PULP to partner with 25 other universities

Yi was inspired to start the program by his experiences as a participant in Princeton-in-Beijing. PULP aids international nonprofit organizations confronting language barriers by providing free translation by student volunteers. While in China, Yi saw such a barrier in public health education for Beijing’s native population.

At first, PULP’s work consisted of Yi and a group of his friends providing English-to-Chinese translation. But the group quickly saw an opportunity for expansion, Yi said.

“We should have more people doing this,” Yi recalled thinking. “We can really change the way that NGOs operate by supplying them with a large demographic of translators they can tap into.”

And expand it has: PULP’s ranks have swelled to more than 300 undergraduate members since its founding, including 20 to 30 regular contributors who attend weekly workshops, PULP president Lily Fu ’11 said.

So far satellite sites have been established at Georgetown and Wellesley, where translators tackle projects sent to PULP, Fu said.

While the list of other colleges to join PULP’s effort has yet to be determined, Fu said that the success of the current partnerships indicates that PULP could expand to the national level.

“The way I currently envision this happening,” Yi said, “is through a loosely centralized sector, the way the electrical grid works with the separate power plants generating their own translations.”

Yi said he will also target more entrepreneurship clubs at other universities, not just language departments.

“It’s really an exercise into entrepreneurship; you really learn a lot setting something like this up,” he explained.

The group now translates 50 pages per semester in languages including Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. Students have assisted organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and the New York Asian Women’s Center (NYAWC), working in fields from public health to environmental awareness and children’s advocacy. Brochures and annual reports have been among those items translated.

PULP has also helped out closer to home, translating a document for Princeton’s own Orange Key tours.

After PULP receives a request for translation, the group’s language liaisons provide initial translations. PULP editors, both native and non-native speakers fluent in their respective language, then review the translations, Fu explained. Finally, the liaisons return the translated work to the appropriate organization.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

These programs have praised PULP for the work it has done. Maggie Ji, NYAWC’s coordinator, expressed her organization’s appreciation in a letter obtained by The Daily Princetonian. PULP is “truly making a positive impact,” Ji wrote.

The University has also heaped praise on the group. Tashfin Samiul Huq ’09 and PULP were awarded the 2008 International Service Award last May by the Davis International Center, acknowledging the group’s “cross-cultural humanitarian” efforts.

While expanding its translator base is the ultimate goal on the horizon for PULP, Fu stressed that quality and consistency in everyday operations remain the heart of PULP’s continued success, powered by “volunteers who love language and community.”

“[PULP is] a very unique Princeton organization in the way we interact with outer groups, having a loose agreement to put the University’s name on the line, so to speak,” Yi said. “This club really commits itself to the civic engagement out there very much in mind with what Princeton is trying to do ‘in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations.’ ”