REPORT | Kosovo 2006

Mr. Selman Hoti and Ms Versa Selmani

Attending the EFSLI AGM and conference was a great occasion for us both and the first opportunity to ever present on the situation of sign language interpreters and the training program for sign language interpreters. Presenting about the Kosovo Project and the situation for interpreters in Kosovo at the EFSLI AGM was very exciting for us and we were honored to be invited to present. It was interesting to note that many of the participants at the AGM and Conference did not even know where Kosovo was situated geographically on the European map. This may have something to do with the current situation of Kosovo not being recognized as a State, but we hope in the near future it will be. Regardless, it was a great opportunity to share this much information about Kosovo.

Presenting at the EFSLI conference about ‘Challenges Facing Team Interpreters in a Developing Country’ was a new experience for us both and so was sharing the information to the participants. This topic is new for all interpreters in Kosovo. We have tried to give our experiences and ways of ensuring that team interpreting and a supportive environment does take place with the students here in Kosovo.

As a trainer (Selman) and student (Versa) we learnt a lot about ‘Innovative Team Interpreting’. We will bring all the information back to our colleagues in Kosovo. We have taken footage of various presentations and our presentation as well, on top of the many photos to share with interpreters and the Deaf Steering Committee members here in Kosovo. Also hearing the different perspectives about team interpreting was very interesting for us.

One very new and interesting topic was team interpreting with Deaf interpreters. As we do not have Deaf interpreters in Kosovo now but we are now more aware about the possibility of utilizing Deaf interpreters. We hope in the future we will have Deaf interpreters working in Kosovo.

Topics presented at the conference were interesting and from our point of view we can say that all the topics during the conference can be used for our interpreter training in Kosovo. As we also mentioned in our presentation at the conference, the concept of ‘Team Interpreting’ is new here in Kosovo and we really were interested to get as much information as possible on this idea.
Also, it was interesting to share our experiences with others from abroad and networking with interpreters and interpreter associations around Europe and internationally. We hope to establish Kosovar Association of the Sign Language Interpreters (KASLI) in the beginning of next year in 2007. It was a great opportunity to meet different interpreter associations to get new ideas from each and to also share our dream of the establishment of our association in the near future. Connections with different associations will help us to develop and share information about the work of professional associations around Europe and internationally.

We need to mention that without the SAF from EFSLI our participation in this conference would not have been possible and I would like to thank all interpreters who supported us with this fund. We are aware that without SAF funds we would never have been able to present at the conference, share our experiences and to learn from you all. We feel that after our presentation we have made our work and also Kosovar interpreters visible to interpreters all around Europe. Again we would like to thank EFSLI SAF funds and Danny Stubbs & Robert Skinner for their part in ‘Give up a Days Pay’ (a part of this) for Versa to attend the 2006 EFSLI AGM and conference in Prague. We are truly delighted and thank you again.

We would encourage interpreters around the world to ‘Give Up a Days Pay’ for interpreters in other developing countries to have an opportunity to attend and present at future EFSLI events. This will be a small thing for developed countries but this can make huge strides for countries that without this help will remain invisible. This moral and material support will help the profession of sign language interpreting around the world.

If you wish to contact us here are our email contacts:

• selmanhoti@hotmail.com
• s_versa@hotmail.com

Thank you and best wishes to EFSLI, members and interested readers!