[WSF-Discuss] Post-ESF assessment

[CACIM]

*Post-ESF assessment*

Posted by ybelov

@ http://ybelov.livejournal.com/176134.html

* *

*Мой отзыв об организации работы переводчиков на Европейском социальном
форуме: слишком много говорили о деньгах, сэндвичами могли бы кормить
поменьше, а материалы для тренингов подготовить получше. В целом же очень
неплохо, и, конечно, не было ничего подобного "эксплуатации переводчиков". *

The Forum in Malmö was my first experience of a social forum, so I cannot
compare it with other forums.

What surprised me at this forum was the fuss about money. In my opinion
there was no need to hold meetings so late at night to discuss the
reimbursement. I do not know why people got so upset and passionate when
they heard that that not everyone would be reimbursed in cash. It may be an
issue for non-Europeans, but not for those who live the EU and can get money
via PayPal.

As for other practicalities, such as accommodation, meals and the bus card,
I have nothing to complain about. Rodrigo was helpful and efficient. Though
they could have fed us on sandwiches less often, and I hope that those bulky
plastic packages, which contained our meals, were properly recycled. Surely,
I did not encounter any semblance of "exploitation" or "slavery", mentioned
in the Babels declaration.

I was a bit disappointed about the training. I had never interpreted from a
booth before, but at the training sessions I was constantly told that I was
a professional and so there was no place for me. Had I known about it
before, I would not have come before the start of the Forum. In the e-mail
messages, though, I was advised to come for trainings well in advance. The
trainings were somewhat chaotic: there was a lack of microphones, the wires
of some head-phones were too short, and on the training DVD it was difficult
to find suitable materials.

Concerning the lexicons, I think they need to be standardized, that is put
in the same file format and duplicating files should be eliminated. Besides,
some "terms" in the lexicons are too easy. I have translated two lexicons
into Russian and I will continue this work.

For the next time I think that interpreters should be better informed of
what is expected from them and how they can practise while still at home.
They need to have at their disposal speeches and lexicons from previous
forums, and these materials should be better organized.




 **Declaration read at the Assembly of the Social Movements**
(read by Pietro, surrounded by a dozen Babelistas)

"This is a message in the name of the Babels coordinators for the 2008 ESF.

We would like to thank the people of Malmö and the volunteers of the Forum
for all their efforts.

But we would also like to denounce the lies circulating about Babels.

This has not been a Social Forum. It has been a Forum where arguments about
money were more important than people. The Nordic Organising Committee had
agreed a budget for interpretation and all they have been saying is that we
cost money.

The supplement to the ESF program claims that the ESF needs to charge money
because "it is expensive to hire interpreters". That is a lie. We have NOT
been hired, each one of us is an unpaid volunteer.

It is important to know that we are all VOLUNTEER interpreters and
activists, and that we have NEVER charged any money for our work. Why is the
NOC lying to you?

Because the decisions of the finance group of the NOC to save one cent here,
one cent there, have tragically backfired.

There are many examples of the incompetence of the Organising Committee. We
shall give you but one example: the NOC did not allow us to buy cheaper
tickets in April, when tickets were cheap. We had to wait for months to be
given the go-ahead, because the finance group of the NOC made it clear that
they did not trust Babels. We could not even be trusted to buy water bottles
or notepads. Instead, the NOC took decisions without consultation to save
money while bigger issues were ignored.

The interpreters needed decent accommodation, bus tickets, we needed a phone
to be able to call to arrange accommodation, we needed basic things like
mattresses, bedsheets and covers. But we never got any of this on time.

Despite having agreed on a budget for Babels, Francisco Contreras and Anders
Palmqvist were the only people in the ESF allowed to use the Forum's credit
card. Because they did not trust us with anything, we never got anything on
time: decent accommodation, bus cards for interpreters staying far away,
water, mattresses, bedsheets, covers, toilet paper, earphones and many more
necessary material to live and work in decent conditions.

Francisco Contreras made promises to us EVERY SINGLE day, and every single
day he broke his promises. Our biggest mistake was to trust him and believe
him, and to trust the members of the Board of the NOC to do what was
necessary to make the forum work.

If we had known that they were lying to us, and that they would break
promise after promise, we would not have allowed ANY of our volunteer
interpreters to come to Malmö to be treated like they were. We should have
cancelled interpretation long ago.

Because of this miserly attitude, there were NO sound technicians whatsoever
in order to make the interpretation equipment work properly. The finance
group thought it was too expensive to pay for an experienced technician from
Greece to come to Malmö to teach others how to use the equipment. The forum
saved a plane ticket from Greece, but the result is an immense waste of
money and resources.

Now we have been promised that the travel costs of the Babels volunteer
interpreters would be reimbursed, including the charge for bank transfers.
It is very difficult to believe in these promises. This breach of trust is
detrimental not only to the Forum, it is also detrimental to the trust that
Babels volunteers have put in Babels itself.

Instead of dreaming about change and on how to make another world possible,
we have been cursing the day we trusted members of the NOC.

Babels volunteers have worked and slept in the most terrible conditions
during this Forum. Now some are saying that we are too expensive, when we
have been shamelessly exploited, and treated like slaves.

We have proved in others forums that we can do our job well when we are
allowed to do so. Babels hopes the Istanbul ESF will trust Babels volunteers
to make Another World Possible."
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