Rainbow Refugee Case Study

Educational Content Translation for a Refugee Support Organization

About Rainbow Refugee Society

“Art One’s subtle and inclusive translations helped people feel valued and confident as they settled into their new country.”

Rainbow Refugee Society is a nonprofit organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which supports LGBTQ2I+ migrants. Their clients have typically fled countries where their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or HIV+ status have led to persecution.

They offer services for the LGBTQ2I+ refugee community, whether they have already arrived in Canada or are planning to come. Rainbow Refugee Society provides them with guidance and support as they pursue their asylum claims, explaining how to access healthcare, housing, and legal aid and educating them on what to expect at a hearing. In the first eight months of 2024, they served nearly 400 refugees who were already in British Columbia.

Additionally, Rainbow Refugee Society hosts workshops and drop-ins for members of the local LGBTQ2I+ community. Some sessions are educational, while others are social, allowing refugees to celebrate their cultures and meet other members in a comparable situation. The organization also provides psychosocial support and counselling to the community.

Since 2019, Rainbow Refugee Society has partnered with the Canadian government to encourage private citizens to sponsor refugees fleeing persecution in their home country.

Challenge

As an organization that focuses on the needs of refugees and asylum claimants, Rainbow Refugee Society often works with individuals who are not yet comfortable with English. They needed to ensure that the educational materials they share at their workshops and walk-in sessions are accessible in other languages, including French, Farsi, and Dari. This included not only written handouts but also informational videos that were available for their community members and volunteers to watch. Knowing that they could best serve their community with translated materials, Rainbow Refugee Society sought translation services for nonprofits with experience in educational content translation.

Solution

Rainbow Refugee Society was searching for a partner, a translation services provider with experience in educational content translation and the ability to use inclusive language.

They wanted to ensure that the linguists who worked on their projects would use accurate, sensitive language so their clients would feel seen and respected for who they are.

At the same time, because they had a video component to their project, they also wanted to find a language services provider who could handle transcription and subtitling in addition to translation.

Through a referral, Adam Koussa, a projects manager at Rainbow Refugee Society, found Art One Translations. After an initial discussion, Adam decided to work with Art One for the organization’s educational content translation.

Having worked with Art One Translations to translate both videos and documents, Adam found that “their fast delivery was impressive.”

He also appreciated their responsiveness, punctuality, and clear communication: “Art One presented deliverables on time and accurately.”

Results & Impact

Art One’s educational content translation projects for Rainbow Refugee Society have included webinars on various topics that would benefit partners and volunteers. Art One provided “closed captioning for videos in English to French, Farsi, and Dari, as well as translation of info sheets to Arabic, French, Farsi, and Dari,” says Adam. Among them were webinars on trauma-responsive care for LGBTQI+ refugees, as well as how to educate newcomers about the rights, responsibilities, and realities of living in Canada as an LGBTQI+ individual. First the original webinar videos, which had been recorded in English, needed to be transcribed. Art One’s team then took the transcripts, translated them into the target languages, and produced subtitled versions of each video. The info sheets are aimed at refugees who have recently arrived in Canada. These documents explain topics such as healthcare or housing to asylum seekers, using language that is easy for them to understand. These info sheets must be handled with a combination of sensitivity, expertise, and skill. Art One draws from an expert pool of translators in each language, aiming for translation and inclusionand ensuring that the texts are inclusive of all genders and sexualities, using style guides and glossaries developed for that purpose. They also ensure the reading level is appropriate for the target language. Education translation has allowed Rainbow Refugee Society to provide accurate in-language support to the clients who attend counselling sessions, walk-ins, and other events. They can also provide volunteers with access to webinars on critical topics in their own language.

Explore more of our translation case studies.

Related services:

Translation for Nonprofits · Subtitling & Captioning

Relevant sectors:

Nonprofits · Community Services · Education

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