OTP volunteers report from TEDActive 2015

Open Translation Project volunteers talk about their experience at TEDActive 2015.

Film by Kier Atherton. Produced by Kristin Windbigler. Music by Wartime Blues.

To learn more about TED's Open Translation Project, go to TED.com/translate

Kristin Windbigler: Hi! Welcome.

[20,000 translators,
70,000 translations, 107+ languages]

What brought me to TED,
is the translation project.

So when I meet with, you know,
those different translators,

the challenges and the problems
which I face are the same

as they face and experience.

Hence, I think the collaborative ideas
which we have discussed --

I think this is the most
valuable thing for me.

In the small translators' workshop we had,

we as translators shared
a lot of experience with each other,

we learned from each others' experiences,
we learned the problems,

we brainstormed solutions
for the challenges together.

I really loved that experience.

And after I was invited to TEDActive,
it basically changed everything,

because it was the first time
I left my country, Brazil.

So, I'm enjoying every talk,
I'm absorbing every idea,

I'm loving meeting people,
networking, sharing ideas.

I think I would need some different
words to describe this event.

I'm living the dream, you know?
It's an amazing thing, and I was --

I was looking for free time,
but, you know,

I should sit now, I should think
about this, because this is so important.

And it's always good to be
with the TED community,

to share our experiences
and share our thoughts and discuss.

There are ideas which you can't
even imagine existed, so --

This atmosphere is incredible, I love it.

Outside of the TED
community, I'm a doctor,

and I work at Calicut Medical College
as a general physician.

I really wanted to share
these awesome videos

with the youth, and people living
in rural areas, who do not speak English.

That part of the community is one
which needs a change in their life.

So I'm hoping with these subtitled talks,

I will be, or TED will be, and we will be
touching that part of the community,

which needs a real change.

And I think that would be
the real contribution,

which I am hoping for.

I really wanted people sitting back there
in Kerala, my province, my state,

to be able to understand
the stuff in their own language,

so that they can grasp the power,
they can grasp the ideas,

and they can create a better world
by, you know, just sharing ideas,

and executing them in their own locality.

The impact; you come,
you meet all these fantastic people.

They're all brilliant people,

they come from all countries,
they speak all languages,

and you know, the environment
which that has created,

I think it's an enabling environment.

It came at a moment when I really
needed something to believe in,

I really needed something
that I wanted to do

just because I wanted to do it.

TED is not just about translating,
it's not just about the talks.

It's about the people.
It's about the ideas we share.

Romane Ferreira: There was ice skating,
which, I was not very sure I would go,

but when I was there it was so fun,
and I'm really glad I decided to go.

(Music)

(Music ends)