Our Translator Team

I knew working in Saudi Arabia was going to be a tough challenge when I arrived here in early September with no Arabic language skills. It has been tough however, one of the key things that has helped the team is the translators paid for to support us. Not only have they been vital to the operation they have been a source of inspiration daily.

I don’t know if you wondered where these young men, mostly of African descent learned their English as because they are non-Saudis, they don’t get the same level of education that Saudi nationals get but I can shed some light on this.

I had the privilege and pleasure of being invited by one of the young men to a centre in their community where he teaches English and IT evening classes. I was asked to speak to each class to provide some motivation to them and explain to them that without them our job would be so much more difficult. This experience was not just a Riyadh highlight but a lifetime highlight (and I have been around for a while!). Seeing these people taking time in the evenings to come out and try to better themselves and to give themselves a better chance in life was humbling. The welcome that they all gave me was extraordinary and I have an open invitation to go back whenever possible.

During my evening there it was very apparent that they are managing with next to no resources and what they had was old and barely working.

You know what’s coming next –

If you have benefited even in a very small way from the ability to communicate using the supervisors/translators, I am asking if you would be prepared to make a small donation to a contribution where some vital piece of educational equipment can be purchased to help in the teaching of more people from their community.

We all have different circumstances so please don’t feel obliged to contribute. If you can, at the end of the shift today please take the trouble to thank them and offer some encouragement to them but if you can donate, it will make a real difference to the lives of these guys.

One final thing, if you are part of the team here on the event please share a picture with yourself and your interpreter, that in itself would be a good motivator for them to keep up their incredible hard work