From Chile to Cambodia ... With Some Help from South Africa

This article describes the perseverance of Javier Solá, a Chilean-born computer technician who has helped bring computer software in the Khmer language to Cambodia. Solá's quest developed after he recognised that the internet had turned into a commodity controlled by the United States and that it was excluding people who do not speak or read English. In Cambodia, teaching children computing would be impossible. Because personal computers (PCs) come with English, a language unknown to the Cambodian population, Solá set out to make computers work in the Khmer language.

The article describes one of Solá's challenges in working with the Khmer script, an Indic-based script, based on Brahmi. He first sought to create a multi-platform of software tools with the goal of a first release in Windows-based programmes, accompanied by a distribution and training plan. He also separated out the English language from computing. Solá describes Cambodia as being "in an odd situation" because the administration could not work in its own language, on computers. Further, according to Solá, "when you transliterate the language into English characters, there are different ways of spelling. That causes a problem."

One of the needs that Sola first anticipated was poor high school students graduating and needing jobs. He figured that in two months time they could accomplish computer training that would help them find jobs, and then go on, possibly, to learn English. Solá also sought to reduce training time and to reach out to rural areas.

Solá points out that some countries are at an advantage if Microsoft isn't supporting their language. If this is the case, there are infinite possibilities but "if Microsoft is in your language, you have a requirement of localising. Otherwise you can't compete..."

Solá's project has six translators and one typographer. So far, Solá reports "We have translated Internet tools, and we've translated Open Office. ThunderBird, FireFox, and Imp -- the last being a webmail programme, needed since many users don't have their own computers on which to download mail to. In terms of Open Office, we will be ready for distribution in April. Open Office is translated. We're working on the help-section, and hope to finish in a month."

Solá has learned from the experience of colleagues in South Africa where they have carried out a large-scale localisation project tthat translates free software into 11 national languages. Solá's latest project includes creating a manual on how-to do a localisation project.

Javier Solá is the Coordinator of the KhmerOS Initiative, an open project aimed at producing free software in Khmer language. The project is hosted by Open Forum of Cambodia, a local NGO based in Phnom Penh.