We are delighted that 2007 finds us launching a Russian version of Global Hand.

In the future, we will look at other language possibilities as well. In particular, based on the language set utilised by the United Nations for international access, we are considering Chinese, French, Spanish and Arabic. Further translations will largely depend, however, on those our users indicate to be their biggest needs.

HOW DO I SEE GLOBAL HAND IN RUSSIAN?
Above right on your screen, near the navigation bar, you will see the words “English” and “Russian”. Just click on either to switch language.

 

WHY HAVE WE STARTED WITH RUSSIAN?
In recent times, we have increasingly been asked for a Russian version of the site. This has proven essential to facilitate its usage not only amongst native Russian speakers but also in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Many communities in these areas, while fluent in their mother tongues, have traditionally been taught Russian as a second language. So Russian is the “lingua franca” for their region. As a result, these communities cannot readily use the Global Hand site in English.

In particular, the need for Russian has been voiced, on a frequent basis, through Global Hand’s office in Central Asia, serving Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and others.

HOW WILL THE SITE WORK BI-LINGUALLY?
Some sections of our site have static information: ie in our Library, News, About Us sections, etc., we have information that remains constant and can, therefore, easily be offered in full translation.

For other sections of our site, offers and needs in particular, the situation is different. This information is driven by our users’ activity.

A website can automatically translate any set fields in such sections, the “boxes” on forms that users “tick”. For example, freight provided, service options, volunteer category, goods category, country, activity, date, etc.  
There is no automated way, however, for a website to translate free text statements. For example, a title “Free freight available for humanitarian aid” or comments such as “Our volunteers are eager to help.”

When you are notified of a new offer on the site, then, the “tick boxes” will be automatically translated, but the free text will not be. So, in some cases, you may not find everything in your own language. What you do receive, however, should be enough for you to know whether that offer is of interest to you. If you have any resultant difficulty, you are welcome to email us and we will seek to assist you.  

IF I AM A RUSSIAN SPEAKER, CAN I CHOOSE TO RECEIVE EMAILS IN RUSSIAN?
Yes. You simply need to go to “My Details” and then “Change user details” to adjust your preference. If you have any problem, please email our office and we will be happy to help. You may write in English or Russian to the email address(es) below.

IF I MAKE AN OFFER OR REQUEST IN MY LANGUAGE, WHAT LANGUAGE WILL THE REPLY BE IN?
We are asking those who respond to you, whenever possible, to do so in the language you have used.

WHAT IF I SEE INFORMATION IN ODD CHARACTERS?
Recent browsers and email accounts have both been set up for Cyrillic so they can handle Russian without problem. It is unlikely, but you may find you see a series of odd characters – asterisks, dollar signs, hash keys and other assorted shapes.

• If this happens when you browse our site, it means you may be using an older browser.
• If this happens in your email messages, it means your email has not yet been set up for other languages.

Again, if you have this problem you are welcome to contact us for help.

THANK YOU!
We owe a debt of thanks to a number of people who have made this massive undertaking possible.

• Russian translators around the world have volunteered their professional services to help us with this mammoth task.
• Our Central Asian team in Kazakhstan has worked very hard to oversee the translation of the site content.
• Our Hong Kong developers have worked with, literally, thousands of strings of data to set up the site in Russian.

A heartfelt welcome to those of you who will be joining us, for the first time, now that Global Hand is in Russian!

HELPDESK

Email   
Hong Kong: enquiries@globalhand.org    
UK: bsolanky@globalhand.org    
Kazakhstan: centralasia@globalhand.org

Phone       
Russian – Kazakhstan (GMT +6): +7 3252 546284   
English – Hong Kong (GMT +8): +852 2272 9390       
UK (GMT): +44 1892 614874