thebigword – the global, technology-enabled language solution provider – is supporting the British Military cultural advice and training for those travelling to Sierra Leone to combat the Ebola virus.
thebigwords Defence, Justice and International Security division is providing a Sierra Leone national who is a teacher, speaker of Krio and a specialist in the region’s culture and tribal behaviour. The specialist has already worked for 10 days at Strensall near York, training more than 100 military medics.
As well as classroom teaching, thebigword has held interactive question and answer sessions and created a pocket document with translations of basic phrases.
Divisional Director, David Capper, says: “In a crisis such as the one in Sierra Leone, language difficulties and lack of cultural understanding can result in a failure to engage the local population when their support is an essential part of the mission’s success.
“This advice and training will ensure that those being deployed into an incredibly difficult situation are as well-prepared as possible.”
thebigword is currently liaising with all parties involved in the aid effort, including a range of global charities, with the aim of holding cultural awareness workshops for anyone travelling to the Ebola-hit countries.
thebigword is a global, technology-enabled language solution provider that delivers translation (written word) and interpreting (spoken word) services. Headquartered in Leeds, thebigword employs 500 people based in 13 offices in 12 countries, working with more than 12,000 linguists in 73 countries.
At the centre of thebigword approach is delivering customer focussed solutions, of the highest possible quality and making the global communication process smooth for its wide range of public and private sector clients.