Chinanews.com, Guiyang, February 13th: Girls in Guizhou recruit online volunteers as translators to solve communication problems for the Chinese rescue team in Turkey
reporter puvins
Received and dialed three voice calls within 10 minutes and quickly wrote down the key information, and followed up the pop-up needs of the WeChat group chat in real time... For the past few days, Guo Guoying, a "post-90s" Guizhou girl, has been very busy "online".
"Saving a minute may save a life." Guo Guoying's partner Zhang Huiying said.
Guo Guoying communicated with the online recruitment of volunteer translators.
Photo by Pu Wensi
On February 6, two 7.8-magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey, causing heavy casualties. Several Chinese rescue forces rushed to Turkey to participate in the post-earthquake rescue.
After the rescue team arrived in Turkey, facing an unfamiliar environment, how to solve the communication problem became a major problem affecting the progress of the rescue.
"At first, a friend from the rescue team approached me and asked if I knew friends who could provide translation assistance in Turkey. I am engaged in language training myself, and I also know some international students and foreign friends, so I began to pay attention to this matter." On the 7th, Guo Guoying initiated the formation of a WeChat group called "Turkish Rescue Translator". She then joined the group chat and partnered with Zhang Huiying, a Chinese girl in Turkey, who built a communication bridge for the Chinese rescue team.
Guo Guoying connected with Zhang Huiying in Turkey.
Photo by Pu Wensi
Within 5 days of setting up the group chat, the number of volunteers who joined has grown from single digits at the beginning to 116.
"Among them are Turks and Chinese in Turkey, and they can basically communicate fluently in Chinese, English, and Turkish." From an organization of a few people to a team of more than a hundred people, the group chat group was officially renamed "China Aiyuan Translation" (hereinafter referred to as "Aiyuan").
Guo Guoying told a reporter from China News Agency that he is mainly responsible for recruiting translation volunteers, connecting with rescue teams in need, and deploying volunteers according to the rescue team's task list.
"After the personnel are arranged, Huiying coordinates volunteers in Turkey to guide, file, go to the disaster area, apply for a local mobile phone card, etc. when the rescue team enters the country, and provide the latest local disaster situation."
In order to cope with the continuous group messages and language calls every day, Guo Guoying is equipped with two mobile phones and two tablet computers. During this period, every time a volunteer is recruited, she will prepare the name, nationality, current city, language mastery, and availability in real time. Provide information registration such as rescue time with the team.
Guo Guoying created a form to register the information of the volunteers for translation.
Photo by Pu Wensi
"Now all those marked yellow on the list are performing tasks, and there are nearly 40 people." Guo Guoying introduced that as of February 11, "Love Aid" has distributed 15 task orders according to the needs of different rescue teams, "including the Blue Sky Rescue Team, Shenzhen Charity Rescue Team, Qingdao Red Cross Society, etc., and some media teams.”
To Guo Guoying's surprise, on February 11, a Chinese rescue team carrying out post-earthquake rescue in Syria also found her and asked her to help find Syrian local guides or translators to assist in the rescue. In terms of ability, Guo Guoying still carefully noted down the needs of the other party. Through various contacts, she quickly found a Syrian local guide for the rescue team.
"Since the 7th, we have been racing against time. As soon as we receive the information, we will implement it as soon as possible, and provide help within our ability." Guo Guoying said.
At this moment, Zhang Huiying, who is in Turkey, is also "non-stop". In addition to coordinating the related work of the "Love Aid" translation team, she also participates in assisting the first-line rescue.
On February 9, Zhang Huiying set off from Rize Province in northern Turkey and traveled for nearly 20 hours to Hatay, the earthquake-stricken area in Turkey.
After arriving, she had no time to rest, so she was busy going to the countryside with the rescue team to deliver clothes, food and other supplies to the affected people.
"Turkey's English penetration rate is low. Even if our rescuers can speak English, it is difficult to communicate with the locals. As far as rescue is concerned, time is very tight now. How can our rescue team cooperate with the local rescue team efficiently? How to effectively communicate with the victim, such as keeping him in a position for rescue, many of the details need to be accurately conveyed by translators." Zhang Huiying said.
Zhuoming Disaster Information Service Center is a volunteer organization that handles disaster information professionally, assists in the connection of disaster relief resources, and promotes disaster relief efficiency. Hao Nan, the person in charge of the center, said bluntly that the local bilingual volunteers in Turkey are very valuable for rescue at this stage. resource.
"Transnational rescue operations have always required 'good cooperation'. Being able to recruit such a group of interpreter volunteers and assign them to the rescue team in a short period of time, 'Aiyuan' has achieved efficiency and professionalism." (End)