Jiawei Liang

Linkers Talk to me – An Invisible relationship sign for tourists to use.

From the disaster experience shared by tourists, I found out most people do have a warm heart that is willing to help others, but sometimes they can’t identify whether someone needs help. This kind of embarrassment makes people unable to lend a helping hand. Language is not the biggest gap. The most important thing is to build up a bridge to fill it. This signal is to let them confirm their needs and encourages people to communicate actively.

Also, as a familiar sign for tourists, it will become a guiding role when they search for help. Not all police stations or hospitals will provide translation services. It could become an obvious signal for them to feel they are well come to access. Foreign tourists may feel anxious and helpless when they stay in the earthquake shelter. This signal will guide them to find a group and benefit for local people to know their identity. Then they could better receive appropriate information and find a way to access to Multilingual help platform.

We always emphasize that community resilience has great power in the disaster recovery stage. But it is difficult for foreigners to access to the local community. So I design these sign to help them build up the relationship with local people and service. It’s a kind of short-term community.