Dear Friends,
We won! Apart from that
rather important fact,
there is not much else
to say this month, so we
will send our next
newsletter update in
January after a
well-deserved break. For
those of you in the
Northern hemisphere,
enjoy winter, while we
in South Africa enjoy a
"sun shining brightly"
Christmas.
WINNERS OF AN AFRICAN
ICT ACHIEVERS AWARD
We made history this
past week by winning the
African ICT Achiever
Award for bridging the
digital divide in
Africa. This is no small
feat. The
Translate.org.za team
are grinning, not only
with the glow of
recognition for the
blood, sweat and tears
that have gone into
this, but also that
language issues are
being acknowledged as
part of the digital
divide. “I am excited
because the ICT world,
which is predominantly
English, has finally
recognised this
connection,” said Dwayne
Bailey, “It's always
been about technology
with none of the human
issues being faced, but
language is the
unavoidable human issue
and I am more than glad
to see that this has at
last come to the fore as
an issue related to the
digital divide.”
Advocates for the
language issue to be
taken seriously in the
technology arena are
undoubtedly pleased.
There are over 200
languages in Africa that
have over a million
mother tongue speakers
each and as Dwayne
pointed out in his
acceptance speech, “We
have two choices -
either to keep using
computers in English,
French and Portuguese
and to endure the new
form of colonisation or
allow technology to work
for us and use the
technology in African
mother tongue
languages.”
Breaking down the
language barrier as part
of enabling Africans to
use technology in their
mother tongue is
something that
Translate.org.za has
been committed to for
the past five years. To
be recognised for this
is excellent, not just
for the organisation,
but for the issue to be
brought to the fore. “We
went to the awards
prepared not to win as
we are used to the
industry not seeing the
importance of this work,
so were very surprised
when they announced us
as the winners,” said
Dwayne. Other contenders
were the Computer for
School Kenya and Khanya
Technology in Education
Projects.
Translate.org.za has
received increased
attention from the local
and international media
since the award
ceremony. In just one
week the award has
opened doors for the
organisation, not in the
form of the much-needed
support, but in gaining
credibility and
receiving credit where
credit is due. Thank you
so much for your ongoing
interest and support as
we face the impact that
language has on the
digital divide on our
continent.
Dwayne Bailey
(012) 460 1095
info at translate.org.za
www.translate.org.za
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