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Experienced editor and translator for a UN-sanctioned organization
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Freelance translator and/or interpreter
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Source text - English If they say life is like a blank sheet, imagine what a pencil is like: A change maker. A simple pencil could be the vehicle for a 21st century’s Shakespeare, a Nobel Prize winner, the one who discovers the cure for AIDS… Just imagine the possibilities.
Now what if a person with all of that potential didn’t even have something as simple as a pencil?
Maria Vick, inspired by this photo, founded The Pencil Project in 1998. The picture was taken by her mother in Africa, and not only did these 102 children had only one teacher but Maria was deeply touched by a little boy who held a small broken pencil as his most prized possession.
If you think poverty is a third world issue only, you may think again. Maria realized how important education is for children around the world, and how they should all have access to stationeries and other school supplies.
It was a simple idea. For something as cheap as a box of pencils you could help 12 children at a time! So the main target was to collect these supplies and distribute them to school in which these were scarce.
Ever tossed out a broken pencil that could have actually been very useful? Yeah, I just got pretty mad at myself too, but now you know. Speaking of which, let me tell you the story of the most successful Pencil Project so far!
High School students and sisters, Gayathri and Rajeswari Ramanathan started a pencil project at their very own school, Irvington High in United States’ Bay Area.
They just couldn’t believe how while in their world, a definition of luxurious stood for fancy clothes, cars or jewelry, but in the eyes of these children it meant a plain pencil.
“Education is for everyone; a pencil should not be the blockage for that reason. We cannot just eschew these innocent young children from receiving their education. We must hold hands together and give to these young ones a light to their education, and with a small pencil, this is possible”.
They had to do something. That’s the coolest thing about youth, we are quick to hope and act. The sisters contacted Maria, who provided them with five different elementary schools that would be benefited with the pencils collected.
These schools were located at Lagos, the most populated city in Nigeria, with several slums filled with children who did not receive an education. Now that the target was set, Gayathri and Rajeswari went to the school’s principal, who helped them acquire a tax letter, which would help them receive sponsorships.
“We would have climbed up and down of over 650 stores. Every time we took a step up and down, we learned a valuable lesson regarding the hard work that needs to be put into this project. Our whole Christmas Break and many more days were spent on collecting donations and sponsorships from numerous stores”.
In order to collect the pencils, they spent long hours redesigning and decorating recycled cereal boxes, which they distributed to various places such churches, schools and libraries. On the other hand, they also emailed lots of organizations and corporations asking for sponsorships.
“Essays and passages were required for a lot of them and this procedure helped us develop our writing skills!”
So it goes: target, check! Boxes check! And the sponsorship responses were great to the next step was to start packing.
“The process was a little complicated because we were supposed to ship the packages to a ministry in Lagos and then head pastor would distribute them. Pastor Godspower was very helpful with communication throughout the project. We constantly e-mailed him regarding the status of the collection and he never finished an e-mail without blessing us with good wishes”.
Gayathri and Rajeswari visited the post office and got the necessary boxes in which they sorted the pencils into different categories according to their colors and sizes.
Next on the list was the delivery of the collected goodies, which came to a total of over 17,000 fresh pencils, over 5,000 erasers, over 3,000 sharpeners, markers, crayons, and over 2,000 used pencils! However, they ordered some more stationery such as sharpeners and erasers from an Indian company, which kindly agreed to ship them straight to Lagos, Nigeria.
“Being students in a high school, we know how easy it is to dispose a half-sized pencil. But what we did not know was that that same pencil could bring sheer happiness to a child who is in need of school supplies. It is understandable if a student cannot afford to buy a calculator or coloring materials but when we see a child unable to get a simple wooden pencil, this proves to the bottom pit that the child really needs provisions”.
Now this isn’t the end or the last you’ll hear from this young activists! In 2009 they worked on the Project Kentucky, which benefited two Elementary schools in rural Kentucky with more than 7,800 new pencils and 2,300 used pencils for a grand total of 10,100 pencils along with hundreds of erasers, pens, coloring pencils, crayons, folders, protractors, and sharpeners.
Rajeswari is currently a senior at Irvington High School while Gayathri is a sophomore at University of California, and they say this experience taught them about a different world out there, about responsibility and self-respect: “It gave us a sense of maturity”.
Now you can too start your own Pencil Project! So far 300,000 pencils have been collected and counting! Go to their website at www.thepencilproject.com and learn how you can do your share too.
Translation - Tagalog Kung ang buhay ay katulad ng isang malinis na pahina ng papel, ano kaya ang magagawa ng isang lapis? Malaking pagbabago, hindi ba? Ang simpleng lapis na ito ay maaaring maging daan sa paghubog sa Shakespeare ng makabagong panahon, pagkamit ng karangalan sa Nobel Prize, o pagtuklas ng kagamutan sa AIDS. Maraming posibilidad ang hatid nito.
Isang simpleng pangangailangan. Subalit papaano kung ang isang batang malaki ang potensyal ay salat kahit sa bagay na ito?
Noong 1998, naglakbay patungong Africa ang ina ni Maria Vick. Sa kanyang pagbabalik dala ang mga alaala, isang litrato ang pumukaw ng pansin kay Maria—isang batang tangan ang pudpod na lapis na animo’y ‘yon lamang ang tanging kayamanan. Kabilang ang batang ito sa grupo ng 102 mag-aaral na may isang guro lamang. Ang karanasang ito na dulot ng isang litrato ang nagtulak kay Maria na itatag ang The Pencil Project noong taong ding iyon.
