Interpreters & Interrupters
Interpreters & Interrupters is the podcast for professional and student interpreters looking to refine their skills and stay inspired.
In Season 2, we’re bringing you expert tips, insightful interviews, and discussions on the topics that matter most in the world of interpreting.
Regardless of where your interpreting gigs take you, join us as we explore the art, challenges, and evolving landscape of interpretation.
Interpreters & Interrupters
MEDICAL INTERPRETING: BEHIND THE SCENES
Interpreters and Interrupters welcomes Ana Fauvet, a nationally certified medical interpreter and event organizer. They discuss the delicate balance of compassion and professionalism in medical interpreting. The conversation covers the controversies of advocacy in medical settings, strategies to express compassion without breaching professional boundaries, and the crucial role of interpreters as cultural brokers. Ana shares valuable insights and personal experiences, emphasizing the importance of understanding, active listening, and empathy in interactions with patients. They also talk about Ana's inspiring event, Nadie Lucha Sola, which offers support to women undergoing cancer treatment.
*****Nadie Lucha Sola will be held Saturday, April 26, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Bruce Schroffel Auditorium, University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, CO*****
ana.fauvet@gmail.com ! Angelessinfronteras@gmail.com
00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:44 The Role of Compassion in Medical Interpreting
05:26 Challenges and Controversies in Medical Interpreting
08:10 Defining Roles and Responsibilities
28:06 Do's and Don'ts for Interpreters
34:29 Ana's Personal Story and Community Efforts
37:32 Organizing the Event
37:43 Inclusive Community Support
38:57 Heartwarming Stories
43:41 Handling Rejection as an Interpreter
47:32 Professionalism and Continuous Learning
47:32 Conclusion and Gratitude
[00:00:00]
MARITZA: Welcome to the first episode of season two of Interpreters and Interrupters. I'm your host Maritza. Our guest is Ana Favet, CMI certtified Spanish Medical Interpreter, and Organizer of the Denver event, Nadie Lucha Sola.
Hi, Ana. Thank you for being on the first episode of Season 2 of Interpreters and Interrupters, a podcast for interpreters. How are you?
ANA FAUVET: Hi, Maritza. I'm great. Thank you so much for having me.
MARITZA: I'm glad you're here.
I was thinking about compassion and interpreting, and thinking that we do have to talk a little bit about advocacy. Advocacy in medical interpreting is very controversial. There are people that believe that the interpreter in a medical setting should not advocate at all. And there are others that believe that, yes, there should be advocacy when doing medical interpreting. So I just wanted to clarify that if you are not a medical interpreter, I still would like for you to stick around and listen to this awesome conversation .
One of the things that Ana and I talked about was how do you express compassion when you're interpreting without crossing the line of being an interpreter. And I would like to ask Ana, in your own words, what is compassion?
ANA FAUVET: Well, compassion and interpreting is, I think, a lot of it also involves being a culture broker. Especially right now that I'm feeling the most strongly about because one may think one is being compassionate with what we say, but it might not sound that [00:02:00] way to people.
Especially, in the current political climate we're in, you know, it might involve explaining to a provider that the way they're asking some questions might feel like an interrogation and not just a medical questionnaire. Compassionate care could also be, you know, making sure if, you know, you might have overheard the patient saying something before the appointment, before you were in the interpreter position.
Once you'd already introduced yourself or not, but if you heard something that's important for the provider to know, letting the provider know, perhaps, before coming in, you know, that there is this concern. Because as interpreters, When we are working for a particular hospital, and it might be different depending on where your audience is interpreting, because a lot of hospitals [00:03:00] and clinics and different medical situations, we'll have different protocols for that.
I'm very lucky that the place that I work, you know, allows us to do these kind of, you know, advocacy and with compassion. You know, if I've heard my patient has not eaten in three days, right, it's going to affect their medical care. So in my role as a medical interpreter, I have the ability to share that information or not.
And I think for me, compassionate advocacy is making sure that the provider is made aware of this. Now, I would never do this in a session. I would do it before the provider walks in when I'm introducing myself when I'm doing my pre-session. And I would say, you know, I just wanted you to be aware that I heard this.
I have been presented with, and this is [00:04:00] how I came about this information, do with it what you will, you know, if the provider decides it's relevant, then I have done my part. And if they ask, and the patient says, that's not the case, then, there's nothing else to do, you know, but it has happened before with some of my patients where, you know, there are things where they might not be getting their point across and they get frustrated or they feel unsafe, which is something that a lot of us working with immigrants experience with our patients.
