Volunteer Translator Speaks Volumes

By Red Cross Volunteer Dalia Fernandez

One of my first memories when I came to this country from my native Cuba at age 11 was a warm winter coat I received from the American Red Cross. Although it's been decades since that day, I will never forget that gray wool coat. During the cold winter, that coat made me feel warm and welcome—inside and out—in my new country. As we settled down in Brooklyn, my mother, grandmother and I also received furniture and other items we needed for our new apartment from the Red Cross.

I attended schools, later married and had two daughters, and now have a granddaughter. For 30 years, I have been earning my living as a Certified Interpreter and Translator.

While I was driving in Queens two months after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I heard sirens and the terrible news on the radio about the crash of Flight 587 to Santo Domingo. I wanted to help. I followed the emergency vehicles and arrived at the Ramada Inn, where the families of those that had died in the crash were to gather later.

Once at the hotel, the first group I noticed was that of the Red Cross volunteers. These volunteers were the pictures of composure, but their faces reflected the compassion that only faces that "have been there before" can reflect. I was immediately assigned to interpret for mental health workers, pastoral workers, nurses, and others. I had never done that type of interpreting before and I felt very sad. But because I understood the language of those families as well as their idiomatic expressions and culture, I knew that they felt comfortable having the other volunteers and me there. Amidst all that grief, it was evident that the families were very grateful for the Red Cross's assistance on that day, which I am certain was the most terrible one in their lives.

In 2002, I found out that the American Red Cross in the Greater New York had started a Language Bank in order to expand the services that it had been providing for so many years. I knew the time had come for me to volunteer on a regular basis. The enthusiasm and compassion of the volunteers and everyone else at the Red Cross is what keeps us all going. I am also a member of the Red Cross National Translation Review Board, which reviews all of the pamphlets and literature that are translated for distribution by the American Red Cross.

I know that the Language Bank will help many people - young and old - who presently don't speak English. From my own experience, I know that one day these young people will learn English and adapt to their new land the same way many of the Language Bank volunteers and I did.

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