I feel like a Host with 22 Co-Hosts!
I feel even more elated because we are meeting for a just cause; to beam fresh light 
on a Community of people, not to pity them or empathize with them but to give them an Assurance that we; Local Guides are doing something about Accessibility and that;
"from the Year 2022, they will be able to live in a world Unbothered
about the Borders and restrictions their condition has placed on them."
- Now, what is Accessibility?
Accessibility is strongly related to universal design which is the process of creating products that are usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities, operating within the widest possible range of situations. This is about making things accessible to all people (whether they have a disability or not).
- Now, what is Accessibility to Local Guides?
After attending many of the âAccessibility Meet-upsâ and listening to Emeka Ulor, Kashif Misidia, and the likes of them, I can gleefully tell you that;
âAccessibility to Google Local Guides is a channel through which Local Guides ensure that everyone in the world (irrespective of their physical conditions or mental state) enjoys and benefits from places they want to visit and things they want to do, by ensuring that all the necessary facilities are in place for this to happen.â
A lot of work has been done and I am deeply awed by the amount of work that has gone into this already.
With this in mind, my friends and I decided to channel our next Meetup towards Accessibility, to; not just tell the story of a people or of the features they need to survive, but to âlive in and feel their worldâ, in hope that we may become more aware of the fact that; Accessibility is a right championed more for a people than for a causeâŠ
- How will this Meet go? We have shared the four basic things we will be doing in the Application post;
- Presentation: Each participant will make a presentation that will take 120 seconds (2 minutes only). Please prepare your list of 3 places that you want to share and add to this shared drive folder
- Map Editing: please come along with your âGoogle Mapsâ preinstalled. As a group, we will be adding information about locations we have visited and updating Accessible features available. You can begin doing that from today.
- Screen readers: we only know how important our Captions are on Photos when we close our eyes and test out the âAccessibility function -Voice Assistantâ on the Phone. I am utterly guilty of this!
We will be editing our Captions, trying them out on Voice Assistant and seeing if it makes sense, with our eyes closed. - A search for one person in our neighborhood, who; while being physically challenged, champions the rights of others in the community. Local Guides who wish to participate in this will submit an entry on Connect under the category âLocal Storiesâ, with your preferred title and with the hashtag #unbothered22 and mention @FalguniP and Me @Ewaade_3A . The Link to this post will be added to this Shared Drive Folder
- Sign Language: we will be practicing some basic sign language. After which, we will have an exercise. The words we are practicing on sign language are;
- Go
- Please
- Sit
- Thank you
- I am sorry
- Take care
- I love you
- Accessibility
- Local Guides
- Google Maps
- We care
At the end of this first session, we will be having the Entertainment session or if you like, call it; The After-party.
AFTER-PARTY (BALLROOM)
- Theme song: The Theme song for this Meetup is Color Esperanza by Diego Torres. This song is a gift from someone special who is a native Spanish speaker and who I explained to, that; I wanted a short Spanish song that should be a song of hope for an Accessibility Meetup. (I donât know if they will like to be mentioned). The catch is the Chorus - Saber que se puerde⊠I want to say a very big thank you to the beautiful Jesi, my Senior, who in her wisdom chose this song for me. Thank you, Jesi @Jesi . If people love this song, then you must get your credit, because you chose it.
- Dress code: our dress-code is Ballroom, you be complaining of how you have no where to wear your clothes to because of Lockdown, well, here comes a dress party
- Games: In addition to the Colors and Story game that we love so much, we will be playing a new one, a âChair gameâ, please come along with a stand alone chair.
- Bring a Friend Along: if you have a friend who is not a Local Guide, bring them along, we have a lot of places to cover in the world, let this be an introduction of what Local Guides do and how âfun-filledâ we can be, who knows? Your friend may just be the next Local Guide
- Music: In this Meet, we are giving you the opportunity to select your own favorite song and add it to the Playlist. As the theme of the party suggests, the Music must fit âBallroomâ.
- Voting: We will be voting for the "Best Presentation", not from the 2 minutes Presentation but from this; A search for one person in our neighborhood, who; while being physically challenged, champions the rights of others in the community.
PRIZES
The Prizes to be won include;
- Best Presentation (A search for one person in our neighborhood, who; while being physically challenged, champions the rights of others in the community). This is a 2-Prize gift. One for the Person Presented and the second gift is for the Local Guide who presented this person
- Most Creative Response to the Theme song: Theme song is Color Esperanza, you can check the English translation here; The Local Guide who is able to Show their creativity through; dance, Photography, food, etc. will be declared winner
- Best Dressed Female and Best Dressed Male
- Best Attendee
DOCUMENTS FOLDER
- Photo Album
- Submit Your 2 minutes Presentation
- Submit the link of your Connect Post for that 'ONE PERSON IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOODâ
- Submit your favorite Music to the Unbothered-22 Playlist
- Most creative response to the Theme song; please send your link to me via Private Messaging here on Connect.
APPRECIATION
On the 5th of August, 2020, I shared a message with some Local Guides and in less than 24 hours, we had over 70 photos! Falguni and I did the Photos collection. 
We had to plead for the Photo collection to stop.
I want to give a shout-out and a massive thank you to the following; my darling friends with whom every Meetup idea is generated and born;
- Falguni Paleja @FalguniP
- Alpha Sumareh @AlphaSays
I want to give a massive shout-out and express my Profound gratitude to the 22 Local Guides who submitted their Photos especially those who took the effort to look unbothered 
. Thank you so much!
- Sandra Surjadiredja (Indonesia)
- Kashif Misidia (Pakistan) - Accessibility Champion, I am really humbled, sir.
- Saqib Ali (Pakistan)
- Erna LaBeau (U.S.A./Indonesia)
- Karan Chotlani (India)
- Bhavani Kuntal (India)
- Shreeya Barai (India)
- Devi Dimitra (indonesia)
- Yashoda Durge (India)
- Amalia Rachmawati (Indonesia)
- Indah Nuria (Indonesia)
- Jeremiah Akinlade (Nigeria)
- Rosy Kohli (India)
- Shruti Manjrekar (India)
- Lusiaa Siregar (Indonesia)
- Osama Zaina (Jordan)
- Nita Burman Choudhury (India)
- Vikram Bishnoi (India)
- Raju Bambhaniya (India)
- Guru Krishna Priya Sreenath (India)
- Biplob KumerGope (Bangladesh)
- Nyai Nurjahnah (Indonesia)
DETAILS FOR THE MEETUP
Date: 30th of August, 2020
Time:12:30 a.m. (GMT+1) check your Local time here.
Keep in mind that our Meetups are always recorded. So, come, attend the most Purpose-filled Meetup that ever held; Unbothered-22 (The Accessibility Concert)
Google Meet link; https://meet.google.com/tyg-peot-kem
Even Poet is misspelled in our Meetup link,
we are Unbothered about Borders,
we wear our Sunsglasses,
to shield us from the Harsh realities
of what the World defines as Normal.
By the Year 2022,
we will be rewriting history as Local Guides
and ensure that everyone everywhere
when putting up a structure
remembers to make it ACCESSIBLE,
as; being physically challenged
only means being âdifferently abledâ.
See you there!
