Treaty Times 30 - a very important moment for New Zealand

Some time ago my wife got involved in an interesting project – Treaty Times 30.

The finished book

The purpose of this project was to translate the Treaty of Waitangi, which many consider as the founding document of New Zealand, into 30 different languages.

This is actually an important thing to do, as New Zealand has a high number of immigrants who struggle with English, but would like to know more about their adopted country. The Treaty is frequently referenced in legal documents and employment contracts etc, so understanding The Treaty is important for all New Zealanders.

My wife worked with a couple of other Greek translators to get The Treaty translated into Greek and get it verified. It was a lot of work for her and it was very important that she got it right. So she spent many hours, sometimes working late into the night, to make sure her translation was correct.

Yesterday was the celebration of the successful printing of the translations into a book containing all 30 languages. My wife (along with the other interpreters), was invited to Government House to meet the Governor General, and see the book formally presented.

My wife and the translation she worked on

It’s a pretty big deal.

We then went for drinks and nibbles, where we got to meet the other translators and some of the people that worked behind the scenes to make this all happen.

Rubbing elbows with the Governor General of New Zealand

I have to say I am very proud of my wife for doing this, and that my country values its immigrant population enough to support the project, so everyone has the opportunity to read and understand The Treaty.

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