Voices in Refuge
Interpreting services
Meet the Team
Head of Training and Development
Slovenian, Mandarin
Head of Training and Development
Head of Training and Development
Barbara S. Dhliwayo
Barbara has worked at Nottingham Refugee Forum since 2012 and has been involved with Voices in Refuge from the beginning. She spent two years living in Qinhuangdao in China - a small town of a million people - before she brought her enthusiasm for languages to Nottingham! She is currently learning Spanish and Zulu, and getting really good at Parentese!
Matt Bedford
Voices in Refuge
Co-ordinator
Interpreter
Gita Salimi
Farsi, Dari
Gita is originally from Iran and came to the UK to study a PhD in Sociology on the topic of Iranian Migrant Women. She runs a book club for Iranian women and loves novels. She takes a walk every day with one of her two sons and loves playing table tennis.
Thomas Tilahun
Interpreter
Tigrinya, Oromo, Amharic
Thomas has been interpreting for over 2 years. He lives with his wife and two children. He loves anything with meat in, enjoys driving and action movies. In order to learn English he thinks you just have to "try, try, try!"
Zina
Yasiri
Interpreter
Arabic
Mahmoud Noor
Interpreter
Arabic, Zaghawa, French
Mahmood works as an administrator, but he is a talented linguist. His native tongue is Zaghawa, a Sudanese tribal language, but he also speaks Arabic and French. He is keen to learn another language to add to the collection. He enjoys reading, especially anything history related.
Nawzad
Mouloud
Interpreter
Kurdish (Sorani, Bahdini), Farsi
"I love interpreting. I could do it all day long!"
Nawzad began by interpreting for friends and became obsessed with the English language. He is constantly learning new idioms and often can be found with a note book of new phrases. His most recent discovery is "don't hold your breath". Originally from Kurdistan, he's recently engaged!
Fatmah Hosseini
Interpreter
Dari, Farsi, Arabic
I am Fatemeh originally from Afghanistan, I have worked as a volunteer for more than two years for Voices in Refuge who have helped me to get more experience and confidence.
I'm a social person and I like to work with people who are from different backgrounds so that why I love my job as an interpreter. I spend my free time with my family and friends and enjoy it.
Fairouz Shermado
Interpreter
Arabic
Fairouz is our scientist! As a qualified medic, she came to the UK from Libya to study a PhD in Molecular Biology. She also loves to cook - her favourite food is Mbattan - a Libyan dish of meat stuffed potatoes. She likes to play tennis but spends lots of her time looking after her four children.
Fawad's Story
This is the story of Fawad Mousawi, an interpreter at Voices in Refuge. He talks about life growing up as a refugee in Iran, his year long journey to the UK and what it feels like to live in a country where he can finally feel free.
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Produced by LeftLion