Walking together: Healing and hope for Colombian refugees

More documents

Recommendations

Info

w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r 53 USING INTERPRETERS Most churches will initially need to use an interpreter to communicate with their sponsored Colombian refugee family. This is a normal part of forming cross-cultural relationships. Finding a good interpreter can be a challenge, especially outside of larger urban centres. There are a number of factors to take into account when choosing an appropriate interpreter. A good interpreter builds trust and is an important part of helping the family to feel comfortable in their relationship with the church. A poor choice of interpreter can, on the contrary, damage the relationship and create distrust and poor communication. If your church has Spanish speakers in the congregation, there is nothing wrong with involving them in the accompaniment of the refugee family, in fact, doing so is likely something that would be greatly appreciated by the refugee family. Nonetheless, there are important considerations to be made before deciding if that person is an appropriate interpreter or not. The Colombians interviewed for this guide gave examples of both positive and negative experiences that they had had with the interpreters in Canada. The following two examples illustrate important factors to consider when choosing an interpreter to use with your Colombian refugee family. Because of the complexity of the armed conflict in Colombia, some Colombians may not feel comfortable with an interpreter from Colombia. Colombians who do not have a prior relationship often have difficulty trusting one another, especially if they were victims of different armed groups. Colombian refugees may not feel free to speak honestly about their past or present situation to a Colombian interpreter. The following quote illustrates that it is often preferable to find an interpreter from another Spanish - speaking country. It also illustrates the negative impact that an interpreter who does not follow the guidelines of interpretation can have: “I think that it is very important that the interpreters not be from the same country as oneself. Our interpreter sometimes tells us that ‘we need to be grateful because the church has given that to you - I never had that.’ I feel judged. I think that an interpreter should build more trust. Other Colombians feel the same way. For example, I have a Mexican friend and we sit and talk...Someone like her would be a good interpreter. The key moment is when one arrives... you need a person (interpreter) you can trust.” - Nilsa Nonetheless, nationality is not the only consideration. Another refugee family reported a situation in which a church chose a interpreter from within the congregation who appeared to intentionally attempt to damage the family’s reputation, perhaps because of personal issues: “We had a communication problem because of the interpreter who seemed to want to manipulate information....Because the interpreter had more credibility in the church, having been there longer than we had, the church believed the interpreter rather than us. (Because of things the interpreter said about us) we saw a change in the way the people in the church treated us....The situation was sad and uncomfortable for us. It was difficult to know that
54 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r people in the church could be thinking badly of us....Churches need to be careful when choosing an interpreter. An interpreter should say only what is said, and nothing more. They should not manipulate information, add their opinion, or give advice. If the church chooses someone from the congregation, they should consider what principles the person has, what strengths and what weaknesses he or she has - are they short tempered, impatient, of bad humour? Maybe the church can find a good interpreter in the church, but I think it would be good every once in a while for the church to ask for a professional interpreter just to talk about specific things and make sure everything is alright.” - Carolina If using a Spanish speaker from within your congregation or community as an interpreter is the best or only option, you may want to consider organizing a training session with this person ahead of time. Such a session would be important not only for the “in house” interpreter but also for church members who will be speaking through the interpreter, to ensure smooth communication and mutual understanding during conversations. The chart in appendix #2 contains some useful guidelines for working with interpreters that you could use in your preparation session with the in house interpreter.
Page 2:
WALKING TOGETHER Healing and Hope f
Page 5 and 6: WALKING TOGETHER: Healing and Hope
Page 8: There are stories embedded in our s
Page 11 and 12: ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shalom Wiebe serv
Page 13 and 14: 12 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r IN
Page 15: 14 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r A
Page 19 and 20: 18 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r ex
Page 21 and 22: 20 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r ha
Page 23 and 24: 22 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Co
Page 25 and 26: 24 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r ca
Page 27 and 28: 26 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Th
Page 29 and 30: 28 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Id
Page 31 and 32: 30 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r un
Page 33 and 34: 32 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Wi
Page 35 and 36: 34 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Id
Page 37 and 38: 36 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Di
Page 39 and 40: 38 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Wh
Page 41 and 42: 40 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Im
Page 43 and 44: 42 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Be
Page 45 and 46: 44 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r ar
Page 47 and 48: 46 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Ap
Page 49 and 50: 48 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Us
Page 51 and 52: 50 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r CU
Page 53: 52 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r
Page 57 and 58: 56 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r
Page 59 and 60: 58 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Fa
Page 61 and 62: 60 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r CO
Page 63 and 64: 62 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r CO
Page 65 and 66: 64 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Af
Page 67 and 68: 66 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r
Page 69 and 70: 68 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r co
Page 71 and 72: 70 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r TA
Page 73 and 74: 72 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r si
Page 75 and 76: 74 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Re
Page 77 and 78: 76 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r I
Page 79 and 80: 78 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Co
Page 81 and 82: 80 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r ca
Page 83 and 84: 82 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r Pl
Page 85 and 86: 84 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r in
Page 87 and 88: 86 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r LI
Page 89 and 90: 88 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r As
Page 91 and 92: 90 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r no
Page 93 and 94: 92 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r pe
Page 95 and 96: 94 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r So
Page 97 and 98: 96 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r He
Page 99 and 100: 98 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r re
Page 101 and 102: 100 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r M
Page 103 and 104: 102 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r M
Page 105 and 106:
104 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r S
Page 107 and 108:
106 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r G
Page 109 and 110:
108 w a l k i n g t o g e t h e r C
Page 112 and 113:
Colombia - Suramérica Océano Atl
show all

Walking together: Healing and hope for Colombian refugees

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?