IN CONJUNCTION WITH GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION

MAMI Graduates Capital Region's
First Class of Medical Interpreters

Speakers Stress Need
For Trained Interpreter

Wilma Alvarado-Little, director for the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities, opened the ceremony by welcoming MAMI Interpreters to Albany and recognizing its director, Dr. Cornelia E. Brown, stating that she was named 2010 International Linguist of the Year by an international network of professional interpreters and translators known as Inttranet, headquartered in France.

Dr. Brown shared a few “horror” stories of when people who did not speak English tried to get health care without the aid of an interpreter. In one example, she told of an older Vietnamese man who had been given a form in English at his dentist’s; unable to read it, he had scratched an “x” where they told him. He was then anesthetized, and awoke to his dismay to find they had pulled his remaining teeth.

She continued: "Our medical system guarantees informed consent. Our court system guarantees due process: the right to participate in one’s own defense and to be present at/to understand one’s own trial. In the US, people speaking a language other than English need the help of an interpreter if they are to have 'a voice,' the ability to speak and to understand. The interpreter must faithfully render what other people say skillfully transforming utterances from one language into another.”

Stephanie Lao, representing Catholic Charities AIDS Services, noted that “Catholic Charities AIDS Services had plenty of vision, but we had no idea what we were doing (in trying to offer interpreter services for their clients)… The best way was to allow the experts to provide the service. We asked MAMI to come here to meet our needs.”

Congressman Paul Tonko sent MAMI a proclamation, congratulating the new graduates and welcoming MAMI Interpreters to the Capital Region.

Albany County Executive Mike Breslin said that "we need" people to help with communication, especially with many coming into the community from other parts of the world. “By having the experience of the trained interpreter, we get so much further… If we can’t communicate, it doesn’t work.”

Mike Barber, compliance coordinator and director of Human Rights for Albany, noted that the mission of the city is to “create a more harmonious environment.” He then shared the story of his own mother who became paralyzed in the hospital because of a misunderstanding with a nurse assistant. This emphasizes “how important it is for people to be able to communicate.”

Susan Malinowski, assistant to the Director of the Language Assistance Program at St. Peter’s Hospital, addressed the students: “Your hard work and continued diligence will help save lives.”

“If one person is not well,” said Lucy Pulitzer, director of the Community Cradle in Albany, “the whole community suffers.”  Pulitzer is also MAMI’s first board member from the Capital Region.

Carolyn Ehrlich, director of government relations at Family Planning Advocates, shared the story of an Hispanic woman who brought her child to the doctor’s. She went home with a prescription that said that the child was to take the medication “once a day.” “Unfortunately, in Spanish the word ‘once’ means eleven. The woman gave her child the medication eleven times in the course of the day.”

Dr. Victor Tulchinsky, a family practice physician in the Capital Region, noted that he has had the opportunity of helping patients from “all over the world during these past six years…The fact that you are here will hopefully make jobs like mine a little easier.”

Alicia Saure and Olivier Mandevu, both graduating interpreters selected by their classmates, closed the ceremony. Saure spoke for her classmates, saying, “we want to be part of the solution for everyone in the community in providing equal access to care." Mandevu told his classmates, “Take this as one of your greatest opportunities, making a difference in someone’s life.”
ALBANY, June 17, 2011 – MAMI Interpreters graduated its first class of Capital Region medical interpreters in conjunction with its grand opening celebration Wednesday, June 15.

The celebration, with an array of community and agency leaders offering brief remarks, saw 18 area residents who speak 24 different languages graduate from an 80-hour medical interpreting course. Upon completion of this initial training, which covers everything from medical terminology to cultural barriers, the graduates are now available to interpret for medical providers, social service agencies and patients/clients who speak little or no English.

The ceremonies took place in the Social Justice Center building at 33 Central Avenue, where MAMI now has an Albany office – in addition to offices in Utica and Syracuse. Dr. Cornelia E. Brown, Ph.D., executive director, said the opening of an Albany office grew out of a collaboration with the Albany Diocese's Catholic Charities AIDS Services to train and provide on-site interpreters for HIV/AIDS patients who are not proficient in English.

Speakers at the celebration and graduation included:

  • Cornelia E. Brown, Ph.D, Executive Director, MAMI Interpreters.
  • Stephanie Lao, Catholic Charities AIDS Services.
  • Sean Shortell representing Congressman Paul Tonko.
  • Mike Breslin, Albany County Executive .
  • Mike Barber, compliance coordinator for City of Albany, representing the mayor’s office.
  • Susan Malinowski, assistant to the director of the Language Assistance Program Liaison, St. Peter's Hospital.
  • Lucy Pulitzer, executive director, Community Cradle.
  • Carolyn Ehrlich, Family Planning Advocates.
  • Dr. Victor Tulchinsky, Family Practice Physician in Albany.
  • Wilma Alvarado-Little, Director, Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities.
  • Two students elected to represent the first class of interpreters: Olivier Mandevu and Alicia Saure.

The graduates and their languages are:

  • Mohammed Abdoul of Albany, French, Ningala, Houssa, Foulani, Pegin and Mounoukoutouba.
  • Hamid Saburi of Albany, Farsi.
  • Claudia B. Alferez-Walden of Schenectady, Spanish.
  • Francisco J. Alferez-Cordenas of Schenectady, Spanish.
  • JoJo Norgaisse of Troy, French and Creole.
  • Govinda Bhandari of Albany, Nepali.
  • Etleva Berberi of Albany, Albanian.
  • Alicia Saure of Rensselaer, Spanish.
  • Kulsum Gul of Albany, Pashto and Urdo.
  • Padma Woti Bhandari of Albany, Nepali.
  • Emily Prouty of Albany, Spanish.
  • Suzie Chen of Schenectady, Mandarin, Chinese, Taiwanese.
  • Fadwa Touati of Rensselaer, Arabic and French.
  • Cecilia Oballe of Schenectady, Spanish.

Pending graduates and their languages:

  • Diana Aguilar of Schenectady, Spanish.
  • Olivier Mandevu of Albany, French, Swahili, Kinyamulenge, Kinyarwarwanda and Kirundi.
  • Thint Thint Htoo of Rensselaer, Burmese.
  • Lue Lu Shee of Albany, Karen, Burmese and Thai.

MAMI is a nonprofit agency that provides on-site medical and legal interpreters for healthcare providers, social service agencies and the criminal justice system. Originally known as the Multicultural Association of Medical Interpreters, MAMI was launched 13 years ago in Utica as a not-for-profit to train and provide medical interpreters for hospitals and patients in Central New York, which has seen a diverse influx of refugee and immigrant populations. MAMI has since opened a Syracuse and, now, an Albany office and expanded into the social service, domestic violence, law enforcement and court settings. MAMI is a leader in providing comprehensive training for interpreters, and in delivering their services. MAMI interpreters now number about 140 and speak about 50 different languages. In addition to providing oral interpreting, MAMI provides accredited written translations of healthcare and legal documents, offers culturally mediated seminars for refugees, businesses and organizations, and has introduced targeted English-as-a-Second Language programs, including Refugees Drive to succeed, which uses an ESL framework to teach the rules of safe driving to people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

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Media Contact: Mary T. Stronach, 315-796-9284, mstronach @ mamiinterpreters.org
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