And for me, compassion is making sure that they know they're safe with me, you know, hearing what they're saying, understanding their concern, and if their concern is severe, maybe following through with the provider as well. You know, if the patient had many negative [00:05:00] experiences and they don't want to be left alone with the provider, you know, who might say, "I speak Spanish," or whatever language you're interpreting, you know? If you can speak to the provider and be like, "Look, I understand that you speak Spanish, but this patient has had this experience and they would not feel comfortable if I left." In my role at the place where I work, I can do this, but you know, we're not all that lucky, unfortunately.
MARITZA: I would like to let the listeners that do not live in the United States know that currently the new presidential administration here calls to deport undocumented or criminal immigrants. Patients may not continue their care because they're afraid that the agency in charge, because we don't know what agency exactly is in charge. In some cities and states it's the city police that's helping out federal agents with [00:06:00] deportation action. So I can't really tell you exactly what agency it is. But patients are afraid that they'll go to church, go to school, take their kids to school, take their kids to school.
Here's the definition that I found for compassion.
I like this definition because it talks about feelings. This definition is from the Cambridge Dictionary and it says that compassion is a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and the wish to help them.
ANA FAUVET: That's beautiful.
Maritza: Isn't that beautiful?
ANA FAUVET: Yeah.
I feel like the way that it's expressed, a lot of people feel pity and they mistake it for compassion. And this explains how it's not the same, you know. And as linguists, I think for me specifically, I'm a stickler for meanings and words that we're using because it's my job, [00:07:00] you know.
So when somebody uses the word compassion, meaning pity or vice versa and the way that it explained it shows exactly how we feel about our patients and the people that we work with and that we work for, you know, because you are never as vulnerable as when you're sick. And when you're sick and you're alone in another country, can be very overwhelming.
MARITZA: The first time I encountered the word compassion while interpreting was when I was a contract interpreter for the Immigration Review Court. I remember reading a list of tips from one immigration judge to other judges. And one of the items that he had was be compassionate. As a trained legal interpreter, I didn't understand that. How can I be compassionate? I can't [00:08:00] advocate. I can't say anything other than what is being said. And I can't express any emotion.
And speaking about working as an interpreter, let me back up real quick because I want to define the roles of the interpreter so that everybody's clear. the first role is conduit. That's the first thing we do. Taking the message from one language, the source language, and interpreting as accurately as we possibly can to the target. The next role of the interpreter is to be a clarifier. The next role would be culture broker. Being able to identify if there is a miscommunication due to a cultural difference. And the least that we perform as medical interpreters is advocacy.
Advocacy is supporting or [00:09:00] acting in favor of a person or idea. I had a session last week where the patient was on one crutch and in a lot of pain and had already walked from his vehicle in the parking lot to the clinic. They tell him that he had to go to the emergency room, which is far from the clinic. I took the provider aside and I said, "Is there a possibility that transport can come and wheelchair this patient to the emergency room?" And they said, "Great idea." That's advocacy.
And that's also compassion, because if I didn't care about the patient, I wouldn't be thinking, "Wow, he's in pain and he has to walk a long way just to get to the emergency room."
ANA FAUVET: You know, and that happens so often. I think providers are so focused on the medical side of things that [00:10:00] sometimes it might be easy to, you know? Not pay attention to these smaller things. Especially, when they're working with Hispanic people, they're always thinking like, "Oh, well, their family's here." And a lot of times, Hispanic people might be scared to ask for that extra help, you know, and the fact that you knew. That there's transport, the fact that you knew that it could benefit the patient and that you were thinking, you know, that's got to be rough walking all the way over there and, you know, be able to advocate and get that help for some, a part of the care team that maybe didn't think about that for whatever other reason, you know, and it's so important, such an important part of what we do, if not a big part, because like you said, it's the least thing that we [00:11:00] can do, but I think it also helps build trust with our patients.
