This is essentially a goodbye letter to all of the great friends I've made here at WA in the last year. In the last week I became very involved with an Ecuadoran translating team that is certified to translate for the Ecuadoran judicial system. It's very important for all parties involved in court cases to understand the charges being brought against defendants. Especially the prosecutor and the judge. It's also important for the defense attorney. The easiest thing for my bilingual associate is to be called into court for a verbal translation. Ecuadoran law requires that a defendant be given a translator within 90 days or be released.

A difficult situation arises when US law enforcement is involved and all of their reports are in English. The United States Coast Guard is permitted to operate in Ecuadoran waters because the US has a treaty with Ecuador in regards to drug interdiction. We spent many hours translating a USCG after action report involving three detainees and 180 kg of cocaine. We were required to reproduce the military forms used by the Coast Guard and put it all into Spanish. Of course this also required the translation of acronyms from English to Spanish. We needed to provide a clear understanding for the court.

The USCG is very professional and leaves no stone unturned. I can truly say that the things I learned in my WA training were very helpful in this project. WA is very much a higher education in online work. I am just overwhelmed with work and I have ignored my own household upkeep in order to keep working with WA and the translating group. The translating income I will receive is guaranteed more or less and it will provide enough supplemental income for my needs.

I know that some of you have very high goals and I wish you success. Best regards, Bob