This week, I completed a section of my project that combined storytelling, audience engagement, and social impact: designing and making a quetzal puppet that will be used to teach children about consent, personal boundaries, and respectful communication.

Consent is a topic that benefits from clear, age-appropriate communication, so I wanted to create a character that could help make these conversations feel less intimidating and more interactive. Throughout the process, I considered not only the puppet’s appearance but also its purpose and audience. Every creative decision contributed to building a character that could connect with children and support meaningful learning.

For example, I added a bag to represent the long travel many people living in the peripheries of Mexico City have to undertake to get to work each day. I adorned this bag with pins: a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness, a mimosa flower for national women’s day, and a music note, as this character has a particular fondness for singing. The goal was to create more than a visual object, it was to develop a communication tool with both personality and the potential to make a lasting impact.

We’re continuing to organise and lead our volunteers, coordinating their skills and contributions to keep the project moving forward. With the puppet now complete, we’re excited to begin the next stage: designing the set. This will help bring the character and its educational messages to life, creating an engaging and interactive environment for future workshops and activities. One of our lovely volunteers Vik even made us crocheted axolotl keychains which we are so grateful for!

We’re also creating impactful slogans around consent, feminism, equality, and personal boundaries, to be displayed on the background. This process involves turning important ideas into clear, memorable messages that resonate with a very young audience. By experimenting with different wording, tones, and creative approaches, we are developing strong communication that is both engaging and meaningful.

Other than work, we have been having so much fun! We took a weekend trip to Puebla where we received a wonderful tour and watched a live orchestra, and took a one-night trip to Las Estacas, where we swam all day in the river and jumped off the rope swing more times than we could count. To round out the week we watched Lucha Libre, and took a boat tour in Xochimilco which bonded our group immensely (through the power of Bruno Mars). Time is flying in Mexico, and whilst I miss home, there is something magical about this place that I know will stay with me forever.