I’ve benefited directly and indirectly because of my skin colour throughout my life. This privilege has become more evident as I’ve started learning and speaking an African language.
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Wendy van Eyck
@wendyvaneyck
Non-profit communications specialist interested in equity, health, WASH, edu. Learning isiXhosa & German. I loathe pointless meetings. Vaccinated. she/her.
Wendy van Eyck’s Tweets
Right now, if you are hosting a global health conference in US, UK, Canada, EU or Australia, you have decided that it’s acceptable to exclude people from the Global South
How global is your global health?
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I’m @ Geneva airport, at the gate, boarding pass in hand on my way to #unaids2022, I’m almost refused to board, all docs scrutinised over &over again, calls made…. I board last. Hundreds of people in the South have been denied visas & won’t attend #UNAIDS2022
Unjust, racist!
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🧵 THREAD. Since we are all now talking about the climate crisis, can we talk about how the climate crisis has already been affecting so many people in Africa?
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And then (speaking from personal experience travelling on an SA passport) when you get to border control you will still be given a hassle and asked to produce all these documents again.
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The start line isn't the same for everybody.
More African athletes with visa issues.
To apply for a Canadian visa you need to travel to Pretoria / Cape Town. 12 documents are required incl. accommodation bookings, bank statements, tax returns. At least 23 days for processing.
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In 2015 nationals of 16 African countries spent almost £45 million on UK visa applications that year. £13m of that was for unsuccessful applications. It’s a documented fact that Africans are twice as likely to be refused UK visas as other visitors.
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US tourists visiting South Africa don’t need a visa for example, while South Africans pay $160 or more per US visa. Apart from being expensive, the extent of personal and financial information demanded is intrusive, demeaning and often humiliating.
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Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, got his US visa 24 hrs before the race of his life. A flight from Kenya to Oregon is 18+ hrs. He has 3hrs after landing to clear customs, get to the arena, pick accreditation, warm up, then compete with the other (well-rested) athletes.
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"Global Health" conferences being held in US, UK, Canada, Australia and Europe must come with a statutory warning label:
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We recently created some graphics around the measles outbreak in South Africa.
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Protect your children from #measles. Check your child's vaccination card to see if they have been vaccinated at 6 months and 12 months of age. If they have not been vaccinated they can still receive the meales vaccine at any age
Excited to get this one out into the world.
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LIVE NOW: The Supersapiens Podcast.
The pod will feature guest athletes, glucose learnings and much more. So subscribe now and join our hosts, @DJ_Lipman & @XylonVE, to dive into the world of Supersapiens.
: spoti.fi/3xd4aLC
: apple.co/3Nke444
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Has anyone flown Egypt Air to Europe before? Would you recommend them?
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Proud to have been a part of making this happen.
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Today at #WEF22, @projectlastmile with @GlobalFund launched its Compendium, Partnering for Health.
Find out more or download the Compendium at:
projectlastmile.com/partneringforh
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I love seeing some of the work we've been doing at through Project Last Mile show up in my feed. This social media graphic is one we created.
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It's in our hands as individuals to keep ourselves and loved ones safe. Be Safe and Enjoy your Easter Holidays #SaferHolidays
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Every woman should have the right to decide whether and when to have children.
This is not a decision that any government should make for a woman – it is a personal, private, and often emotional choice that women must be able to make for themselves.
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Me: What flavour was your birthday cake?
6-year-old: Icing
GIF
read image description
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Do you live with a chronic illness and decided not to be vaccinated against COVID-19?
I would like to hear about your motivation and reasons.
Please RT for wider reach.
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Someone messaged me to say this piece I wrote for touched them. I’d almost forgotten about it. Where you’re born doesn’t have to define where you want to go in life.
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Academics routinely use the term “sub-Saharan Africa”. Until recently, I also used it without really thinking much about it or questioning its use. But it’s problematic and should be avoided. Here are two excellent pieces explaining why:
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Our guest room “decor”.
This could be worse. If he had his way, I think this would be OUR bedroom.
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Tell me your husband is a cyclist without telling me your husband is a cyclist, I'll go first:
Sam calls our son's vests "base layers"
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I just read an article citing a company's success and its "remarkable" ability to "churn out content." No successful brand "churns out content." They produce it with care and optimize it with love.
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Interesting to see how people are using Airbnb and Etsy to send donations to people affected by the war in Ukraine. Motivated in many ways by the underlying idea many people hold that charities misuse donations.
A group of Australian magpies helped each other remove their tracking devices. Most were free within hours.
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Admitting that there are systems of privilege and power that exist, from which you have benefitted, doesn't detract in any way from the work you've put into getting where you are.
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I may be pupcrastinating again. But really…who can blame me?
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Hours later, I looked at the rate card. I see a R500 surcharge for a Chain store, Embassy, Government Departments Delivery.
I google the address.
I discover that the company shares an office building with an Embassy, also known as a "High Commission".
English isn't easy.
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I spent the day querying a R500 line item labelled "High Commission" on a courier quote.
It seemed strange that I had to pay the sales agent commission on what is usually a R75 courier fee.
I spoke to multiple staff who also didn't know what the "high commission" line item meant.
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A helpful thread for any non-profit (or any brand) considering opening a TikTok account 👇
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In a little over 6 months, @Openly has grown to 30,000 followers on TikTok.
Our daily videos generate over 1,000,000 views a month on average. Not bad for a niche media brand!
Here's a quick look at how we did it - and some lessons for other publishersShow this thread
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Is it still called procrastination when my reason for unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something is to give my dog love?
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Expand your to-be-read list this year with these books. I'm going to be buying at least two of them.
"People were so fixated on innovation that nobody thought, 'Hey, maybe we could use a low-cost, durable, easy-breezy vaccine that can vaccinate the whole world.'" - Medical researcher, Peter Hotez
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Please remember, the first 7 days of Covid is a flu-like illness, sometimes with severe headaches, fever, muscle aches, etc. Between 7 to 10 days is where some patients progress to a pneumonia. This is where we could offer disease modifying therapies. Please don’t present late.
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I made this new chart of global inequality:
• If you live on $30 a day you are part of the richest 15%.
• The majority of the world is very poor: the poorer half of the world – almost 4 billion people – live on less than $6.70 a day.
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It's been one yr since the first mRNA COVID-19 shot was administered.
While it's a huge relief to be vaccinated here, it's incredibly frustrating to see global inequity persist - and it's clear what needs to happen.
Hoping this thread helps explain why we demand #VaccineEquity.
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