TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy services: Translation of Open Telerehabilitation software content library from English to Kinyarwanda.

Project: Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development (INECD/ USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose)

RFQ Ref: RFQ/2025/001

CONTEXT

Humanity & Inclusion (HI), in partnership with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) as the lead partner and other consortium members (Umuhuza, Three Stones International, and the University of Global Health Equity), is implementing a comprehensive disability inclusion, rehabilitation, and assistive technology (AT) component within the five-year USAID-funded Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development (INECD/USAID GIKURIRO KURI BOSE) program. This progressive program promotes nurturing and responsive care practices for caregivers and children, particularly in essential health, functioning, nutrition, and early childhood development (ECD). A key component of this initiative focuses on addressing social inclusion needs, child development gaps, physical rehabilitation, and assistive technology requirements, recognizing that inclusive practices can significantly improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. Among the key program interventions include enhancing access good quality rehabilitation/AT services through the national healthcare system strengthening. It is in this framework that the INECD program in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), is planning to pilot the telerehabilitation services in 5 district hospitals namely: Gahini hospital in Kayonza district, Bushenge in Nyamasheke district, Nyanza in Nyanza district, Masaka in Kicukiro district and Rutongo hospital in Rulindo district.

The telerehabilitation interventions will involve the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to deliver rehabilitation services remotely and this approach will effectively bridge the gap between patients and Rehabilitation professionals in their own environment. The program participants from the remote areas will receive the rehabilitation services from qualified rehabilitation professionals working at their respective district hospitals without necessarily travelling a long distance. With just a mere desktop and 4G Internet connection, the physiotherapists at the district hospitals will be connected to the INECD program participants in need of the rehabilitation services at the health centers. The ICT telerehabilitation equipment at the district hospital will be connected to the same facilities at the health center in a specific room reserved for that purpose to enable the physiotherapist interact with the clients at the health center under the supervision of a trained nurse. For service users to have access to these IT based rehabilitation services, the content has to be in the language they clearly understand.

It is against this background that Federation Handicap International (HI) under the INECD program, is looking for a well experienced, talented and skilled consultant for translating our existing open tele-rehabilitation library content including physical rehabilitation exercise from English to Kinyarwanda language.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPECTED SERVICE

2.1. General objectives:

• Strengthen Rwanda’s healthcare systems’ capacity to deliver telerehabilitation services to the people in need of those services within 5 INECD catchments districts: Kayonza, Nyamasheke, Nyanza, Kicukiro and Rulindo districts

2.2.Specific objectives: 

• To provide translation of the software and the clinical content library.

2.3.Expected Results, deliverables and timelines

• A Kinyarwanda open telerehabilitation library content is developed

2.4. Responsibilities

The consultant

• Content evaluation and preparation: The consultant will thoroughly read the full scope of the content within the telerehabilitation library such as: demos, instructional materials, videos, audios and user guide to understand the extent of the translation required.

• Cultural and linguistic adaptation: Ensure that the language used in the translation respects cultural norms, including rehabilitation and other healthcare-related practices. Ensure the rehabilitation terminologies are easy to understand by all intended users, not stigmatizing and preserving the original intent of the content.
• Ensure accuracy of medical and rehabilitation technical terminologies: Collaborate with the rehabilitation professionals or subject matter experts (SMEs) to ensure the rehabilitation techniques and terminologies are translated accurately. The consultant will also create a glossary of key rehabilitation-related terms, to ensure consistency throughout the entire library.
• Multimedia content adaptation: If videos are part of the library, ensure accurate and culturally appropriate subtitles or voiceovers are provided, considering local accents, terms, and phrasing. The consultant will also ensure the images, audios, icons, or infographics resonate with the target audience and meet cultural and rehabilitation preferences.
• Quality assurance and proofreading: Ensure the translated content is accurate, coherent, and contextually appropriate by performing a thorough review. This should include proofreading for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. The consultant will also Perform consistency checks across different types of content (text, videos, instructions) to maintain uniform terminology, tone, and style.
• User experience and usability testing: After the translation exercise, the consultant will gather feedback from the intended users e.g. program participants and rehab professionals to test the usability and understanding of the translated materials. S/he will ensure that the translated content is easy to read, accessible to people with disabilities, and user-friendly across different devices and platforms.

• Collaboration with the developers and designers and other relevant stakeholders including MoH and RBC: The hired consultant will Work closely with HI telerehabilitation specialists at the headquarter or other designated rehabilitation professionals including technical advisors, web developers, designers to ensure smooth integration of the translated content into the open library’s platform. S/he will ensure that the translated text fits well within the design and layout constraints of the platform (e.g., avoid text overflows, adjust for different text lengths in various languages).

