Last week, the World Health Organization declared that Ebola is an international public health emergency.
The declaration follows the first case of Ebola that reached Goma, a major transportation hub in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is where Translators without Borders conducted their language assessment in February. By talking to people on the ground, the organization learned that potentially millions of people feel like they don't have enough information to keep themselves and their families safe from Ebola.
Critical words like "bloody," "gums," and even "vaccine" weren't fully understood in French or Standard Swahili, the main languages being used by humanitarians. This is why Translators without Borders has decided to go back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo this August. Their aim is to learn to work with local people to understand how humanitarians can better communicate and stop the spread of this devastating disease.