MARITZA: Absolutely. Sometimes the providers have to ask certain questions, but the questions make the patients feel uncomfortable. For example, What country are you from? Are you legal in this country? What is your legal resident status? Where do you live? Do you live in a house? Do you live in an apartment? How long have you lived here? What work do you do? Do you work? So to people that aren't concerned about being deported from the country because we're U. S. citizens or you may be a legal resident, it's a little difficult to understand how scary those questions really are to someone who is not legal in this country. The other day I had to stop and think, "Why is the provider asking these questions?" Because then I started wrestling with, "Should I say something? Should [00:12:00] I be the cultural broker at this time and tell the provider, you know, you're scaring the patient with those questions." The reason why I didn't step in, because I got to thinking, "I'm at a pulmonary appointment. I think I know where he's getting at by asking these questions." But in that moment, both the patient and I were like, "Whoa, what's going on here? What's he going to do with this information?" And finally, after asking all those questions, then the provider said, "I just wanted to get an idea of the environment that you've been in and where in the country you've lived so that I could figure out why you're having difficulty breathing." So I'm glad I didn't say anything. I was ready to pounce. I got scared.
ANA FAUVET: Well, you know, and another thing that we could consider, you know, the importance of educating providers about [00:13:00] this fear, you know? Because there's not always time and there's not always room within an appointment to advocate because, especially in a pulmonary appointment, there's so many things that need to get done in such a short period of time. But I think if we had a way to educate providers beforehand, you know, letting them know, "Hey, you know, these type of questions, when you're going to ask them, maybe explain why before you do?" I think it's such an important part of the dynamic between immigrant patients and providers that, you know, it should be something that they learn to do. And it kind of begs the question, "Whose responsibility is it to educate them on this?" Because you don't know what you don't know. And there's no way that they would know, because they've never had to experience the fear of deportation, the fear of being separated from their families and [00:14:00] their loved ones, but we do, you know? Maybe some of us who may not have ever been an undocumented immigrant may not know, but we can relate because we see it with the people around us. Because we see it with our neighbors, with our friends, our cousins, you know? So even those of us who may have never experienced such a thing.
It's a lot simpler for us to understand and for us to imagine what that must feel like than it would be for a person who maybe only has never left the country to study or to learn, visit, vacation, when they've never had to worry about these kind of things.
Maritza: I want to clarify that we're referring to all immigrants in our country, [00:15:00] and we need to relate somehow. I try to relate. I mean, what would happen if something like that happened to me? That all of a sudden, I'm taken. What happens to my apartment? My job? Do I have time to call my family? Can I grab a bag and put some stuff that I need to go wherever it is you're taking me? What about medications? What if I have medications? Will they let me get my medications first? What about my kids in school if I'm a single mom? You think about things that way, what would happen to you if you were in that situation? I think you get a better understanding.
ANA FAUVET: Yeah. And there's so many immigrants in, in this country. I mean, it's a country of immigrants, of course, and we work with other [00:16:00] interpreters. There's all kinds of languages and they're immigrants from different countries, different parts of the same country, even. And when you think about that common denominator for all of us and all of our patients because like you said, you may not ever have to worry about being deported, but you can think about what that would feel like and to get providers to think about that seriously before having any kind of conversation, any kind of interaction with the patients. I think it would be very beneficial for everybody involved. For us as interpreters, it can make our work less stressful because, I'll tell you, I have had experiences when I'm interpreting for an intake questionnaire and the [00:17:00] questions get very personal.
They get very intense. Especially, if you are an undocumented immigrant and having my voice be questioning people. Well, how long have you been here? Where did you live before? Where did you work? Have you always lived here? How many kids do you have? How many people live in your home? That gave me anxiety because even though it was not me asking those questions. The questions were coming out of my mouth. And the thing that was stressing out my patient was my voice because they didn't understand everything that the other person was saying. So it would make our jobs less stressful. But most importantly, it would make our patients more comfortable.
They already have enough to worry about, especially with medical interpretation, legal interpretation, our patients are worried. They're sick or they're in [00:18:00] legal troubles. They have so many things going on they have to worry. "Is this person trying to get me to say that I'm here undocumented so that I can be deported?"
MARITZA: Education is power, and empowering providers as much as we empower patients, as much as we try to empower other interpreters, which is, I think, an amazing part of what you do, is empowering through education is the best thing we can do. Educating the providers is the best way that I can think to be able to help bridge that gap, that cultural gap, without us having to step out of our role as interpreters during appointments as often as we may need to in the coming years.
How do you identify This invisible line of being compassionate and overstepping your role as an interpreter. Do you [00:19:00] have any kind of guideline for yourself that you would like to share on when you know not to cross over and stay in your lane still be compassionate?
