Welcome to DITL of a freelance translator, where we attempt to answer the question “What do translators do all day?”

This week we’re asking Samuel Byiringiro, a translator and interpreter from Rwanda working with English, French, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi.

My Name is Samuel Byiringiro, I was born and raised in Rwanda, a landlocked country in the Eastern-Central part of Africa, with beautiful hills and mountains. It’s popularly described as the Land of a Thousand hills. I am a professional translator and interpreter. My working languages are English, French, French-Canadian, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi (coming up for Spanish, though still limping, hahaa). As a private consultant translator, I carry out freelancing projects in the fields of health, finance, administration, religion, etc… and I work with a company as a community interpreter (that is medical, social, legal fields). Apart from that, I do some volunteer work with networks that I am affiliated with, whereby I translate a monthly devotional from English to Kinyarwanda and interpret some live-streamed programs from time to time in the course of the month. Well, my world is centered around translation and interpretation and I enjoy it a lot because I love people so much and I am passionate about communication, which birthed my interest for languages. I always wish I could speak with everybody (funny, right?).

We can connect at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-byiringiro-1bbb57117

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sam_graced_n_blessed?igsh=YzljYTk1ODg3Zg==

What is a day in my life like?

6:00am: I am up for morning devotion and prayer with a church group online. We pray and read the Bible and our rhapsody devotional to start off the day for one hour.

7:00am-8:00am: A bonus sleep 😃😀 (you will understand the why later as you keep reading), but basically, it’s because I go to bed very late most of times and I always wake up for prayer; so that’s to help ensure I get enough rest for the tasks ahead.

8:00am-9:00am: As I wake up refreshed, I have some meditation time for a few minutes, about 20 minutes. Sometimes, I can read the Bible or another book, or listen to an inspiring audio or video podcast to get my mind ready. I will then make my breakfast ready and do some clean-ups.

9:00am-10:30am: Time to check my online world and do some work as well. This is the moment I start off with my phone and check some messages on social media, check my email and also send some communications to people I may need to be in touch with. Of course, during this time, I am having my breakfast as well which varies from day to day, but my breakfast menu is usually made up of two of these: porridge, tea, milk, pancakes, donuts, bread and eggs. Today, it was oats porridge. It’s also the moment I get some things in order at home, like some undone laundry over the weekend if any, someone I need to check on during the week and the carry-over work I need to do something about. While at this, I might be listening to my favorite music, usually groovy gospel songs, or slow ballad worship, depending on the mood.

10:30am-12:30pm: At around this time, I am starting to think about my lunch and my office work. I get started with lunch preparations, usually simple and convenient (you understand it’s for a single guy, multitasking and working to thrive). As the food is getting ready (which usually takes 25 minutes to 40 minutes depending on the menu), I get to do some informal work that I enjoy. Today, I was working on a song and instrumental to sing at my church service this week. So, I have my lunch and chill, then start getting ready to go to work.

12:30pm-1:20pm: It usually takes me 40 minutes to get ready and leave home for the office, which usually takes 20 to 30 minutes to get there depending on the road traffic of the day. I usually get to the office 15 minutes or 5 minutes before and I get to check on my colleagues before I log into the system.

2:00pm- 4:25pm: I am on my desk and logged in online, awaiting to receive calls for duty from my clients. My clients range from healthcare providers, attorneys, judges, police officers, social workers, case workers in refugee centers and each interpretation session varies in length and kind and language pair. Imagine, the switch I enjoy, from English-Kinyarwanda, English-French and English-Kirundi, in one work session. I am ready and set for any call that might come in. While I wait for the clients online, it’s time to work on some translation projects. I have a devotional that I translate and proofread every month. As I am writing this story now, I am at the proofreading stage and today, I gave myself some break from it to focus on something else. We usually have 1 hour break time broken into 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 15 minutes segments respectively. During my break time, I usually grab a drink, usually African tea and milk with some snacks at the office. (it’s very important for this kind of work). I also do some stretches and I get to have some convo with my colleagues. Though, sometimes they are intrusive because we have different work shifts. During this session, the volume of the calls is not very high because, according to the time zone of my clients (in the US and Canada), it’s still too early in the morning.

4:40pm-7:10pm: Sometimes, the shift may change depending on the length of the last call I had before break, which may delay my break time. During this session, the volume of calls is the highest; I may receive calls during the whole shift with varying cases and languages. So, I am mostly focused on the clients online. It’s during this shift that I may require some cup of coffee to deal with Mr Sleep 😃 because he always tries to sneak in at around this time (now that his secret is known, he might change his strategy, but I got him anyway 😄😆). During this time, I am assisting patients, some who came for consultations, others for surgery, others for regular doctor’s appointments for check-ups. I also get to assist with legal procedures at immigration and refugee centers. Many times, I get to assist in social programs appointments, and facilitate the care and support of the less privileged immigrants. I enjoy this a lot and I find so much purpose in it, not leaving the interventions during court cases with prosecutors and judges. While doing this, I get to mediate, translate and advocate for different people and ensure that they are cared for in the best way possible. I get my second break for 30 minutes. During this time, I can check on my phone, answer some calls and/or messages, call some friends and chill.

7:40pm- 9:45pm is another busy session of my work shift. I still have lots of calls to work on, but they are gradually reducing. During this time, I also do some side work, like writing. I am currently writing a book as well, which will soon be published. It’s at this point that I am writing this story as well. After this, I have another 15-minute break.

09:45pm – 11:00pm: This is the last session of my daily shift. At this time, I am almost rounding off my day, taking some few calls from my clients and this is when I get to receive some clients who might extend my shift, (which I don’t always like but I am always happy to help). At this point, I am also rounding up my online work, reviewing and saving some documents worked on during the day and getting ready to go home. Since it’s already late at night, I just head straight home and I get dropped by the company vehicle.

11:00pm – 12:30am: It takes 30 minutes to get back home, of course with some stress from the day and I have to rest and refuel. I get supper and some tea and prepare to go to bed. But before this time, I may have to watch a movie, follow a sermon or check my social media to cool off my mind. At around 1:00am, I just pray and go to bed. I get my first sleep at around 1:30am and sleep off until the next morning. It may get different when I have a deadline to meet which is closing up on me. Then, I may have to stay up until 3am or 4am, then sleep until 10:00am. That’s my day.