Being a cultural broker
when my family and i
relocated to the united states via the
refugee resettlement
program i imagined resuming my career
in banking finance and information
technology
to my surprise my ability to communicate
in kiswahili
seemed a more important skill than those
that i had acquired in kenya
in my previous career
i was disappointed since i had imagined
that i would launch
right back into the career that i loved
i reluctantly agreed to interpret for
the limited english proficient
population within my community without
giving it much thought
first at the local resettlement agency
where i worked at the front desk and
later
in other arenas as they opened up
pretty soon i was recruited to interpret
for the limited english proficient
patients in medical settings
and other settings as well
the pivotal moment occurred
when i repeated what the doctor asked
the patient
how do you eat an elephant
and instead of the patient nodding in
agreement to this common
phrase he became indignant
and asked why the doctor was asking
about eating elephants
did we not know that only the very poor
in his community
ate elephants and all of a sudden the
conversation that was supposed
to be one of reassurance that his
issues would be taken care of one at a
time
turned into one that left the patient
feeling insulted
and belittled by the implication that he
was
poor and that was the moment it dawned
on me
that language interpretation was more
than just about the exchange of
words and that it must include the
culture behind the language
the meaning and the context since
culture
determines how we use our language
i reflected on my own integration into a
new culture
i spoke english which made it easier to
transition into life
in the united states easier than for
those who didn’t
and this also made me the perfect
control group for my theory
that we need cultural interpreters not
just
language interpreters
at the risk of dating myself i had been
exposed to sitcoms
like fresh prince of bel air and the
jeffersons and movies like eddie
murphy’s
coming to america before coming to the
united states
but nothing can really prepare you for
life
in a new culture i found myself
relying heavily on the support of the
daycare
teachers to help me figure out what my
daughter was talking about
when she would bring home the american
slang like
boogers and cooties
pig in a blanket and mac and cheese
which she referred to as cronima cheese
having grown up in a country that used
metric
units of measurements i had to learn the
imperial units
i had to figure out exactly how much
milk
is in a gallon and how much
does a pound of beef really weigh
and what does 70 degrees fahrenheit
really feel like and
in as much as i was a an english speaker
i began to understand how
challenging it must be and i was filled
with a new sense of empathy for those
attempting
to navigate life in this unfamiliar
culture
without the language skills
social norms highlighted the cultural
differences
as a student at boise state university
i observed how college students refer to
the age of their parents
making it sound like their parents were
over the hill and far away and
completely
irrelevant in my
country of origin our elders are revered
and respected another contrast
involved marriage americans expressed
disbelief
that my grandfather had three wives
simultaneously
i expressed wonder at the western
practice
of serial monogamy one spouse
after another after another
another
my own immersion into the american
culture helped me
learn to make the cultural equivalences
that i needed in the work that i did
i found myself standing in the gap
decoding one culture and the language
into the other culture and its
language when interpreting
in health related services i began to
broker the cultures
by explaining the differences in medical
approaches
my clients who are culturally accustomed
to lifestyle modifications
as a means to manage their diseases so
when the medical providers prescribed
medication
they would appear non-compliant when
they did not take their medications as
prescribed
filling in these cultural gaps helped
build a bridge between the patient
and the provider a training session
on working within the courtroom taught
me a priceless
lesson on understanding the culture that
you’re working in
so that when the judge says something
like the defendant is one french fry
short of a happy meal
then as an interpreter i’m able to
communicate to my client the humorous
message that has just been conveyed
without stopping and asking your honor
what is a happy meal
and what difference does one french fry
make in this legal case
as our community and world continues to
opens its doors
to refugees and other immigrants i am
honored to continue
help build this bridges that we can walk
across
as we get to know each other i recently
accompanied a congolese woman who has
limited
english proficiency to a private
citizen’s home
for dinner she had been invited to share
her story
about what led to her fleeing her
country and landing
here knowing that the congolese do not
eat pork
i whisper to my client that there is a
possibility that dinner
could have pork and ask her how she
would like me
to handle that on the other side i spoke
to the host
and told him that there’s a possibility
that his choice of meat
may be a cultural challenge for his
guests
i was delighted to help them navigate
this hurdle
many of us have become accustomed to
making accommodations
for our friends and family who may have
food allergies
and we can extend the same awareness for
cultural reasons
i have a professional role interpreting
language
and culture but i put it to you that we
are all
cultural brokers interpreting on behalf
of those
in our cultures and subcultures
we do this in our families as parents we
might encourage our children to send a
thank you note
to the grandparents while urging the
grandparents
to accept text messages as a modern way
of expressing gratitude we do this when
we introduce our older children
to a new sibling and help them
bond and form that new relationship
we do this in our workplaces officially
when we onboard
new employees to benefits programs and
work responsibilities
and unofficially when we make
suggestions on how
a new colleague might approach the boss
or another colleague
with a proposal we do this
in our faith sports and academic
communities
when we teach religious customs and
holiday traditions when we teach
sporting rituals and what sportsmanship
looks like
and academic protocols as well
you do most of this cultural brokering
without even
thinking about it but
when you take it to yourself consciously
and purposefully thinking of yourself as
i do
as a cultural broker how different our
communities and our world
might look as we engage and allow
ourselves to learn about the other
we will build richer more meaningful
connections
and communities all because we choose to
be
cultural brokers when i started out
i was the reluctant interpreter
i didn’t value my ability to speak three
languages as highly as i should have
i’m glad that i eventually did i’ve had
the privilege
of serving many people in times of need
you may not think that
you have valuable skills or knowledge
either
but i assure you you do
somebody around you needs you to be
their interpreter
in order to thrive in their new culture
and subculture will you step up to the
plate
and serve them
thank you
[Applause]