Timur

You have been asked to interpret a meeting between Katrin, who is a supervisor at a refugee shelter in a smaller Austrian town, and Timur, a russian-speaking 22-year-old refugee from Chechnya, who has been in Austria for one week. Before the meeting, Katrin tells you one-on-one that Timur has expressed he wants to go back to Chechnya already. He fled because he was facing an enormous amount of abuse and discrimination because of his homosexuality. Upon realizing he fled, his family now pressures him to come back and manipulates him, telling him that, if he doesn’t come back, his sister, who is still with them, will be harmed by other residents of their town. Katrin then asks you not to reveal that you know about Timur being gay. He comes from a very conservative family and is very ashamed of his sexual orientation. [[You agree. ->You both meet Timur.]]

Upon meeting you, Timur expresses that he doesn’t feel comfortable with you as a female interpreter. [[You interpret what he said back to the supervisor and leave it to her to react to his doubts.]] [[You respond in Russian that there is only you available, as the town you are in is very small and you know that no one else speaks Russian and German there.]] [[You interpret what he said back to the supervisor and then ask her that you inform him about the ethical principles of your profession, strict confidentiality among others.]]

The supervisor says that there is a male interpreter who is not available at this time and suggests to postpone the conversation. You tell Timur this. He agrees and asks for the meeting to be postponed. [[Replay ->Timur]]

Timur agrees to continue with the meeting with you as his interpreter, though you notice that he remains skeptical and tense. The supervisor addresses his wish to leave Austria and advises strongly against it. She argues that returning to Chechnya will be dangerous for him because of his “issue”, obviously referring to his sexuality. [[In an attempt to translate the message without making Timur fear that you know about “the issue”, you moderate the supervisor’s sentence and simply say that returning to Chechnya will be dangerous.]] [[You translate the supervisor’s sentence word for word.]]

The supervisor agrees. You tell Timur about your confidentiality obligation and assure him that you have his best interests at heart. He seems slightly calmer and safer going into the meeting. The supervisor addresses his wish to leave Austria and advises strongly against it. She argues that returning to Chechnya will be dangerous for him because of his “issue”, obviously referring to his sexuality. [[In an attempt to translate the message without making Timur fear that you know about “the issue”, you change the supervisor’s sentence slightly and simply say that returning to Chechnya will be dangerous.]]

Timur gets visibly upset and leaves his seat, making you fear that he wants to leave the room. The supervisor looks at you for help. [[You let him go, hoping that he will come back once he calms down.]] [[You get up too, slowly raising your hands and speaking in a calm voice in an attempt to calm Timur down. You tell him again that you are obligated to treat everything he says confidentially and that he has nothing to fear.]] [[You get up too, speaking calmly and slowly approaching him. You place your hand soothingly on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.]]

While you are waiting for him, the supervisior looks at her phone and sees that she got a call from a male interpreter telling her that after all he would be available for a meeting today. You accompany the supervisor, you find Timur and ask him if he would be willing to continue the conversation with a male interpreter. He seems slightly calmer and agrees. You leave, hoping that Timur will find the help he needs. [[Replay ->Timur]]

Timur sits back down. He says that he needs to go back home because of his sister. Then he directly turns to you and says that surely you would want your brother to come back home to protect you too if you were in danger because of him. [[You say that you understand him.]] [[You interpret back to the supervisor, ask that you respond to Timur and tell him that it is not your job to weigh in on the conversation, you are only there to interpret.]] [[You interpret back to the supervisor, ask that you respond to Timur and tell him that you are not his sister, but you are sure that she would want him to be safe, too.]]

When you touch him, Timur gets even more upset and leaves the room. The supervisor follows him anxiously, but he does not want to continue the conversation. You leave, hoping that the supervisor will be able to convince him to come back with a male interpreter another day. [[Replay ->Timur]]

Timur withdraws slightly from you. Until the end of the conversation, you do not feel pressured to step out of the „objective“ role as an interpreter again. The supervisor continues and speaks about her concerns for Timur’s safety as he listens. Yet, saying goodbye, you cannot help but think that he seems to feel increasingly distanced from the people that take care of him here in Austria. [[Replay ->Timur]]

The supervisor gets irritated and asks what just happened between you and Timur. [[You interpret what Timur said to you and what you said to him.]]

