Women in Translation
Did you know that the month of August is Women in Translation Month? We didn’t know that until just recently - and it came at the perfect time to plan your reading list for August.
Why is it so important to celebrate Women in Translation? Because VOICES MATTER. Women have been silenced since the beginning of time. Women and their stories are still silenced. Here at SheHopes we believe sharing women’s stories is EVERYTHING. Sharing stories is how we learn, it’s how we relate, and it’s how we know that we are not alone.
Here at SheHopes we are lucky to work with amazing women around the world to help translate stories for our sisters in India, Kenya, and Rwanda.
Joy is our friend and partner who translates our resources and self-defense classes into Tamil. She is also the reason that SheHopes exists! It was when she was telling stories of the issues women and girls in her hometown that the first urgings to do SOMETHING started and SheHopes was born.
Our friend Amina is from Rwanda and is a survivor of the Genocide, but she also spent many years living in Kenya where we met her! She lives here in the USA how, but is our Swahili translator, our partner, and has a big heart for helping women and girls back home!
Eva is our newest translator. She translated on our last trip to Rwanda - all of the self-defense classes, church service, and home visits - and now she is starting to translate our resources that we are continuing to create for our sisters in Rwanda.
SheHopes wouldn’t exist without these three amazing women who interpret the stories of women into English for us, but also translate our work into the words that give HOPE to our sisters around the world! All three of them have rolled around on the ground with me while teaching self-defense, taught shy girls how to yell and hit bad guys, and have helped to tell hundreds of stories. We will be forever thankful for their work of spreading HOPE!
Something else that is important to us is reading and learning from female authors who wrote books in translation. Stories are important, and we want to celebrate them in August!
These are some of our favorites:
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank
Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
Because we are all about learning, we are excited to discover more Women in Translation books in August as well! Here are a few I’m eyeing and thinking about diving into:
Suite Française, by Irène Nèmirovsky
The Second Sex, by Simone DeBeauvoir
The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata
The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova, by Anna Akhmatova
The Queue, by Basma Abdel Aziz
To find more translated treasures for yourself, check out this awesome list from Goodreads! Do you have any favorite Women in Translation books? Do you see any that you’ll be reading this month? Tell us below how you will be celebrating women’s stories and voices this month!
Here’s to women, to voices, and to HOPE!
~ G