We are a part of SIL Global and work to support SIL Global, whose vision is to see, “communities flourishing, using the languages they value most”. From our research and experience, we see that there are many ways for diaspora communities to get involved in this vision, and in many ways, the diaspora communities are already leading work like this. Our hope is that we can bring the two efforts together so that this type of work is amplified and energized by the synergy and shared efforts. 

Noting the reality of increased migration of people moving out of dangerous countries, we noticed the big overlap in unmet needs from those very same countries. This indicated that a large percentage of the work that still needs to be done in these communities could perhaps be continued or initiated among the diaspora communities who have left those places. And with current technology, we also saw that even though people were leaving their homeland, they were staying involved and connected to their community, spending hours on video and audio calls using their most natural languages. 

In learning of these new migration realities, we saw a gap that we could fill - connecting the diaspora language community members to SIL’s work, and vice versa. We started looking to see if we could meet diaspora people from countries where it’s difficult to do this work, and partner with them where strategic. To make this possible, we’ve developed a research method for learning who’s where, and a vast network of people connected to diaspora communities. 

This research method engages diaspora communities to complete a participatory language survey process to support communities in reflecting on their language, how they are using it in the diaspora context, and their hopes for language development. This community led process puts the diaspora community members in the driver’s seat of the process and provides us with the data we need to support them in language development projects.

Our team also manages some projects with diaspora communities, and has the capacity to take on more, especially when they don’t quite fit in the existing structure. We work closely with teams from the language community’s country of origin, to make sure we’re collaborating well with any other efforts that might support/serve that same community. Sometimes we can invite new people to join the work, and sometimes we can support starting a new project. 

SIL’s Global Diaspora Services has now grown to about 25 members, living and working all over the world. Most of our teammates are in the United States, but we now have a European division that is growing and supporting more work there, as well as teammates in South Korea, and soon in Uganda. We’re also proud that our director and several teammates are members of a diaspora community themselves.