This paper examines the relationship between translation and comprehension when
communicating health-related information during a crisis. It tests comprehension levels
among a population of rural and urban Kenyans of health-related crisis communication
presented to them in an English source text and a Kiswahili target text. These data were
gathered in Kenya in collaboration with a non-profit organisation, Translators without
Borders, and the overarching aim of the project was to assess empirically the potential
impact of translation on comprehension of health-crisis content.
Findings indicate that English is not a suitable medium for the transfer of important
health-related information among the cohort of participants in this study, despite
English being an official language of Kenya. In contrast, Kiswahili, also an official
language, seems to function well. As a result, a need for translation into Kiswahili in this
context has been empirically shown. It was further found that written modes of
communication are not necessarily the most appropriate modes for the dissemination of
health-related crisis information among this cohort. This presents interesting challenges
for governments, crisis response agencies, and translators alike, and these challenges
are discussed