Valdocco and EAO 24 January 2022 -- During the last Valdocco session (16 January) the Rector Major appreciated in public the wonderful work of the EAO translators. As the English translator at Valdocco (Fr Mike Pace) was saying before the final Eucharist, there is a tremendous amount of work going on behind the screen in order to connect everyone and broadcast the 40th Salesian Family Spirituality Days online!
What is happening behind the screen?
First of all the long term preparation done by the EAO IT team assembled since the first such event in January 2021: a group of Young Don Bosco Past Pupils (GEX) in Manila (FIN province) and Br Naokatsu Takeshita in Tokyo (GIA province). Under the coordination and animation of Br Dominic Nam, World Delegate for the DB Past Pupils and Salesian Cooperators in Rome (RMG - SF sector) and EAO Coordinator for Salesian Family in Dili (Fr Mario da Costa). Thanks to their highly professional preparation it was possible this time to stream the 6 sessions live (total of 12 hours) in 8 languages on the SF-EAO Channels.
Who were the translators this year?
Indeed to face this huge amount of translating work this year, each EAO language was translated simultaneously by two individuals from each province: Mongolian (one Salesian Cooperator and one Lay mission partner), Thai (two SDB), Tetum (one SDB and one FMA), Vietnamese (two SDB), Japanese (one Salesian cooperator and one Lay mission partner), Korean (two SDB - one online and other offline) and Indonesian (one SDB and one Salesian Cooperator)
What is the experience of the 14 EAO translators?
* Technically speaking, the connections went quite well, and the Youtube channels too. Thanks to the efforts of the various technicians. I think we are moving forward.
* My experience as one of the translators: it’s quite challenging to get ready for any speaker during the SFSD 2022. I get to know about some of the members of the Salesian Family especially in our region! The Gardamor TV broadcast for all Timor Leste (nation-wide).
* I feel that Italian is very fast and so also English translation was rather fast at the World level. I liked the EAO level procedures. Those three MC (moderators) from the Philippines were so energetic and easy to understand and not difficult to translate.
* After these SF spirituality days I made a resolution for myself for this year: I need to translate 'The Salesian Dictionary' into our language this year, so it will be useful for the new generations of translators, like our 'first time' online translator this year.
* Of course, the main request of all translators is to receive, if possible, the texts of the videos some 3-4 weeks ahead of the SF spirituality days. Many of them spent at least one full week to prepare for the 4 day online event.
Overall the voice of the translators is enthusiastic and very positive: "I feel everyone is becoming more used to organizing online events of the Salesian Family, and there is more sense of team work over the large physical distances in the world and between the provinces in our EAO region".
Thanks to the technicians and translators we have a lot of charismatic wealth, Salesian Family group presentations, experience sharing online in 8 languages. Anybody can watch or download the spiritual inspiration for this 'Salesian Year' 2022 from the SF-EAO YouTube channels in English, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Tetum, Thai and Vietnamese.
