I was recently talking to a client at The Family Haven who had been going through some relationship difficulties and was struggling to articulate clearly what was going on. This got me thinking about how language barriers can have a massive effect on the support someone in need receives.
Imagine not having received an education in your own country, ending up in a country where you knew no one, where you couldn’t understand the spoken language, imagine, needing help, what would you do?
We have had clients at The Family Haven who have recently come into the country, who don’t speak English, who have needed assistance with applying for schools etc. This in itself seems like an easy problem to solve, surely government forms come in different languages or they can use Google translate right? Well yes, in some cases there are direct translations for some of the common forms.
But what happens when the client speaks a language which isn’t supported by Google? This is when things become a little harder for the client and for the staff.
Imagine now if you wanted to report an incident of domestic violence or rape. In these situations, the language barrier can become a real issue. Many victims of domestic violence often feel isolated and unable to tell family or friends. It takes a huge amount of courage to then disclose such personal information to a person they trust let alone a person in authority such as the police without having the added issue of not being able to communicate.
Maybe you feel you might not get support from your community but are not aware of the justice system in this country, the language barrier then increases those feelings of isolation and fear.
Luckily, in this country individuals and organisations want to help. You only have to look at how much money is donated to charity events such as @Children in Need when money is so tight to see how as a nation we step forward when needed.
At The Family Haven we are fortunate to often have other clients who could translate for us. We also have close links with organisations such as Gloucestershire Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) and The Law Centre who could help if needed.
This is where I feel The Family Haven offers such a unique service to Gloucester. We are a small charity, but we try to meet our client’s individual needs. We care about our clients, we spend a lot of time just listening to our clients and offering advice when they ask for it. Yes, there is often a language barrier, yes, sometimes we struggle to find the help our clients need straight away, but, we keep trying.
We treat them as part of our family and as such we try to be there for them. And as one of our clients said recently ‘The Family Haven, you are heaven here for my family’ so, we must be doing something right mustn’t we?