“And what if I want to calm down an upset child, so I would want to say something like everything is okay or it’s okay”
Lighthouse Relief provides a “Child Friendly Space” through psychosocial support in a healthy learning environment to refugee children in Greece. While play activities are integral to children’s physical health and cognitive development, the Covid19 pandemic unveiled a bigger challenge in the camp. To deal with it, Lighthouse decided to prepare Covid guidelines for the camp residents. Joe, a Lighthouse Relief aid worker, chose Tarjimly for translation of the guidelines to Dari for the Afghani refugee children. The posters contained some basic yet essential instructions required at the time: “Wash your hands, do not touch your face”. The translator also assisted Joe with some Dari vocabulary to help him improve communication with the children. Joe asked for some culturally appropriate phrases to use when trying to calm an upset child, saying, "and what if I want to calm down an upset child, so I would want to say something like everything is okay or it’s okay." While the aid workers are the true heroes providing services on the ground, Tarjimly is happy to serve as a crucial link making sure that refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers are heard and understood, and that those who serve them are able to put them at the center of conversations and decision-making.