ANA FAUVET: Yeah, well, that's a really great question. You can't have a blanket template for it because different circumstances require different kinds of response and different kind of tact. But one of the things for me is that if I'm uncomfortable with this situation, my patient is probably uncomfortable.
Because I've been doing this for so long, I can usually tell when an appointment is going to be this kind of appointment because I've been working where I've been working for a while. Or the type of appointment, you know, if it's an intake appointment for a cancer patient, there's going to be a lot of questions.
And like you [00:20:00] said with your pulmonary patient, you stopped yourself because you thought, "I know where this is probably going. So I'm not going to cross that line.
And I know the importance of these things. It may be good to clarify, "Why are you asking?" That will make a big difference. One of the things that come to mind is, and this is part of the culture broker, but it's also part of the compassionate, [00:21:00] and advocacy, because I work a lot with palliative care. And with palliative care oftentimes when the patients are ready to leave the hospital, we refer them over to hospice care. And hospice in Mexico is known as an hospicio. And I don't know if you're familiar with an hospicio in Mexico, but it's not what we think of hospice here. It's a very different environment. It's a different thing. The people with family don't go to hospice or hospicios because they are terrible, or they were. I haven't been to Mexico in a while, so I can't speak to what it's like now.
[00:22:00] So imagine your loved one is literally at death's door because we don't refer people to hospice unless they have six months left or less, right? And so you already have that burden, that pain of your loved one or yourself being in that situation. And then somebody tells you that, "Oh, we'd like to refer you to hospice." And the interpreter will interpret hospicio because that is the literal word for it, right?
However, the connotation behind it. The feelings behind it is very, very different. So I always advocate when I'm working with palliative team, that is a new team that I haven't worked with before that may not know this.
You do a debrief before and after these type of sessions because they're so heavy and there's so much information that It's important [00:23:00] for the interpreter to know what we're walking into and for the providers to know best practices with our type of patients, right? And I always let them know.
Hey, if you're going to mention hospice, it might be better received if you explain what it is first, and then specify that in the United States this service is provided by something called Hospice. And I've explained it to them what an hospicio is. When they hear about it, they're horrified, and they've said that we would never send them to something like this. And I know that, and they know that, but the patient doesn't know that, so I think this is a great way of showing when advocacy with compassion meets the side of of interpreting that is cultural broker. I think that's a, that's a great example.
MARITZA: We've been talking about advocacy, and again, like I said at the beginning, it's a very controversial [00:24:00] subject but I do want to point out that sometimes advocacy is inappropriate. An inappropriate use of advocacy, would be something like giving your non-expertise of medical conditions and telling the provider something like, "My aunt had that exact same thing and they did this and this and this, and she was cured overnight." That is not advocacy. That is not minding your role as an interpreter. Your number one role is to be a conduit, by being a clarifier, then a cultural broker and finally, an advocate. What are some of the downfalls about being compassionate? Can we [00:25:00] be friendly with the patient?
ANA FAUVET: Well, it's a big problem because they stop seeing us as part of the medical team and start considering us like, you know, "Oh, this is a friend." Let's say somebody's waiting for a liver transplant. They can't drink not a drop of alcohol and they confide in me. They tell me, "Oh, well, I have one every now and then."
Later on, we're in the appointment and they tell the provider, "I haven't had a drop of alcohol in three years." That leaves me in the very uncomfortable position of having to explain that, "I'm sorry, this is the interpreter, patient has confided in the interpreter [00:26:00] that they have an occasional drink every now and then." And it's a difficult position that we would be putting ourselves in.
I think it's very important to be able to draw that line and be like, "I have your best interest at heart as your interpreter, as part of your medical team." Not because we're friends, even though some of the people that I interpret for I'm like, "This person seems like the coolest person and I'd love to be friends with them."
That's not my role. Even though I might think they're amazing people, I cannot blur that line enough and become friends and not let that affect me. Because also what ends up happening, let's say, you're very lucky you don't have a situation like the one I just explained.
You do also run the risk of, you [00:27:00] know, this doctor might give this diagnosis to the patient and then your friends and you see them somewhere else doing something they weren't supposed to. It really makes things complicated. And what's worse? Well, I'd say you really start caring about them because, you know, we're compassionate people, we empathize, we sympathize, and then they die, you know, which happens.
I find it very difficult when my patients die. Not because we're friends, but because for me, it's just a difficult part of the job that we do. One of the things that helps me is that outside of their diagnosis and the few conversations that I've had voicing other people, we don't have a relationship and that helps me get away from that.
