By Daniela Pérez ‘17, ‘18
Hi everyone! My name is Daniela Pérez. I went to Camp in 2017 and 2018. Currently, I am an LAJFellow working on a linguistic inclusivity project. In 2017, I was given one of the most impacting opportunities of my life, attending CRS. For a girl from a small country in Latin America these types of opportunities are not common. I remember coming home to tell my parents about camp and finding it hard to get all of my thoughts together and explain what camp was in Spanish. I remember typing LAJF on the google search bar and translating word for word most of the website for them to understand and give me permission to apply. They had a lot of patience, but I could see that it was hard for them to understand. A couple of months after applying, I got an email saying I had been selected, by that time my parents already understood Camp and were all in for it. However, when the time came to buy travel and health insurance, file an international travel permission, fill in medical forms, and many other formalities, it was clear how coming from a country with a low percentage of English-speaking people was affecting these procedures. I can't complain, my family was so supportive and we translated anything that needed to be translated to complete the process. By the time I was invited for a second year everything was a lot smoother. Still, I always imagined what it was like for people interested in Camp that maybe didn't have the same possibilities as me to translate everything or guardians that were as patient as mine. That's why this project was always in the back of my mind.
How it started and how is it going?
When I learned about the LAJFellowship program I realized this could be the perfect way to make that project come to life. As I am writing this, we are currently half-way through the project. The project is divided into two parts: research and execution. The research element is now coming to a close.
Hearing from the Community
During the research phase, I gathered feedback from our community to pinpoint what language-related problems are most common. For this, I sent a form to all alumni associations asking about the topic. Their responses confirmed some of the assumptions we had been making about the language inaccessibility of our programs. For example, not being able to reach indigenous communities or minorities because parents and guardians don't speak English. Campers from the last five years were also invited to share their experiences and concerns with regard to linguistic accessibility. In a series of one-to-ones with them, they mentioned how having a pamphlet in their mother language that explained what Camp was and how to apply would have eased the process.
Analyzing Information & Taking Action
Based on the information that I have gathered, I am working with the LAJF program team to make a list of the resources that need to be translated and of the languages that should be prioritized. We are not only taking into account widely spoken global languages like Spanish and Chinese but are paying particular attention to minority languages in the communities in which we already have a presence, like Somali and Hmong in Minnesota.
Some of these resources will be recycled from what LAJF or alumni associations already have, some resources will be created from scratch. The final goal is to make sure CRS is more accessible for people who come from non-English speaking backgrounds. This goal will be made a reality in two main ways.
First, alumni associations will have resources like flyers to give out to people in their community that might not speak English or just might prefer to get information in their mother language, this includes, of course, providing resources in various languages to alumni associations in regions where English is the main language
Second, we will make some information on the website, some key forms, and resources available in more than one language
Next Steps
Once languages and resources are identified, I will be reaching out to the CRS community to find volunteer translators that would like to get involved in the project. We will make sure that languages identified as important to translate for which we don’t have volunteers get translated too. We understand that when trying to increase accessibility it is not enough to look around the room.
Being linguistically inclusive is a long process, but I hope that this project is a first and well-founded step. By now, I have received positive feedback that has helped me understand the language-based issues our communities might be facing and how to solve them. It is important to know that even though speaking fluent English is a requirement to be a camper, schools and guardians might not be as comfortable or good at this. As a community, we might be losing potential applicants that shy away because of the language barrier or making the application process harder than it should be for applicants from non-English speaking backgrounds. Camp is all about inclusivity; so, recognizing the struggles of others is a vital part of our mission. I now know that different communities face different challenges when it comes to inclusivity and I would be grateful if people wanted to share those with me to further feed into this project, please feel free to email me at dperez@lajf.org
If you have any questions, feedback, or comment, please feel free to email me at dperez@lafg.org
If you want to be a volunteer and help translate and create resources for this project, please sign up here, or keep an eye out for the email that will be sent in the following days!