The Tzu Chi Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian organization based in Taiwan. With over 10 million members and chapters in 47 countries, as well as special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Tzu Chi is one of the biggest charitable organizations in the world, and the largest NGO in the Chinese-speaking world. Da Ai TV was founded by Tzu Chi in 1995 in order to better propagate its humanistic and social values. In addition to its original programming, Da Ai also hosts Da Ai News, which carries reports on Tzu Chi activities around the globe, as well as pieces of cultural or educational interest. As part of its global outreach program, Da Ai News is currently also offering an English translation of its Chinese news broadcasts.
In addition to a full time team of translators and editors employed by Da Ai, the station has also requested that Babel offer its professional translating and editing services in order to ensure the program reaches the highest levels of professionalism in news journalism.
Since January 2011, Babel has been working with Da Ai News on a daily basis, translating and editing news stories that are broadcast worldwide the following day. As the translated content is taped the same day, strict time deadlines need to be meet and content needs to be both succinct, but still expressive enough to transmit the Tzu Chi espoused values that lie behind the stories being reported on. A familiarity with Buddhist concepts and Taiwan’s cultural heritage is also required of translators.
Over the past three years, Babel has slowly cultivated a talented team of translators and editors that have an acquired a deep understanding of not only the demands and constraints of news translation, but also of the codex of religious terminology seldom used outside of Buddhist circles.
