A global pandemic can’t stop us: Chinese language experts selflessly volunteer in the fight against rabies

Enforced lockdown is a reality in these strange times during the COVID-19 pandemic. People who do not provide essential services are required to remain at home in an effort to flatten the curve and control the spread of the disease. While most people who are remaining indoors are using this time to spend quality time with their loved ones and companion animals, skilled language experts from China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) have used this time to focus their efforts on another ongoing battle with a zoonotic disease – rabies. They have used their skills to translate material from English to Simplified Chinese so that life-saving information can reach millions more people in the rabies endemic world.

 

Over the course of the last few weeks, six translators from CBCGDF have been hard at work translating all of the coursework for GARC’s foundation education course, the Rabies Educator Certificate (REC). Through their hard work, dedication and immense effort, the life-saving messages provided in the REC can now reach audiences across the People’s Republic of China – a country that experiences an estimated 6,000 preventable human deaths from rabies every year. That is almost double the reported number of deaths from COVID-19 in China as of 31st  March 2020. The translated rabies education course will not only ensure that people know how to prevent rabies but will also improve the lives and well-being of communities and their dogs.

As more and more Chinese families begin to keep pets such as cats and dogs, it is particularly important for more Chinese families to understand and learn about rabies prevention and control.

In addition to the English, French and Spanish versions, the Simplified Chinese version of the REC course is now freely available on the GARC Education Platform where any interested person can become a certified rabies educator.

 

Sign up to become a certified rabies educator, or alternatively investigate ways in which you can volunteer to help us eliminate unnecessary human and animal deaths from rabies on our brand-new volunteer section of our website. You can also join us in the global #TwoPointSixChallenge – read more here!

 

"In this difficult time when countries around the world are trying their best to fight against COVID-19, people should pay more attention to community health, pet health and their own health.” - Tongtong Xue

Article written by Andre Coetzer (GARC) and Tongtong Xue (CBCGDF)