Earlier this year, I had the privilege of working on a deeply meaningful project: translating and transcreating a documentary about disabled refugees living in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. The film explores the lived experiences of individuals who have lost limbs due to war and displacement, and follows their journeys of adaptation, healing, and resilience often with the help of prosthetic limbs and local rehabilitation efforts.
My task was not just to translate the content from Arabic to English, but to transcreate it, in other words, to shape the language and emotional tone so it would resonate with an English-speaking audience without losing the authenticity of the original voices. It required more than linguistic precision; it required empathy, cultural fluency, and a commitment to preserving the integrity of each personal story.
What stood out to me was how closely this work aligns with another area of my professional life: designing and developing online educational content. At first glance, translation and course development might seem worlds apart, but at their core, both disciplines are about access. Access to knowledge. Access to stories. Access to understanding across barriers of language, geography, or ability.
In both contexts, I ask similar questions:
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Who is the audience?
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What is essential for them to grasp?
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How can I ensure clarity, empathy, and engagement?
Whether I'm localizing educational content for global learners or helping convey the lived realities of displaced individuals, I draw on the same skill set: cultural sensitivity, audience awareness, and the ability to distill complex human experiences into forms that educate, connect, and move people.
This documentary project reaffirmed something I’ve come to believe strongly: language is not just about words—it’s about bridging worlds. And whether that bridge leads to learning or to understanding, the work is, at its heart, about connection.
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