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]