceedings had been Viola Krebs, Director of ICVolunteers: No, Proofreading clear. This was my very first opportunity I do not think so. It is important to stress Wanda Verhagen to talk directly with a real life "cus- Charlotte Biedermann that ICVolunteers works exclusively with tomer"… such a difference from practic- non-profit conferences. Some social and International Conference Volunteers is an ing alone with tapes of fictitious confer- humanitarian conferences are organized NGO that assists organizers of non- ences! The main beneficiaries, all del- profit projects (social, humanitarian, with very limited means and simply can- egates from Benin, were able to contrib- environmental and scientific), in particu- not afford simultaneous interpretation lar social and humanitarian conferences, ute actively to the debate and exchange services. Yet certain delegates rely on the by recruiting, training and coordinating ideas with English and Spanish speaking volunteers. For more information, please help of interpreters to actively participate delegates. This has been a tremendous contact us. in the debates. These are the kind of source of satisfaction for me. ICVolunteers events we are helping. In this light, we P.O. Box 755, 1211 Geneva 4 are not in competition with profession- Switzerland als, as we offer a complementary service. What should be considered when re- cruiting volunteer interpreters? Phone: +41 22 800 14 36 For student interpreters and those wish- Fax: +41 22 800 14 37 Email: [email protected] ing to gain experience in this field, our Claire: There should be enough interpret- Web site: www.icvolunteers.org service also offers an excellent opportu- ers so that they can relieve each other, nity to practice. Finally, in the case of normally taking turns each twenty min- ©2003 ICVolunteers projects such as the Landmine Survivors utes. This means that two interpreters Network, interpreters play a dual role— work from and to the same language. This No. 8, January 2003 volunteer news 3 ICVolunteers strives to forge contacts between volunteer interpreters and those requiring linguistic assistance so that they can pursue their work to- wards a better world. Glossary Simultaneous interpretation: The most common form of interpreta- tion. The interpreter sits in a booth in front of a microphone. He or she wears head phones and translates verbally everything he or she hears. Interpreter Krystina whispers in Portuguese what she hears in English to landmine victims and attendees of the training "Raising the Voices" . Consecutive interpretation: Used only in smaller conferences. The in- also applies to the whispering method in I stepped on a landmine. I lost a leg and terpreter listens to the proceedings informal sessions. Furthermore, interpret- suffered eye injuries. After several weeks for approximately six minutes. He or ers should have access to all relevant docu- at the hospital and a slow recovery, I she takes notes and subsequently ments related to the conference well founded the Senegalese Landmine Vic- translates verbally what he or she ahead of time. If we have to refer to the tims Association, of which I am currently has heard. Internet, this can create difficulties, as the president. The Association focuses there is often too much information on primarily on education for landmine vic- Whispering: When only one or two the conference web sites. In addition, if tims. We now have several young persons people in the group require inter- we have to print out everything ourselves, who have managed to enter high school. pretation, the interpreter sits behind it is expensive for students, as the car- For us, this