USAID Gikuriro Kuri Bose (HI & CRS)

• Provide access to open tele-rehabilitation software exclusively for translation and testing services
• Facilitate the consultant to gather all needed information and documents including: open tele-rehabilitation, and the existing rehabilitation terminologies that may be required for the success of the translation works
• Organize internal consultative meetings to generate inputs, information and ideas from HI rehabilitation professional on the subject matter
• Organize internal pre-validation meeting and external final validation workshop for the translated content
• Fulfil the contractual obligation including payment of the consultant

Core deliverables:

• An inception report
• The open telerehabilitation library content translated into Kinyarwanda
• Activity report

Duration of the Assignment:The translation works should be completed in a period of 10 days including the final validation workshop as per the following schedules:

• Presentation of the inception report: Feb 10, 2025
• Content translation: 11 – 19 February 2025
• Content review through internal meetings: 20 – 21 February 2025
• Presentation of the final work: February 24, 2025
• Submission of the activity report and invoice: February 26, 2025

Desired qualification/ experience of the Consultant

5.1. Education background:

• A bachelor’ degree in Translation, Linguistics, or Related Field. Having an additional experience or technical exposure in the physical rehabilitation sector will be an added advantage: Physical therapy, P&O, Occupational therapy and related fields

5.2. Experience

• A good experience in navigating through Open Educational Resources (OER), the dynamics of open sources and how to make content accessible to a wide range of users.
• Experience in translating healthcare-related content, particularly related to physical therapy. Familiarity with rehabilitation terminologies and practices is crucial
• Experience with Multimedia Content: Knowledge of subtitling, voiceover translation, and adapting multimedia content (e.g., videos, graphics) for different languages and cultures.

5.3. Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent translation and interpretation skills
• Fluent in Kinyarwanda and English (both oral and written)
• A knowledge or understanding of telerehabilitation practices, platforms, and technologies will be beneficial, as this content often involves complex rehabilitation terminologies
• Attention to Detail: Strong proofreading and editing skills to ensure the final translation is accurate, clear, and consistent.
• Familiarity with Translation Tools: Proficiency with translation memory software (e.g., SDL Trados, MemoQ) and other localization tools to ensure consistency across large volumes of content.
• ICT skills

6. ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL requirements

Proposals from interested consultants(s) should include the following:

• Letter of expression of interests addressed to the country Manager HI Rwanda Program
• Curriculum vitae (compulsory) detailing the consultant’s qualifications and experience in language translation and interpretation
• Technical Proposal outlining the proposed methodology, work plan, and timelines
• Financial Proposal: provides detailed financial information, including cost estimates, budgets, pricing structures, and financial plans related to a project or contract. This should include all applicable tax: VAT 18%. Financial proposal should be in the local currency
• Respect of HI institutional Policies (Anti-fraud, bribery, and corruption policy, Humanity and Inclusion policy on inclusion, gender and Age, Code of conduct HI, and Child protection policy) remember to sign each policy and send them together with your offer.
• Bank details (account name, account number, and bank name). This also applies to international consultants
• Valid tax clearance certificate (RRA)
• Clearance certificate for RSSB
• Proof of ownership or access to EBM machine and ability to provide EBM invoices
• Not blacklisted by Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA), USAID, Federation Handicap International and Catholic Relief Services. No certificate required
• A Valid RDB registration with Tax Identification Number, RSSB clearance certificate, and clear and precise payment terms.
• Demonstrated experience in translation and interpretation works
• The certificates of good completion for previous relevant assignments are required.
• Copy of Applicant ID/Passport or company representative ID or Passport is required
• Copy of Company legalization certificate or Consultancy business registration of the activity or any documents certifying the regularity of the activity

The Evaluation of the applications will be done in 2 phases:

• Administrative selection: checking for completeness of application for all compulsory items listed above). Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration for technical selection.
• Technical selection: criteria to select the best application will be based on the quality of the technical proposal, competitive financial proposal, human resources skills and previous experiences, and demonstrated expertise of the applicant.

The deadline for submission of applications is January 27, 2025 at midnight. Proposals should be submitted to the following email: dao@rwanda.hi.org; including the email subject” translation of open telerehabilitation library content”. Only candidates who pass the administrative selection will be taken into consideration for the technical assessment and they will be afterward notified of the decision.

Selected applicants may be invited for a (phone/skype) interview. HI reserves the right to contact the applicants for further information before the final selection of the selection committee.

7. APPENDICES

Anti-Fraud, bribery, and corruption policy

Humanity &inclusion’s policy on Disability, Gender and Age

Code of conduct: Integrity, Preventing of abuse and Safeguarding

Child protection policy

Melanie GEISER

Country Manager