On behalf of the Order of St. George Kingston Priory, the Kingston Military Family Resource Centre (KMFRC) and Military Veteran Plus Program (MVP+) hosted the 2022 Canadian Walk for Veterans on September 25th. Although the weather was not favourable, the turnout and support were impressive. This event helped to raise awareness of the plight of translators, interpreters, cultural advisors, and other locally employed people who were essential to Canada’s missions in conflicts throughout the world such as the Balkans, Somalia, Rwanda, and Afghanistan.
Through their invaluable work, war zone interpreters, translators and cultural advisors enabled communication and understanding between parties. There was tremendous pressure on them to interpret accurately, remain calm, make decisions on-the-fly and be objective. As a consequence of their critical work, translators, interpreters and cultural advisors working in conflict zones placed their lives at risk, and, in many instances, were kidnapped, tortured and killed as traitors or prosecuted as spies. “A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), issued in 2018, estimated that an interpreter is killed in a war zone every 36 hours.”
This event held at Fort Henry National Historic Site of Canada, would not have been a success without the help of our amazing community. Thank you to the incredible volunteers and staff, Royal Canadian Legion, Limestone City Branch 560, The Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment, CFB Kingston Eco-Team, Utilities Kingston, Culligan Kingston, and the Kingston Frontenacs. A special thank you to His Worship Bryan Paterson, Mayor City of Kingston, for joining us on this spectacular occasion.
We hope to walk shoulder to shoulder with you at the 6th Annual Canadian Walk for Veterans in 2023. We anticipate having an even more magnificent event that will continue to grow in the years to come.
www.canadianwalkforveterans.com
Written by: Breanne Lambert, Community Engagement and Information Coordinator, KMFRC