Dear brothers and sisters,
Neshorn Technologies As has started a fundraiser on Kickstarter to raise funds for the development of Runyankore translation mobile app and a website that will be used for Runyankore translations to English, Swahili, Kikuyu, Luganda and Lango. The mobile app will be available for Android and iOS mobile phones.
Our language is a very important part of our culture, history and identity, unfortunately we have done little towards the preservation of this important part of our culture. There has been no funds for this kind of projects because most institutions are preoccupied with other pressing issues in our societies, but we can not afford to continue ignoring our culture. This kind of mobile apps have already been developed for languages in Europe and other developed countries, no one is going to do this for us.
The Runyankore translations will be included in an already existing mobile app called Safarini Translator, this makes the development less expensive compared to starting from scratch. Safarini Translator mobile app has been developed by Neshorn Technologies and is available for android & iPhone. It is free to download Safarini Translator on Google play and Apple store.Neshorn Technologies developed Safarini Translator with limited funds from individuals, after launching Safarini Translator, we have received so many requests that we should include Runyankore which is a major language in Uganda.
We therefore call up on you brothers and sisters to share the collective responsibility for the development and preservation of Runyankore as an important aspect of our culture.
The project will last about two months and it will involve the following activities:
1. Software development work on the control panel, expansion of the android and iOS Safarini Translator in order to accommodate Runyankore in the translations.
2. Translation of over 10,000 words from English to Runyankore.
3. Voice recording for over 10,000 words in Runyankore by native speakers. We make audio voice recordings from native speakers in order to produce accurate pronunciation of the words.
Our future plan includes:
1. Developing Safarini Translator for the Windows mobile phone
2. keep including more features e.g voice recognition.
We shall use any balance from available funds towards implementation of the above mentioned future projects on Safarini Translator.
Neshorn Technologies As is a software development company registered in Norway with employees in Norway, Kenya, Uganda and India.
You can get more information about our company and the projects on: http://www.neshorntechnologies.no/