Starter Kit. Idea 377 of 500. Cluster 18
Translation and interpreting businesses serving Sri Lankans abroad in their dealings with the state at home
The mechanism, from the book
1.5 million people abroad who know how rich countries work, and who send home money and little else.
The first step
Offer a fixed-price service for one document Sri Lankan families abroad need often, such as a birth certificate or a deed translated and prepared for an office at home, and post the price in two groups for Sri Lankans abroad. Check which offices accept which translations before you take a single order. The orders that arrive tell you which dealings with the state to specialise in.
- Who pays first
- A Sri Lankan family abroad dealing with a land transfer or a certificate at home who cannot read the forms and cannot take weeks off to sort them.
- What leaves today
- Sri Lankan families abroad pay intermediaries at home who overcharge and delay; a trusted translation service keeps the fee honest and the business local.
Ask first
- Data Protection Authority. Ask what care is needed with families' certificates and deeds.
- the Divisional Secretariat. Ask which translations the office accepts for documents from abroad.
Check before you spend
Which offices accept which translations, and whether a sworn or certified translator is required, before you take a single order or deposit.
Find out these three numbers
- Which document do families abroad need translated most?
- What fixed price will they pay per document?
- How long does each office take to accept it?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.