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New OCCI President
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International Women’s Day
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Reminder for ACI’s
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Spring Forward – Daylight Saving Time
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COVID Best Practices Guide
New OCCI President
On February 8, 2021, the Board of Directors voted in Sepideh Salimi as the new President of OCCI. We thank Anita Tancredi for her time as President and her ongoing commitment to OCCI. We are very happy that Anita will continue as Chair of the Healthcare Committee.
Sepideh has a long history in the industry not only as an IRB and OCCI Community interpreter (ACI), but as a board member of OCCI as well as Treasurer. Latha Sukumar is replacing Sepideh as Treasurer. Sepideh is a strong leader and along with the Board will continue OCCI’s mission for professionalizing the community interpreter sector in Ontario. We would like to see all interpreters become OCCI-ACIs.
International Women’s Day
A few days ago, the world celebrated International Women’s Day and we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge this annual celebration; a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality.
Marked annually on March 8th, International Women’s Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:
- celebrate women’s achievements
- raise awareness about women’s equality
- lobby for accelerated gender parity
- fundraise for female-focused charities
- More information
Reminder for ACI’s
- Professional Development Unit (PDU’s) are one-hour blocks of time that you spend learning and developing your skills. These are accumulated and tracked over your 5 year certification cycle to maintain your status.
- 50 hours of PDU (consisting of 30 hours of professional development and 20 hours of personal development) is required over five years, or 10 hours per year. The PDU’s can be courses, trainings, webinars and workshops; live, virtual and on demand events.
- Visit OCCI website for latest PD opportunities.
- As part of COVID relief, beginning March 1, 2021, there will be rate reductions for both ACI renewals and 1st time applicants as follows:
- Renewals $75.00 (originally $100.00)
- General ACI $95.00 (originally $125.00)
- Specialization ACI $110.00 (originally $150.00)
Daylight Saving Time
The second Sunday in March is when Daylight Saving Time begins in most areas of the Canada, so in 2021 we’ll “spring forward” one hour, on Sunday, March 14, 2021, at 2 a.m.
Be sure to set your clocks ahead one hour before bed on Saturday night!
COVID Best Practices Guide
A great guideline created by the following organizations:
Interpreter Resources
These are stressful times for everyone and treating each other with compassion, civility, and kindness are fundamental in staying healthy and safe.
- OCCI Interpreter Resources
- A good article that deals with soft skills as integral skill to be a successful and professional interpreter
- Wearing Mask in Public
- When and How to Wear a Mask
- Concerned you may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of COVID? Visit the Ministry of Health website
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Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) COVID-19 Communication Guidelines National
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Center for State Courts (NCSC) Recommendations for In-Person Court Interpretation
Order free copies of:
“Working with Your Professional Interpreter” guide
The brochure is intended for individuals facing language barriers, explaining the role of professional interpreters in healthcare and answering such questions as:
- What does an Interpreter Do?
- Who is a Professional Interpreter?
- Do I need an interpreter?
- How Do I Get an Interpreter?
- How do I ask for help?
The brochure has been translated into 17 languages:
Arabic, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, English, Farsi, French, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Nepali, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, and Vietnamese.
To preview the brochure and to order free copies, go to the OCCI Publications page
The OCCI would like the acknowledge the generous support of our Gold and Silver sponsors.
For a full list of current sponsors and links to their websites, please see our home page.
Please send us your questions, comments, feedback, and suggestions.
The OCCI is committed to broad stakeholder engagement
and we want to hear from you.
Are there any questions that we have not addressed in the FAQs page?
What would you like to read about in the OCCI News?
Do you have any other feedback?
Please contact us at info@occi.ca
Divi
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