If I befriended all of my patients, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed because I'd be so depressed every time they die. You know, [00:28:00] which, working as a medical interpreter happens more often than if you had any other kind of job.
MARITZA: Let's play a round of do's and don'ts. Don't give patients money or buy them treats or coffee.
ANA FAUVET: Oh, a hundred percent. Don't do that. Don't friend your patients on Facebook. You'd be surprised. It happened.
MARITZA: Why didn't I think of that?
ANA FAUVET: it happened.
MARITZA: I want to know what happened after they had the surgery.
ANA FAUVET: Well, you know what? I had one patient that I was her interpreter and I was really invested in her outcome because she had a transplant and then I never saw her again and I was like, "Well, did it work?" Because we started getting more interpreters, then it wasn't always the same one. And I really wanted to know if it worked or not, but. To this day, I don't know.
Don't hug your patients. That's, that's been a hard one for me because am a Mexican woman. So for us, touch is very [00:29:00] important to how we communicate. You know, "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." You know, you grab their arm or you're saying good-bye and they always want to hug you.
I will never pull away from a patient who's trying to hug me, but I will not approach them to hug them and I won't hug them back. I'll just be like, okay. It can be difficult in some cultures. I'm sure more so than others, but don't hug your patients.
MARITZA: Something that could help you from hugging your patients for all of those that are huggers out there, is maintain a good distance. Three feet, maybe more. It looks weird, but just keep a distance between you and your patient, and don't sit next to them in the waiting room.
ANA FAUVET: I'll give you guys a tip as well. One of the interpreters that I worked with always tells them, "Oh, I'm sorry. I need to write an email on my [00:30:00] phone," or "I need to write a report on something." And, you know, people respect the fact that we're doing our jobs.
People respect that we have work to do. So if you tell them, like, "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude. I just really have to send this [email] out," they'll usually understand.
MARITZA: That's a great idea. Do be an active listener. You're supposed to be an active listener as an interpreter already, but sometimes we get caught in the day to day routine. "I'm just interpreting," and you're not really listening.
ANA FAUVET: Do learn about the appointments that you have because you may have been actively listening, but if you didn't know that in a pulmonary setting, it might be important for them to know where this patient has been, you know, then you might have, again, incorrectly advocated because you didn't know any better.
You know, and we're all [00:31:00] entitled to make mistakes. But as interpreters, our jobs are so important to the care and the service that is provided that we want to make sure that we are well informed. You know, we don't have to know how to give a diagnosis, of course, we don't have to, but at least know why some questions are asked or why some things are done, you know.
And if you don't know and you feel uncomfortable asking a provider before or after the appointment, talk to your peers, listen to podcasts like this one, where you can learn and you can grow and your experience and your understanding of everything that you're doing is just gonna grow exponentially, and you're going to be much better at the work that you do if you understand these things.
That's also another do. If you're having an appointment and you have access to a patient's chart beforehand, and the place where you're working doesn't usually give you a [00:32:00] briefing before look it up if you have the chance to do it, I think it could make a big difference because we don't all know all of the terminology there is, especially in medical setting.
You might encounter something that you're not familiar with and that way you can better prepare. So if you have access to the patient's medical chart for whom you're going to interpret, definitely do look it up first so you can be well aware of what you're walking into.
MARITZA: Don't have any identifying information a notebook or a device that is not approved by your institution or facility.
ANA FAUVET: Some places will have shredding services so anything that might have identifying information. You can hand shred it first and then stick it in there. Or you could just stick it in there and it's locked.
So only certain people [00:33:00] have access to it and then they will make sure to dispose of it properly. I use my Kindle. I can write on my Kindle. I can take notes. And whenever I have a palliative meeting, because those tend to last very long and as we all know your mind gets tired after 30 minutes, and some of these appointments last two to three hours and it's just me.
So what I do is I take a notebook. The thing that I struggle with the most is remembering people's names so I will draw a with the people's names, first names only,
That is not protected information, so it doesn't matter. My Kindle is locked in case I ever were to lose it, but even then, I don't have any date of birth, room numbers. I don't have diagnosis. If I do, I'll mark it and then I'll delete it after I marked it if I just needed to remember doses of medications.
