Diversity and Inclusion in the WA world

In the islands where I'm from, there are two main seasons - the dry season, which is usually from January to May, and the wet or rainy season, which goes from June to December. We're now in the dry season, so it's usually very hot, humid and typically allergy season with frequent days of cloudy Saharan dust making our Northern range almost disappear behind the grey smoggy blanket. On average, it's about 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees F), every day. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, a brief drizzle or shower will interrupt the blazing sunshine for a few minutes, just enough to leave droplets on blades of grass and flower petals, cool the temperature just a bit and leave dusty streaks on your car that already needed to be washed.

It’s slightly cooler in the rainy season, when there are showers, sometimes torrential rain almost every day. During the last quarter of 2020, it was particularly rainy with more frequent showers leaving one to find truth in the realisation that global warming or climate change has really impacted the seasons. When I was a child (not so long ago!), for example, the average temperature in the hot or the dry season would be around 31 degrees C. Similarly, during the rainy season, whenever there were showers, they were not as heavy or torrential as they are now. Additionally, the seasons seem to be becoming one – rains in the dry season and dry, hot days in the wet season. Almost as if one is including the other in a seasonal dance.

It brings to mind the differences in the parts of the world where so many of the WA affiliates come from. Every day when I look at the homepage, and the people who choose to join your network or even the affiliates who comment, I realise that there are people from temperate countries of Europe, from Spanish speaking countries, from Austria, from Africa, from the Caribbean. And it's an amazing network. I think WA has done a pretty good job at bringing together people from all walks of life, who all have one goal in mind - and that is probably financial independence, or to supplement an existing income. And it's amazing that whether we're sitting in an office, or working remotely from home in the Caribbean, like me, or it's

snowing, and there's two feet of snow outside your door, we all come together under the umbrella of the WA world. Even if we have to wear snowshoes and need to shovel snow and salt our walkways, or whether we have the benefit of living on an island surrounded by aquamarine waters and we use the air condition every day - I think the diversity of the WA network is also what is so very appealing because I am connecting with people that I never would have ordinarily had it not been for WA.

It also brings to mind that outside of each of our little corners of the world where our cultures, food and languages might be different, we’re all connected by technology, SEOs, classrooms, chats, questions, Jaaxy, WordPress and so much more - and together we make up this global world of affiliates which I think is pretty cool. It really gives me encouragement to keep going, and to get to the goal that I want, knowing that there are so many other people who have the very same goal in mind even if they live on the other side of the world, may not speak English, are now starting out or are retired.

Additionally, what's also encouraging is the level of support that I not only receive from

affiliates from North America to the UK, but because I've been here at WA for a few months, I can now also lend some support to those who are walking the path that I did only just a few weeks ago. In essence, I've discovered that even though the WA world is diverse because of all of us affiliates, it is also inclusive for the very same reason.

Cheers!