Lost in translation: the FATIMA project

Blog by: Allison, Umran, Yiqiong, Zohreen and Josephine

Wednesday night, welcome to Wonder Foundation

 

Today was the first day of our placement at Wonder Foundation! The charity aims at giving power to vulnerable women all around the world and making sure their voices are heard.

 

We had the chance to meet Olivia and Camille, who introduced us to the FATIMA project. The initiative allows 200 migrant women across 4 countries to have access to language classes. They benefit from a tailored, 1-to-1 mentoring that helps them tackle the issues of everyday life in a foreign country. The goal is to include them in the local community and make them feel at home in their new country.

 

To understand the distress that migrants can feel in the UK, we had to find a restaurant in Chinatown using only Chinese characters. The task was definitely easier for the Chinese speaker of our group, but she was forbidden from giving us any help! It did show us why it is so crucial for migrant women in London to master English. Confusion and exclusion are quick to come when words around do not make sense.

 

Carmina, a former mentee now mentor, then came to tell us about her experience. She mentioned how building strong links with migrant women was essential for them to progress, and that durable social change takes time. A valuable lesson in terms of active citizenship!