Tha Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition (AIRC) needs several volunteers for the upcoming statewide convention for immigration reform on Saturday, Feb. 20, 1-5 p.m., at the Travis County Expo Center.  Please email if you are interested in volunteering for the following positions:

• experienced simultaneous interpreters
• welcome table staffers (to help with sign-in, hand out programs, and sign out translation headsets)
• peacekeepers (to ensure the safety of conference participants)

The American Translators Association has notified members that in the wake of the Haiti earthquake Translators Without Borders, which works for Doctors Without Borders/Medecins sans frontieres and Medecins du monde, currently has urgent needs for professional-level French-to-English and English-to-French volunteer translators and interpreters. Those working to and from Haitian Kreyol would also be especially valuable. Contact TWB Coordinator Yuliana Hernandez-Anfray for details.

AATIA is seeking active members to run for all positions on its 2010 Board of Directors ("associate" members are not eligible). Nominees must be in good standing (dues current as of July 1, 2009). Elections take place in October and are announced in November. The term is for one full year, from January 1 through December 31, 2010.

The AATIA Board of Directors consists of six members:

• President
• Secretary
• Communications
• Finance
• Membership
• Professional Development

If you are interested in running for office, or would like to nominate someone else, please contact a Nominating Committee member by August 28, 2009: AATIA Nominating Committee: Marian Schwartz, Chair, 512/442-5100, schwartzm@sbcglobal.net Laura Vlasman, 512/891-9207, lvlasman@earthlink.net, Anna Hovenden, 512/590-3822 ahovenden@yahoo.com

The excellence of AATIA is a result of strong and continuing member participation, particularly by its many excellent Board members over the years. As AATIA leaders, Board members not only make a contribution to their profession but gain knowledge and experience in the fields of translation and interpretation and are given countless opportunities to network and develop lasting relationships with other professionals.

A call for assistance has been sent out by the Translation and Interpretation Initiative for Iranian Protesters (TIIP):

The wiki is now up that we will use to translate the communications coming out of Iran. For the present time, the only text on the wiki is a page from a samizdat newsletter being distributed among the Iranian protesters called Khyiban (Street). If you would like to help to translate immediately, please go to http://translate4iran.wikispaces.com/Khyaban+4.2 Please recall that you don’t have to be a Farsi translator or even a Farsi bilingual to help!  We desperately need help from English writers, editors, proofreaders, publication relations professionals, techies, geeks, and administrative personnel.

To learn more, click here.

The American Red Cross needs bilingual volunteers (Spanish and English mainly) in Austin for the next couple of days to assist evacuees from Hurricane Ike until they can return to their homes on the Texas Gulf Coast.

On your mark! Get set…AATIA is gearing up for the September election of the 2009 Board of Directors. The six positions include: President, Director of Communications, Director of Finance, Director of Membership, Director of Professional Development, and Secretary.

Carlota Grimes will chair the Nominating Committee, which also includes Marco Hansen and Carolina Modesto. If you are interested in volunteering to serve on the Board next year or would like to nominate someone else, please contact a member of the  Nominating Committee by August 2, 2008.

The International Hospitality Council of Austin is arranging one-week home stays for English as a Second Language teachers from Mexico who will be participating in a training program at UT. Each ESL teacher will have a one-week home stay with an Austin family. The family may host one or more teachers for a week and/or may host a different teacher(s) all three weeks. The family will receive a stipend of $200 for each teacher hosted to help cover the expenses.

Dates of Home Stay Program
Week 1: July 12 to 18
Week 2: July 19 to 25
Week 3: July 26 to Aug. 1

Objectives of ESL Services Home Stay Program:

• to give each teacher a chance to meet an American and learn more about American culture
• to give each teacher a chance to practice speaking and listening to English
• to give each host family the chance to make a friend from another culture and to learn more about that culture

We are looking for families who are interested in meeting people from other countries and have time to spend with them in the evenings and on the weekend. We have a very loose definition of "family." We are looking for families of all shapes and sizes. Single people, couples, families with small children, families with older children are all most welcome.

Your responsibilities as host:

• pick up your teacher at the International Office at UT at 6 p.m. on the Saturday of your week and keep him/her until the following Friday morning.
• arrange transportation for your teacher to and from the International Office at UT on week days so that he or/she may attend classes, which run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• provide all weekend meals and weekday dinner and breakfast (If you prefer, you may return the teacher to the International Office at UT early so that he or she can have breakfast at the Castilian Dorm).
• spend time with your teacher on the weekend and evenings either doing your normal family activities or taking him/her somewhere
• speak English with your teacher

Benefits to you:

• You will make a new friend
• You will help an English teacher to learn more
• You might get out and do something interesting in Austin that you’ve been meaning to do
• You will be helping to foster intercultural awareness

If you have any questions, please contact Margie Kidd at 512-858-4443 (home) or 512-576-2018 (cell)

Citing an increased work load in his freelance translation business, Al Favela has announced that he is stepping down from his position as AATIA Director of Finance, effective immediately. The Board is grateful to Al for his years of service to the Association in this capacity.

Members interested in volunteering for the role of Director of Finance are asked to contact Secretary Julie Nordskog.