 Community member testimonial from Tamiru Beyene speaking about digital navigation services he received
Digital Navigator Nook
Celebrating the Digital Navigator Community
Last month, we had the opportunity to celebrate the incredible work of the Digital Navigators during Digital Inclusion Week. During our event, we shared testimonials from some of the community members who received services from Digital Navigators (DNs). Check out the photos submitted by DNs across Colorado.
Digital Navigation Services for Mauritanians in Aurora
On a typical day at Project Worthmore located near Aurora City Park, small groups of men from West Africa seek assistance from Digital Navigator (DN), Chad Cullen. They need jobs. Most of these migrants never had the opportunity to attend school in their home country due to political oppression, which is why many of them have come to the US. These community members are not literate in their first language, Pulaar. Because of this, Cullen learned that rather than communicating using text in instant messaging apps, many use voice memos.
Though Arabic is the official language of Mauritania, where most of the migrants hail from, the majority of the people he works with speak primarily Pulaar (also known as Fulbe or Fulani). Through a telephone interpreter, Chad helps these newcomers complete online employment applications and pre-employment assessments. Cullen helps them apply for warehouse and stocking positions with companies like UPS, FedEx, Home Depot, Walmart, and Target because these companies are known to hire people with limited education and employment experience.
Developing basic English language skills has been key for obtaining and retaining employment, and Project Worthmore's free ESL program for asylum seekers and other support services have been crucial in helping these migrants integrate into the community and build toward stability.
Starting in May 2024, all DNs providing services as part of the statewide DN Pilot Program have access to telephone interpretation services paid for by SB 22-140. Below is some data about the use of telephone interpretation by digital navigators.
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198 total number of phone interpretation sessions
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14 total number of languages in which interpretation was provided in (Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Fulani, Kinyarwanda, Lithuanian, Pashto, Pulaar, Rohingya, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya, Wolof
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85% of interpretation sessions were for Pulaar/Fulani (163) and Wolof (6)
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9,665 Total minutes of interpretation provided
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48.8 minutes is the average call length
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$8,186.45 total dollars spent
If you are a digital navigator serving with AmeriCorps, please contact your program coordinator to learn about how to access the telephone language interpretation services.
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