And one of the things why I think you mentioning this is so important [00:34:00] right now is because our notebooks, our iPads, our tablets could be taken by someone from Immigration right now. And if we were to have this identifying information, it could be catastrophic for our patients. And not only that, but we could get into big trouble because that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
So making sure that you don't write any of this information down. It's a great way to protect not just yourself, but also your patients.
Nadie Lucha Sola
I started noticing a pattern specifically with my Hispanic female patients saying that they were feeling alone because as immigrants, they don't have their whole support system here. A lot of their family, their friends, close friends are back home. And with the diagnosis of cancer, having their family, their immediate family, now their kids and their spouse be adjusting to a new country, it can be very [00:35:00] overwhelming.
So as women, sometimes it's easier for us to try to shield our kids, to try to let our husbands or wives go out and make money because somebody needs to because, "Now I can't because I'm sick." I was hearing the phrase, "I feel alone, not lonely. I feel alone." If any of you have ever felt alone, imagine feeling alone with someone telling you that you have cancer and you may die, and they were just so depressed and so, overwhelmed by it all.
My aunt is a survivor of breast cancer and she is not one of those people who can sit still for too long. So even when she had cancer she would get her chemotherapy treatment. This was in Mexico. She would notice the people around her needing help or [00:36:00] they were feeling sad about their hair or feeling sad about not having something to cover their heads because they'd be cold or a blanket or just random things.
So she started bringing things to the people around her even though she herself was getting treatment. And eventually it just grew into an actual foundation and she started providing people in Mexico first, women in Mexico first, with wigs and makeup kits. And they do a whole event and they do like a little fashion show where once they'd get their wigs. They'd all go and they'd walk and they'd show off their new hair and it was very lovely. And I know that it was very fulfilling for her, but it was growing to be a lot bigger than she anticipated. But even with that she wanted to bring it here to the States because this is where she lives now and this is her community now [00:37:00] and she wants to help her community.
So she assigned somebody else the Mexico section of it. And then she started bringing things here to the States. I called her and I said, "Hey, you know, this is happening. My patients are really sad." And within my scope, there's only so much I can do.
I need to do more because it's driving me insane to see them so sad and to know that there's nothing I can do. What can you do? She lives in Texas. She said, "I can't organize it. So you need to do it. But if you figure it out, just tell me when to go and I'll show up and I'll do it."
I did. We had over 40 women show up.
It is important to mention, though, that though my focus was Hispanic women, we were open to anybody who needed the help, who needed a wig, who needed community, who just needed a little bit of pampering.
We [00:38:00] had a lot of English-speaking patients and Spanish-speaking patients. We had somebody who is deaf talk to one of the interpreters from the hospital where I work. Her ASL interpreter asking, "What is this?" Because we had been talking about it. So she explained it. She said, "I don't need it right now, but I could have really used something like this four years ago when I lost my hair due to cancer." So I talked to the ASL interpreters at the hospital where I work and I said, "You know what I need? I need you to let your patients know, any of your patients that have cancer." Because they had already volunteered to go. I said, "Let them know and know that they're welcome." And then I started talking to the other interpreters for different languages.
And I said, "If your patients need this, you can go and support them because I only speak English and Spanish." And I said, "If you can go and support them, Please let them know and so they can come." And it grew to a [00:39:00] beautiful event with a lot of volunteers. But most importantly, we had a lot of patients show up.
We had a lot of them come ask if they could bring their families. We had entire families. We had one set of a mother and daughter who were both undergoing cancer treatment. They had lost their hair and they were just tired, you know, because they were each other's support system and they were both going through the same thing, but they were both very sad and they came.
And they got their wigs together and their makeup kits together. And we had phenomenal makeup artists join us as well to donate their services. The dad was just so grateful. He approached me and he's like, "Can I please make a donation? Because there's nothing I can do to make them this happy right now because they're so tired. They're so overwhelmed. There's so much pain and I hadn't seen them smile in a long time." We're doing this [00:40:00] to provide this kind of joy in a time when it all feels dark.
We had a great event. It was very successful. It was very fun, very moving, very touching, you know, we talk about not crossing the line, right? And it gave me permission to help, because at that time I was not being an interpreter, you know, I didn't interpret for anyone.
I stayed in my role as the coordinator of the event. It allowed me to get that out of my system. To be like, "I'm helping," when so often we feel like our hands are tied because we can't approach someone and hug them. Well, as a coordinator for the event, I could. So I did. I hugged everybody. I was so happy.
