Cross Cultural Training Supports Life Saving Work in Africa

Peter Fordos, Director of Cross Cultural Training   If you live in Africa and you have to choose between eating food that might be poisoned or your family starves — what choice do you really have?   Aflatoxin is a byproduct of a mold that grows on staple food crops in Africa. It claims more than 26,000 lives each year, causes liver cancer, stunts the growth of tens of thousands of children, poisons livestock and results in African farmers losing more than a half billion dollars of income annually because affected crops cannot be sold.   Eliminating aflatoxin from the food chain is the challenge the team at the Meridian Institute has been tasked to solve in their leadership role at the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA).   Meridian enlisted Translation By Design to develop and deliver a cross-cultural training program to prepare their team members to work more effectively with African farmers, government agencies, food storage and distribution companies, and consumers who unknowingly buy contaminated food products.   Training topics included: - Differences in verbal and non-verbal communication styles  - How to bring about change in a group/tribe oriented society - How African cultures view time and how to meet deadlines - Strategies for cooperation, conflict avoidance and resolution - And more… The result was a better-educated team, an efficient ramp-up of in-country operations, and a successful launch of a program that will have a dramatic impact for families in Africa, and humanity.  We customize every cross-cultural training program to address the unique challenges and goals of our clients. Whether improving the efficiency of a management team in Brazil, or preparing executives for contract negotiations in China. Whether training units of Navy Seals before deployment overseas, or helping an NGO work with native language interpreters in Africa — TBD is driven by a desire to enhance communication and understanding between our clients and the wider world. Sometimes our work impacts our corporate client’s next quarterly profits, sometimes our work helps a non-profit impact the world for the next quarter century. Improving communication and understanding between cultures is our business, so your business can do more business, globally. - Translation - Interpretation - Cross Cultural Training We love what we do. What can we do for you?