Translate health information into Urdu
and get it distributed in Pakistan

It really is amazing how much literature Americans can easily access about health. Whether it's on the internet or the free information found in hospital waiting rooms or what's given to you by your doctor if you've developed an illness, the amount of written information about health is virtually endless.

Contrast this with Pakistan, where medicine is really a specialized field for doctors and nurses and the average person has little access to basic material about health.

You can reverse this trend by translating this easily accessible information about health into Urdu and distributing it in Pakistan.

Start off by selecting which material you feel would be most useful. For instance, heart disease and diabetes are very common conditions in Pakistan. Look for pamphlets and materials about these illnesses that include a description of the disease and what patients should do to maintain their health if they have these sicknesses. Also look for general health information like about pregnancy, basic nutrition, weight management, etc.

Once you've got the material, contact the publishers and writers of the pamphlets and explain what you want to do if the information is not copyright-free. Ask them permission to translate and distribute their work. You will probably have no problem getting them to give you the go ahead. Ask if there are already translations in Urdu of these materials (it never hurts to check) and also see if anything needs to be adjusted in the information to cater to the health needs of Pakistanis.

You may want to check with a couple of doctors familiar with health conditions in Pakistani to "Pakistani-ize" the information in the pamphlet.

After you've got the go ahead, draw up a budget of how much this project will cost. Although the information itself may be free, you may want to invest in a professional translator to translate the material into Urdu. In addition, you may prefer to hire a graphic designer to make the information look attractive and more readable. You will also need to pay for printing.

Contact your local Pakistani-American association to ask if they can help cover the costs of this project. In exchange, you can put their name on the finished work as a form of "advertising" for them (you may have to check with the original writer and publisher of the material before you agree to do this). Or, you can try contacting a government health agency and find out if there are grants or funds available for what you are trying to do.

Once you've got your funds, get the material translated, either through a professional or with the help of a group of friends whose abilities in Urdu writing are excellent. Complete the graphic design for the information with the help of a talented volunteer or professional, depending on what you can afford. Make sure to set a deadline for completing the translation and design, otherwise the work will most likely drag on.

After the material has been printed, make a list of places and ways to deliver. You should reserve a few copies of the material (maybe about 200) to give to a hospital or medical facility in your city which has a lot of Pakistanis in its neighborhood, a Masjid frequented by many Pakistanis, as well as Pakistani-owned grocery stores.

The rest of the material will be sent to Pakistan. You can use a couple of different ways to distribute over there. One way is by giving family and friends planning to visit Pakistan soon a number of copies to distribute amongst their relatives, friends and neighbors back home.

Another way is to go to Pakistan in person and distribute them in hospitals, medical facilities, and of course amongst family, neighbors and friends. For hospitals and medical facilities, make sure you have the permission of the institution before you give the pamphlets, so they don't end up being thrown out over a bureaucratic disagreement.

Also hand a number of pamhlets to doctors you know in Pakistan so they can start sharing this information with their patients.

Date/Time Last Modified: 6/17/2002 3:49:06 PM