We're doing another one this year [April 26, 2025 - See comments]. My aunt's foundation is Angeles Sin Fronteras or Angels Without Borders. And they've already agreed to come and bring us another 50 to [00:41:00] 60 wigs for 50 to 60 patients and makeup kits and I'm getting everything together.
The date for sure will be on April 26th. I'm so grateful to be able to do this again because it makes my heart so happy and I know that it helps our community do better and be better. And when we're feeling better emotionally, we heal better. I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to provide the service again for our patients. Compassion is never a bad thing.
Compassion is always a good thing. It's just how you use your compassion and what you do with it that is going to make a difference. As interpreters, showing our compassion can mean very different things than for somebody else. But a smile. A look, tone of your voice, can make a very, very big difference.
And though we are meant to [00:42:00] match energies, there's a time when you have to make a decision for yourself, if you think it's appropriate, if you think it's necessary where if you're giving bad news, if you're giving somebody news that they weren't expecting or happy news, even, you know, and the person that you're voicing or interpreting for is not portraying that level of compassion.
I think that is a time when you can still do your role, stick to your role as an interpreter and interpret, but use the skills and use what you have at your disposal, like your voice, body language, smile, any of these things can make a big difference when receiving difficult news or even happy news for some [00:43:00] people.
That's another don't don't sigh. Don't roll your eyes. Don't be like, "Oh my God!" No, it is not appropriate. It is not correct. And most importantly, it's very unprofessional.
MARITZA: One of the things that we forget as interpreters is that not everybody's gonna like you. Or, not everybody is going to want your services. And in a hospital setting, you may be asked to leave by a family member or even the patient themselves. They may tell the provider, "I don't need an interpreter. I know a little English." But the place where you work may have policies around that.
We take pride in interpreting, but when somebody doesn't want to take advantage of our services. How do you feel? And how do you cope with that feeling that the people that you want to help don't want your help?
ANA FAUVET: Yeah. How do you not see it as a rejection, right? At first, it was hard because [00:44:00] I was like, "I am here to help you. I'm here to make your life easier. Why don't you want me?" You know? But I had one case in particular where the patient and their family had had a horrible experience.
There was no interpreter involved, but they'd had a horrible experience at a hospital, and they were very apprehensive. They didn't want to trust anybody. They don't want to talk to anybody. They just wanted to get the service they needed. The patient had a young son that she wanted to interpret. I've interpreted for family members. Thankfully, never in a horrible case. But it's not something we should put on children. I digress. So in this particular case, she wanted her young son to interpret. He was 15, I believe, and they were both very defensive. We explained to the patient and her son that we could not allow him to [00:45:00] interpret because, you know, hospital policy and whatnot.
And they allowed me to interpret because they didn't really have a choice at that time. So I provided my services as an interpreter and by the end of it, they approached me and they said, "Please don't think we didn't want you. Please don't think we were being rude." It's just that this happened where her concerns were dismissed. Where her pain was dismissed.
So when they explained this information to me, I remembered what it felt like to be on that side of an interpretation or a conversation with a medical professional. And I remember feeling at some times dismissed. And I remember feeling like what I said or what I felt was not important.
And when you can't trust the team that's [00:46:00] working with you, it doesn't matter if they're an interpreter. Trust does not exist for any of your medical team. So one of the things that I always try to do is reassure them. Reassure the patient. Reassure the family that, "I am here for you. If you need me, I am here to make your lives easier."
And you may want to use a family member, but especially in hard appointments and difficult appointments with new diagnosis, new medications, new treatments, your family member should be a family member because they're going to feel a lot of things, you know? And putting that on them to also stop feeling your feels so you can interpret for your mom, your grandma, your kids.
That's why we're there and the best thing for me is remembering that even if they do tell me to leave after I've explained that I'm there to [00:47:00] help. It's not about me. It's about them. About what they need and what they feel comfortable with. And that helps me not take it personally anymore.
That helps me also remember that this is why I do what I do, so they're comfortable. And if my presence is not going to make them comfortable, if my presence, though it might help communication, is going to make them feel anything but empowered, then it's okay if I'm not there.
MARITZA: Thank you so much for being with me.
ANA FAUVET: It's really been my pleasure. I never had time to really have this conversation with other people. And I think being an interpreter is great because you get to meet people with the same interests. And for me it's very fun.
MARITZA: Thank you, Anna. And thank you everyone for tuning in with interpreters and interrupters. [00:48:00]
