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The Conversation

Factual: Life Stories

Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

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The Conversation: Interpreters

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Mariam Massarat (L) and Teodora Manea Hauskeller (R)

15/05/2017 GMT

Interpreters

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Interpreters

Two female interpreters on the challenges of being someone else's voice.

What does it feel like to be the voice of a patient or an asylum seeker? Two female interpreters talk about the responsibility and the rewards of their profession.

Female interpreters discuss being voices for vulnerable people. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women, one who interprets for medical patients, and one who helps refugees apply for asylum. They talk about the pressures and the joys of what they say is an under-valued job.

Teodora Manea Hauskeller is a Romanian who works as a medical interpreter in the UK, easing understanding between doctors and patients who don't speak English. She is present in the room when potentially scary diagnoses are being given, and says the responsibility and emotion of this kind of work can be quite tough, but it can also be very rewarding.  

Mariam Massarat is an Iranian-American interpreter, who specialises in translating for Farsi-speaking asylum seekers and refugees in the US. She gets to know her clients and puts them at their ease before they go into the asylum interview, and then she acts as their voice for up to six hours. If the interview is successful, and they are granted asylum, she loves to hear what they go on to do in their new lives. 

Image: Mariam Massarat (L) and Teodora Manea Hauskeller (R)

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