Madaling isipin na ang kahirapan ay pawang matatagpuan sa mga Third World na bansa. Ngunit iba ang pananaw ni Maria. Para sa kanya, ang kahirapang humahadlang sa edukasyon ay problema ng lahat—ang kakulangan sa lapis, papel at iba pang kagamitan ay suliranin pa rin ng marami.
Malaki ang maitutulong ng isang bungkos na lapis kahit sa 12 mga bata. Nangongolekta ang The Pencil Project ng mga kagamitan at ipinamamahagi nila ito sa mga paaralang salat sa pangangailangan.
Ang gawaing ito ang nagsilbing inspirasyon para sa magkapatid na sina Gayathri at Rajeswari Ramanathan ng Fremont, California. Hindi sila makapaniwala na ang simpleng lapis ay kayamanan na ng isang bata sa Africa, samantalang magagarang sasakyan at damit ang minimithi nilang magkapatid.
Sabi nila: “Hindi dapat na hadlang na matuto ang isang bata dahil wala siyang lapis. Ang edukasyon ay para sa lahat at kung magtutulungan tayo, makakamit natin ang layuning ito.”
Nakipag-ugnayan sila kay Maria na nagmungkahi sa kanilang magkapatid ng limang paaralan na mabibigyan ng mga nakolektang lapis. ‘Yan ang kabataan! Kaya nating tulungan ang kapwa dahil mataas ang ating hangarin at mabilis pa tayong kumilos!
Limang eskwelahan sa Lagos, ang pinakamalaking siyudad sa Nigeria, ang nagkamit ng mga lapis na ito. Marami sa mga kabataan sa lugar ang nakatira sa squatters area at hindi nakakapag-aral. Humingi ang magkapatid ng sulat mula sa kanilang principal sa Irvington High upang makapangalap sila ng mga donasyon.
“Madami kaming tindahan na napuntahan para humingi ng tulong. Mahirap ang manghikayat sa mga tao na tumulong at ito ay isang aral para sa amin. Ginugol namin ang buong Christmas break sa pagpunta sa mga tindahan sa lugar namin at pangongolekta ng mga donasyon,” wika ng magkapatid.
Hindi lamang simpleng sulat ang dala ng magkapatid sa paghingi sa kanilang lugar. Gumamit sila ng recycled at may dekorasyon na kahon ng cereals na inilagay nila sa iba’t ibang panig ng mga simbahan at paaralan. Nagpadala rin sila ng emails sa maraming kumpanya at organisasyon upang humingi ng donasyon. Sa mga paraang ito kailangan nilang gumawa ng maayos na sanaysay o maglagay ng mga sawikain sa kanilang mga liham. Anila nahasa ang kakayahan nila sa pagsusulat dahil dito.
Pagkatapos ng paghingi ng mga donasyon, ipinadala naman sa Lagos ang mga kagamitan. Sabi nila, “medyo mahirap nang konti ang pagpapadala ng mga lapis sa Nigeria. Kailangan pa naming makipag-ugnayan sa head pastor doon upang maipamahagi niya ang mga ito. Maraming beses kaming nagpapalitan ng email pero maayos naman ang proseso.”
Nakapangolekta sina Gayathri at Rajeswari ng 17,000 na bagong mga lapis, mahigit na 5,000 na pambura, higit sa 3,000 pantasa, markers, crayons, at mahigit na 2,000 na lumang lapis. Nakapagbigay din sila ng dagdag na pambura at pantasa sa tulong ng isang kumpanya mula sa India.
“Bilang mag-aaral sa high school, napakadaling itapon na lamang ang isang pudpod na lapis. Hindi namin alam na ang lapis na ito ay makakapagdulot ng kasiyahan sa isang batang higit na nangangailangan. Okay lamang kung hindi ka makabili ng calculator o coloring pens, pero kapag hindi makamit ng bata ang isang simpleng lapis, hudyat ito na kailangan natin syang tulungan,” pahayag nila.
Hindi lamang Lagos, Nigeria ang natulungan ng magkapatid. Noong 2009, Project Kentucky naman ang kanilang sinimulan. Dalawang paaralan sa kabukiran ng Kentucky sa Amerika ang nabigyan nila ng 10,100 na mga bago at lumang lapis kasama na ang daan-daang pambura, ballpen, coloring pencils, crayons, folders, protractor at pantasa.
Malapit nang matapos sa pag-aaral sa Irvington High School si Rajeswari samantalang nasa ikalawang taon naman sa University of California si Gayathri. Ang karanasang ito ang nagmulat sa kanilang magkapatid tungkol sa mundong nakapaligid sa kanila: “Nagbigay ito ng sense of maturity sa amin.”
Pwede ka ring magsimula ng sarili mong pencil project! Ang pencil project ni Maria Vick ay nakapagbigay na ng mahigit 300,000 na mga lapis. Pumunta ka sa www.thepencilproject.com at malay mo, mayroon ka nang sariling proyekto kinabukasan na makakatulong sa mga kabataan.
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Bachelor's degree - University of the Philippines-Diliman
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Years of experience: 16. Registered at ProZ.com: May 2011.
Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Frontpage, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office Pro, Microsoft Word, Pagemaker, Powerpoint, Trados Studio, Wordfast
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I am a highly-efficient, results-oriented translator in the English and Tagalog languages. My education at the top-rank University of the Philippines aided me to be well-versed in this field and helped me to be successful in my current role as an editor and coordinator for a United Nations sponsored youth organization.
Keywords: English, Tagalog, politics, government, geography, philosophy, social science, technology, computers, applications. See more.English, Tagalog, politics, government, geography, philosophy, social science, technology, computers, applications, software, journalism, news, research, communication, music, cinema, movies, sports, travel, tourism, medical. See less.
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