Association Mova
- language without barriers
Context
Association Mova – language without barriers was founded in order to fight social inequalities. The biggest one that we address is the lack of access to information. People who benefit from our help are the refugees and migrants from different countries who currently reside in Poland.
Our translators and interpreters are also our biggest and most valuable resource. They’ve completed numerous professional courses organized by the biggest Polish and international relief agencies.
The association consists of humanitarian translators/interpreters and intercultural mediators. The great majority of our members are refugees and migrants, many of whom are multilingual and/or experienced in diplomatic context.
Humanitarian aid is a concept resulting from the vulnerable state in which a group of people, i.e. a community, collective, a country etc. remains without protection.
What sets us apart from other organizations?
These vulnerable situations in which people find themselves may vary greatly and include military conflicts, food shortages, water scarcity, lack of access to washing facilities or being neglected and even discriminated against by the government agencies. Unfortunately many people face such hardships in their homeland and are forced to leave.
Migration from one country to another is caused by different factors, however the most common ones that we observe during humanitarian crises include fleeing an authoritarian regime, avoiding persecution on the ideological basis and escaping a war zone.
All of the above adds to the urgency of the situation in which migration to a new territory using the same language is not always possible. That is why the migrants often find themselves facing a language barrier, unable to communicate, which makes their situation even more difficult.
Association Mova is a group of people from different parts of the world, different cultures, of different religions and backgrounds. At the moment Mova has about 40 members, most of whom are people who were forced to leave their homes in fear for their personal or economical safety.
We are all joined by one cause – providing help in understanding of the language and customs and thus making new conditions easier to adapt to. We want everyone to have equal chances.
Our translators, interpreters and intercultural mediators are people deserving of utmost respect due to their everyday sacrifices and willingness to provide help at risk of being retraumatised.
We put their wellbeing and comfort first as they continue to inspire us to learn and seek new ways in which we could improve living conditions of refugees and migrants in Poland.
What is humanitarian translation/ interpretation?
Humanitarian interpretation is a field of interpreting focused on migrants and refugees. Its goal is to provide necessary help to said migrants and refugees in their new reality.
Humanitarian interpretation includes:
- legal interpretation,
- psychological interpretation,
- medical interpretation,
- economical (financial) interpretation,
and intercultural assistance (interpretation in state offices, closed facilities, detention centres etc.)
Who can we call a humanitarian translator/ interpreter?
It’s a person who provides specialized humanitarian linguistic services, both translation and interpreting.
We can divide interpretation services into three groups:
- consecutive interpreting, where the speaker pauses from time to time in order to allow the interpreter to present smaller, localized sections of the speech to the other party
- simultaneout interpreting, where the interpreter is speaking live, without pauses, to a group of people or a headset
- Interpreting in a group, where the interpreter translates the speech of two (or more) parties in a conversation, from their source languages into one, main target language.
What is intercultural mediation?
It is a form of mediation between the parties, in case of misunderstandings or conflicts resulting from cultutal differences as well as a general approach of serving as a bridge between different cultures. An intercultural mediator helps resolving conflicts arising from different customs (for example during a doctor’s appointment where they not only interpret the speech but also add all the context necessary for the patient to understand the medical examination process).
Who is an intercultural mediator?
An intercultural mediator is a person who perfectly knows the cultural context of at least two cultures/countries.
It may be a person who emigrated from their homeland years ago and is able to understand cultural differences between their country of origin and their country of residence. An intercultural mediator is able to suggest culturaly appropriate behavior to all of the parties involved in the mediation.
Competences
Our interpreters and intercultural mediators are mostly refugees and migrants who have been living in Poland for years. That is why we are sure that their work is most helpful in Polish reality.
Association Mova stresses the importance of professional development. We are proud to have been a part of many specialistic courses, such as:
- Course in humanitarian translation
– organized by Clear Global https://clearglobal.org/ - Course in intercultural mediation
– organized by Medecens Sans Frontieres https://www.msf.org/ - Course in psychological interpretation
– organized by Polish Migration Forum https://forummigracyjne.org/ - Course in first psychological aid
– organized by IOM https://www.iom.int/ - Course in legal translation and interpretation
– organized by the Association for Legal Intervention https://interwencjaprawna.pl/o-nas/o-sip/ - Course in interpretation during visists in officla state institutions (i.e. police station)
– organized by TEXTEM https://textem.com.pl/
Some of our translators specialize in audiovisual translations as well, so we are more than qualified to prepare subtitles, dubbing or voiceover scripts for visual content.
Mova works with a group of sworn translators (certified translations), so if you need such services, don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Ela Krawczykowska-Sobocińska
PREZESKA
STOWARZYSZENIA -
Agata Śleszycka
WICEPREZESKA
STOWARZYSZENIA -
Yuliia Tkachuk
TŁUMACZKA JĘZYKA
UKRAIŃSKIEGO I ROSYJSKIEGO -
Maja Karimova
TŁUMACZKA JĘZYKA
... -
Zuzanna Wilkowiecka
CZŁONKINI
ZARZĄDU -
Urszula Śleszycka
CZŁONKINI ZAŁOŻYCIELKA
DORADZTWO PRAWNE -
Zuza Chojecka
FUNDRAISERKA
... -
Olga Zip
CZŁONKINI ZAŁOŻYCIELKA, TŁUMACZKA
JĘZYKA UKRAIŃSKIEGO I ROSYJSKIEGO -
Aras Al-Jaff
TŁUMACZ JĘZYKA
SORANI I ARABSKIEGO -
Farhan Ali
TŁUMACZ JĘZYKA
... -
Zala Zazai
TŁUMACZKA JĘZYKA
DARI I PASZTO -
Payam Shekho
TŁUMACZ JĘZYKA
...
Mova in numbers:
and interpreters
interpreted
translated
