Interview with our volunteers: ivers0n
Written by amnesiac84 8 years agoWe would like to introduce you to some of our volunteers. Every one of them decided at one point to spend a little bit of time to help BeWelcome, making this the greatest non-profit, volunteer driven hospitality network out there!
Our fifth interview is with ivers0n who is volunteering in the Translation Team.
Why did you join BeWelcome?
This is probably a very common story. I was a member of a similar website and I wasn't thrilled with the direction it was taking, until one day someone told me about the alternative “BeWelcome” and then I started using both. Finally, I was getting more involved in BeWelcome, because I identified much more with their ideas.
Why did you start volunteering? and in which teams are you active?
Luckily I have a lot of free time in my life, which allows me to be a volunteer for different organisations. I saw that BeWelcome needed a hand in the translation team. So I helped them to translate the website into Spanish. I believe that my work will increase BeWelcome's chances in Spain and South America, which potentially is a huge "market".
Could you tell us an interesting/nice experience in your volunteering experience?
Honestly the translation team is quite an independent experience. But something that keeps me entertained is checking a page where we can see the percentage of the website that has been translating to every language. English is always 100% and we try to keep the other languages as complete as possible. Sometimes you get close to 100% and it's a very nice feeling. But then, new content is created all the time and now the Spanish translations fell back to only 80%! So after finishing this interview I will translate a few pages. Congrats to the Portuguese translators by the way! They are at an amazing 99.6%!
Please give us three "keywords" which describe how is volunteering for your team(s).
Flexible: Because you don't have regular obligations. I can translate a huge part of the website if I feel very motivated one day, and then do nothing the other days.
Rewarding: I have also translated several newsletters that I actually receive in my own inbox. When I see them in my emails and I think about how thousands of people are being informed in their language thanks to my efforts, I feel what I have accomplished. But I have to say that I never read the newsletters again, because it would piss me off if I found any mistakes!
Enriching: Translating always teaches you new words and expressions and in my case it improves my knowledge of both Spanish and English.
What kind of traveller are you?
I was travelling almost non-stop for 4 years and I really enjoyed using hospitality networks. They always were my first choice. Visiting a place where you have some "friends" waiting for you is just perfect for me.
How many countries have you visited? What is your favourite country or place?
I know Europe quite well and Morocco and Senegal. So far Morocco (never in summer) is my favourite place to travel. It combines an exotic atmosphere with comfort. It's not that far away from Europe, and it's very easy to mingle with locals and to meet other travellers.
What is your favourite / coolest BeWelcome experience?
I had the chance to be in the BeVolunteer General Assembly in Furth a couple years ago and it was great experience to see how a group of passionate people try to make the most out of this project. Plus we got amazing food by the hosts there :)