It has been four days since I arrived in Mexico City to begin my 6 week Laidlaw Leadership in Action project with Makesense. So far, this week has been an amazing introduction to the city and the NGO I will be working with, Las Sabinas. CDMX is absolutely beautiful and extremely green, and I have been greatly enjoying rainy season as it makes the city look even better, and the rainy ambience has been lovely. Meeting the other scholars working here has been a highlight of the visit as everyone is very nice and willing to chat, go out to eat, as well as work hard on our projects.
My group of five have had several meetings so far. Firstly, we visited the Las Sabinas location, and discussed the goals of our work as well as finding out some background about the incredible work Las Sabinas have been doing to support victims of sexual violence, and prevent these crimes. It was inspiring to discover their current programs including dancing and roller skating, which aim to bring joy to people’s bodies again after surviving experiences that hijacked their bodily agency.
Our aim to contribute to this source of hope is to design and create puppets to teach children 6-10 about topics including consent, health, and autonomy. So far, we have come up with several ideas that have left me excited to do more. For example, we are considering making each puppet a different native Mexican animal, giving one a nurses uniform to inform children about bodily changes and when to seek help, and including motifs like denim (to honour Denim Day). As well as this we will be developing graphics to empower children, for example through slogans such as “It’s your turn to fear us” and “It wasn’t your fault”, and games, for example where children can identify their support system - people they can go to when they feel uncomfortable.
Additionally, yesterday we visited Rennueva, one of the NGOs Makesense works with to improve recycling facilities. We received an interesting tour to discover more about what they do, for example making benches for the World Cup out of bottles. We also got on the recycling bus which is taken to schools and museums to teach children about the process or recycling, which was very interactive and fun. Importantly, we met the Chief Mousers of the plant, Micha and Leo, who were very friendly!
Overall, I am very excited to continue working to create a sustainable change in Mexico City whilst improving my teamwork and organisational skills, and I am looking forward to the weeks ahead. Vamos!