It's a simple thing to hold hands with someone you love.  To stroll down a balmy street and let steps fall unhurriedly.  To let the warmth of another body turn your palms sweaty, and stay holding on.  

I came to Mexico to work on a project rooted in combatting gender based violence.  I understood that the culture I was voluntarily stepping in to would be different, that there were societal gender norms which I would have to adapt to (but not necessarily accept) in order to work respectfully and to the best of my abilities.  To experience the physicality of that reality was not something I had anticipated.  

I took this photo the day after I experienced a violation.  My already unfamiliar surroundings now didn't make sense in relation to my body.  Smells turned into an incohesive wash of corn, petrol and coffee.  My peripheral vision was sharp and imposing.  There is an odd euphoria to your senses being heightened, the meditative aspect of being present is feeling most people strive to achieve.  Given this new found attention, the impulse to capture this couple on my phone seems paradoxical.  I'm not sure what I thought at the time other, than there is simple goodness in front of me.  That, and that I missed my loved ones.

Later on in the week I had the privilege to accompany Las Sabinas on their Saturday "Floreciendo sobre Ruedas Kids" workshop.  The Sabinas themselves are wonderful: volunteers who give up their own time because of shared determination and belief that they can foster a safer world, even when systems themselves do not facilitate them.  We set up a gazebo in a public park, with blankets, roller skates, water and any materials they would need.  

The children I met were remarkable.  Some, as young as three, wobbled in their skates as I tried to help guide them across asphalt.  The girls would fall, yes, but they easily got back up.  I watched in awe as phrases like "I can do it!", "I can get up again!", "I am brave!" readily sprung from their tiny frames.  Seeing the work we have been aiding behind the scenes be put into practice, and have an effect in these girls self-possession was so special. Without hesitation, a girl offered her hand out to me for balance.  Her little hand could fit entirely in my palm.  I folded my fingers around her determined grip as she nodded at me.  "Vamos", she said.  And so off we went, hand in hand.