There Isn’t Enough Online COVID-19 Information in African Languages. These Activists Are Changing That. The pandemic has made translating information around social distancing and masks much more crucial. By Kim Harrisberg and Kristi Eaton Johannesburg/Tulsa, April 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — The words "facemask" and "hand sanitiser" are now familiar the world over, but for isiZulu speakers in South Africa those terms did not exist a year ago, until a group of volunteers took to the internet to create them. From Wikipedia posts in Indigenous tongues to digital word libraries, African language lovers are going online to preserve and create words and content for future generations — an effort that has been given added urgency by the coronavirus pandemic.