This holiday season, I am supporting Translators without Borders (TWB) because I want to help create a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. I have a goal of raising at least $2,000 before the end of the year, through friends and family for TWB’s holiday giving campaign, “Language is Life.” If you help me reach my goal, I will offer you the very amusing pleasure of witnessing my personal language struggle, learning Danish.

Once I hit $2,000 in donations to my campaign, I will record a one-minute video of me reading or reciting text in Danish. For friends who have been wondering whether I am actually learning this notoriously difficult to learn language, you will have a glimpse into my progress. The person who donates the highest amount gets to pick the text (a play, poem, news article, a scene from your favorite Danish crime drama… whatever you like). I promise to include the (probably hilarious) outtakes of me wresting with pronunciation. 

As you may already know, almost a year and a half ago, I moved to Copenhagen, Denmark to be with my husband (a Dane). I am fortunate to be a native English speaker. Most Danes speak English and are happy to practice, so I rarely feel completely lost. However, language barriers are a daily part of my existence, and I understand what it is to feel vulnerable or left out of critical information because I am not fluent in the dominant tongue. 

TWB supports people who are much less privileged than I am - people who speak languages like Rohingya, Kanuri, Tigrinya, Bangla and a host of other languages spoken by many millions but which are far less likely to be supported by the internet, apps, readily available translation services, or even the aid and health workers who come to their assistance in times of disaster. This is a huge problem. 

Over half of the world’s population suffers from lack of access to information in their language. Language prevents them from getting vital information and communicating their needs and ideas proactively. In particular, people who are poor, less literate, and come from under-served languages, are left without a voice in the development of the places where they live, the future of their families, and in global conversations about important issues. In times of crisis and for dissemination of vital information about health, disease, and disaster, language barriers can be a matter of life and death. 

TWB works with a network of over 30,000 volunteer translators and harnesses cutting-edge language technology to give power and a voice back to communities in crisis, who lack access to information in their own language. Their work such as the response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, the humanitarian emergency in northeast Nigeria, and the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.  My personal goal is to fundraise $2,000 by December 31, 2019. Please support me by spreading the word about this campaign and the importance of language. 

Here is a short video (in English) about Translators without Borders and the "Language is Life" campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnPKBU-QsTQ&feature=youtu.be