Lori Thicke - TWB - on BBC re Ebola
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[Dan Damon]
So the fight against Ebola—
of course,
medical intervention is
the first priority, but of
almost the same importance,
helping people
understand the disease
and how to fight it.
Ignorance and rumor
have hampered the relief efforts
in some countries.
Translators Without Borders is
a charity that works to overcome
the information gap,
and Lori Thicke is
the founder and president
of Translators Without Borders,
and she's come
into our World Update studio,
and thanks for doing that.
Tell us about
some of the work you've done.
[Lori Thicke] Thank you very much
for having me, Dan.
In the Ebola crisis
in particular,
that is simply a crisis
of lack of information
combined with
lack of medical expertise.
We are concentrating on
written information
because in a context
of so few doctors
we were speaking
with local people
on the ground and there are
very, very few doctors.
The WHO just estimated
that there are
something like
under fifty doctors for Liberia,
for example, so in the context
of so few doctors,
written information is
really important.
We wouldn't go
into rural France
with posters in English.
So it seems to us
a little bit shocking
to go into rural Nigeria,
Liberia, Sierra Leone
with posters in English.
[Dan Damon]
Because trust is important,
and trust can be missing—
we spoke to a nurse
who had been working
in Liberia,
and the problem is
that people
just don't understand
why there are
these strangers coming in
wearing all these kinds
of spacesuits
and their people are dying.
They're just getting
the information.
I'm looking at a poster
that you've done.
This is in Hausa, I believe.
Is that correct?
>>[Lori Thicke] Yes, it is.
You're right, and what happened
with this—because we find
that the nonprofits
who are operating in the field
aren't always either
aware of the language issues
because they tend to deal
with the global elite
who work with them—
the urban doctors and nurses
and other medical staff,
so they're not as aware
of the language barrier
and what we do is
we work on
them to make them aware
that if you're speaking
to somebody
you really need to speak
to them in a language
they understand.
As you said, that's
a trust issue.
How can you build trust
if you're not even speaking
their language?
So we saw this excellent poster
by SOS International
that was actually in English,
and we thought
if you could get this
into the local languages
people are going to understand
it better
and lives will be saved.
[Dan Damon] Of course,
literacy levels aren't that high
in some of these places.
It is written enough—
don't you need people
who actually go there
and speak?
[Lori Thicke] We've had
that all along.
We've had that all along,
people who go there and speak.
In fact, we feel
that's not enough.
An MSF doctor said to me
that people remember
20% of what he says
and 10% of that is wrong.
So in a situation
where you have
literacy levels above 65%-75%,
there's always someone
in the family
who can read a poster,
and as you know, we retain
information better
when we see it.
[Dan Damon] Well, it's
remarkable work that you're doing.
I guess you need more help,
don't you? More translators.
[Lori Thicke] We certainly need
a lot more funding,
a lot more help in the field.
[Dan Damon] Lori,
thanks for coming in.
Lori Thicke who is from
Translators Without Borders.
This is World Update.