10 November 2008
by Luu Thi Ngoc Anh, UNV
From June to September 2008, four Vietnamese online volunteers from different backgrounds, both in and outside of Viet Nam contributed to a stunning UNV Viet Nam website which is accessible to both Vietnamese and English readers.
UNV Viet Nam is fortunate and grateful to have inherited an informative and well-structured UNV Viet Nam website by previous website volunteers. Still, there was a need for an upgraded website, and to have the Vietnamese version constantly updated.
Very shortly after the ‘wanted: online volunteer ’ announcement was posted in Viet Nam with the aim of mobilizing volunteer resource, a team of one web designer and three translators was formed. Interestingly, two of the Vietnamese members were living in other countries.
The redesigned and upgraded website with additional features was launched in early October 2008. Besides the enhanced reading tool for people with poor vision, the Vietnamese version is updated and accessible for local communities and volunteers who cannot communicate in English. The website template with attractive graphics and media resources also reflects the diverse UNV Viet Nam activities.
The “silent volunteers” working in the wings
All the members of the team worked alone but had been comprehensively briefed on the desired results and time frames in the early stages of the project. In the end, I hardly had to mention deadlines for each step or for each article to be translated. Another reason for this “no deadline” policy was because our volunteers often had other commitments, such as travel with their own work or study. Assigning tasks to somebody without deadlines is a strategy with the risk of backfire, but I was more than lucky to have a team who were very supportive and willing to finish their work as soon as they could. They all knew we had to launch the website on time and in fact, each member had set their own deadlines based on the collective requirements of the team. One of the most common sentences the volunteer translators often wrote when sending back the translated articles to me was: “Hope I didn’t slow down the progress of the whole team.” And of course, they didn’t.
There was also frequent communication on the website’s progress for all the volunteers so that everyone understood their role in the big picture. Clarification of technical terms or concepts was provided on email, which allowed the translation team to deliver accurate translations. The same was true for the web designers as most of the enquiries, comments and recommendations were transferred through emails. None of us had a chance to meet each other before starting the work, the only contact after that was online via Skype chats with volunteers abroad, and phone calls with two members in Viet Nam to discuss and develop more personal relationships.
For the design work, it was a little bit more tricky, as describing changes or additions to layout was sometimes not easy even when done face to face. Fortunately, we made it and it appears that, in the process, we all improved our skills in understanding and expressing ideas to each other.
We were also lucky to receive so much support from others, particularly Vern Weitzel – an ex-UNV volunteer who advised us on technical issues, as well as providing plenty of useful recommendations for the design work.
Recently, I discovered that members in my group are not idle, but very busy, young, and talented people. They have done a lot of work for the website and in fact they have very interesting backgrounds and a variety of talents that I never knew they had.
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