Yvonne’s talk was really interesting. She discussed how to open for business is a coalition of companies that believe that inclusive, diverse societies are better for business. Their main goal is to advance the rights of the LGBTQ+ communities. I also found it really interesting how the language in each country is different. She said that she had to know the language of each country to get them to listen to you. So you have to use “Sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression” instead of LGBTQ+ so they will understand and listen. She also discussed how South Africa is the most progressive that being that they have laws protecting the LGBTQ+ community, but there is a lot that still needs to change as there are still a lot of problems such as corrective rape. I also was wondering about the Swahili language, she said that the language doesn’t have male or female pronouns. Does this help or hurt the culture of the society in regard to the LGBTQ+ issues and rights? I also thought that it was so heartbreaking to know that there is so much discrimination in the workplace in Kenya. Being gay can get you fired or suspended which is insane. It’s great the Open for Business provides companies with training about how to be more inclusive.
Lander’s talk was also really intriguing. It was interesting that Lander’s job is the mix between social science and epidemiology. It was interesting to see how children are included or not included in urban policies. It is also crazy to hear that only 1 in 5 kids are being active for one hour leading to obesity is an epidemic. Also with the first case, it was shocking to see that over 75% of kids in Nairobi walk to school which puts them in danger of traffic accidents. For case 2, I thought it was surprising that London was the highest country with childhood obesity. It was also interesting that children are usually most active when they are in school and not after it. It really makes you think about how technology affects children and your environment can really affect your wellbeing.
Lastly, with Joshua’s presentation, I think that it was amazing that they talked to real people about how they were feeling about COVID and how their lives are going. Looking up Kibera on google maps and OpenStreetMap. I am not sure if I did this right. But, Google took me to the country and Open Street Maps just took me to a series of buildings called Kibera