Elena Martín: Volunteer

Legal translation from English and German into Spanish is the field in which Elena Martín López is specialised. The Spanish volunteer translator and proof-reader first started working with The Rosetta Foundation in 2009. She found out about TRF through a mailing list at her university.

In the last 12 months Elena has been involved in 3 large projects as a volunteer translator. Not all her collaborations were related to her specialisation. Elena admits that “other projects fell into different fields which I find very interesting, as I have learnt a lot”.

Until now, she has translated for three different NGOs: the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the International Catholic Conference of Guiding (ICCG) and Special Olympics. For WAGGGS, which is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women in the world, Elena worked on a Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report called “Together we can change our world”. For Special Olympics, she translated a brief sports strategy document.

Elena’s biggest project so far has been a translation for ICCG. She delivered a 5,000-word document on the role of women in the Catholic Church, based on an international meeting about women in society and the educational implications entailed by current trends.

In total Elena has translated over 10,000 words as a TRF volunteer, an amount that makes her proud of her hard work and that of the organisations. “With translation we help to spread non-profit organisations’ messages and work around the world”, says Elena, “Through my translations many people in different countries might find out about these NGOs and collaborate with them if they want to.”

Cati Sagrera