The supervisor is not happy with what you told Timur and expresses her anger about being excluded from part of the conversation. Because you did not tell Timur what now happened between you and the supervisor, he starts to get nervous, thinking that he did something wrong. He asks you to tell him what is going on, but the supervisor is still talking and you are overwhelmed. Suddenly, everyone is irritated. The supervisor loses her patience, says it does not make sense to continue the conversation this way and decides to leave the conversation for another day. [[Replay ->Timur]]

Upon hearing this, Timur gets emotional and starts crying. The supervisor asks what you told Timur, you tell her what you said. She impatiently says that he should not overreact, that nothing is going to happen to his sister. [[You tell him in Russian: "Don't overreact, nothing is going to happen to your sister."]] [[You lower your voice slightly, trying to speak calmly, and say in Russian: "Calm yourself, I'm sure that your sister will be safe."]]

Timur cries even harder, obviously feeling desperate and helpless. Together with the supervisor, you try and calm him down. At first, this does not seem to help. Finally, you succeed in calming him down a bit, but seeing that he is already emotionally exhausted, the supervisor suggests to take a break and continue the conversation tomorrow. [[Replay ->Timur]]

Timur nods, takes some deep breaths to steady himself. After some moments, his tears subside and the conversation continues in a calmer way. You all exit the meeting, not knowing if Timur ends up deciding to stay in Austria or move back to Chechnya, but you have a feeling he at least feels supported here. [[Replay ->Timur]]

The supervisor agrees and rephrases, adopting a more careful style of conversation for the rest of the session. Although the uncomfortable feeling that stems from everyone trying so hard not to touch the sensible subject never lifts, Timur’s homosexuality is not mentioned once. This saves him from feeling exposed, but saying goodbye, it is not sure if the supervisor has succeeded in getting through to Timur. He keeps insisting that he wants to go back to Chechnya, and the supervisor does not know how to convince him not to. [[Replay ->Timur]]

As you interpret and mention the word "gay", he turns red in the face, stares at his feet and stops talking to you. You feel uncomfortable, too, because you know that he did not want you to know he is gay. [[You stop talking too.]] [[You say that the supervisor and you just want to help him and that nothing any of you say will leave this room.]]

After a moment, the supervisor says that everyone in the room only wants to help him and that nothing said in this conversation will leave the room. Timur nods hesitantly and takes a breath. The supervisor continues talking. Throughout the conversation, she is able to address quite a few of Timur's doubts. Ending the session, it is not sure if Timur decides against returning to Chechnya, but at least you succeeded in making him feel slightly safer in his current surroundings. [[Replay ->Timur]]

The supervisor gets irritated and asks what just happened between you and Timur. [[You tell her what you just said. ->You interpret what Timur said to you and what you said to him.]]

The conversation continues but Timur phrases everything he says very evasively, not wanting to explicitly address his sexual orientation. The supervisor becomes impatient and decides to name the subjects very directly. She tells him that he knows exactly how gay people are treated in Chechnya, and asks him if he actually understands what dangers he could face going back there. As you interpret the word "gay", he turns red and looks at you as if to see what you think about him. The supervisor asks what just happened, you say that he is probably afraid that you judge him for being gay. The supervisor encourages you to react. [[You tell him that you have absolutely no problem with homosexuality, and nothing you or he says will leave this room anyways.]] [[You tell him that no one in this room judges him for anything, you just want to help, and that he can talk freely.]]

Timur visibly cringes upon hearing the word „homosexuality“. He remains insecure and the conversation does not lose its feeling of uneasiness, though he listens as the supervisor keeps talking to him. He leaves the meeting quiet and shy, but at least you feel like he heard the things he needed to hear and will maybe reconsider leaving Austria. [[Replay ->Timur]]

Timur remains insecure and quiet, but he listens to the supervisor's further arguments for him to stay in Austria, which you interpret, and he opens up a little. At the end of the conversation, you leave the room not knowing how Timur will decide, but he says that he will think about it, and you have a feeling he feels supported in Austria, and that his relationship with the supervisor and with you has become a bit more trustful. [[Replay ->Timur]]

#Timur [[Play Story->Timur]]