I had spent less than a fortnight at home with my family before I had to catch my eleven and a half hour flight to Mexico City. Of course, we spent an hour on the tarmac beforehand, allowing my nerves about the next six weeks (what exactly was I doing? who would I be working with? would they like me? would I be able to make the impact that the kind women over Zoom had promised me a month ago?) dissipate into complete boredom. Four movies and absolutely no shut eye later I landed, falling into my bed at 1am, shooting wide awake at 5am, up and (not really) at 'em for my first day. 

I met a group of Laidlaw Scholars™ in the lobby, saying my nervous, sleep-deprived hellos and we walked down the road to our co-working space, where we'd be meeting the Make_Sense team for the first time. Sorry to anyone else reading this from the lovely group of scholars but I have to admit the first few days involved me sneakily trying to relearn people's names after immediately forgetting them on that first walk. The city was bustling, warm (but not warmer than the UK!) and vibrant, bright pink blossomed trees illuminated against colourful facades. Arriving at the Impact Hub, we were introduced to Nuri and Keni, our two Make_Sense facilitators, whose warmth, humour, and sense of calm control immediately reassured my fears of not really having a sense of what I was doing. 

Over these first weeks they've introduced us to the principles of design thinking, giving us workshops on each stage of the process: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test. We were taught about ecofeminism by the charity Planeteando, a concept that would only become more relevant to me as I worked with my charity. This happened alongside dreaded icebreakers (which admittedly turned out to be quite fun), inspirational mornings, group activities and outside of work we've all gotten to know each other a bit better eating lunch at vegan burger places and trips to Walmart. Friendships have been solidified on shopping excursions, wanders round the park, and a particularly memorable mariachi restaurant. But lets not talk about the karaoke bar.

The highlight of the Make_Sense experience so far was definitely our trip to Iztapalapa. It's the most populous municipality in the city, with structural issues of economic deprivation, and an apparently infamous reputation based on the reactions of locals who I've told about this trip. We visited two 'Utopias' there, a collection of social, cultural, and sports facilities that show the importance of social investment. 

The first we visited was Barco Utopia, a building in the shape of a boat (not an actual boat ride to my disappointment) where we learnt about the unique environmental issues facing Mexico City, explored a digital aquarium, and admired the view from the roof.

Then we went to Utopia Libertad, a green community space where we saw axolotls and butterflies, and were told how these animals that had become symbols of Mexico were endangered due to unsustainable and short-sighted government actions. These two spaces were tangible examples of social-driven impact and it was extremely inspirational to know that such projects are successful. We were exhausted by the time that we came back (definite snoring was heard on the bus) but also energised for our projects.

What are these projects? I'm with working with @Avneet Kaur Mehr and @Farsin Syed at the NGO Genera Territorios A.C., a group that aims to empower rural indigenous women in Mexico to be financially autonomous. The key word for them is sustainability. We were told that in these rural area both the people and the land are exploited, and women especially so; they are the backbones of these communities, holding the dual responsibilities of being in the workforce and the majority of the domestic labour. Our goal is to create a manual that will clearly and simply explain financial concepts in order to allow them to build economic self-determination.

This is all incredibly daunting, and to be honest I do question how I can be truly useful in building this financial tool in Mexico as a British art history student. However, the open conversations I've had with the Genera Territorios A.C. team about empathy, and with Nuri and Keni about the issues of gentrification ongoing in Mexico City make me committed to move forward with absolute honesty and sincerity. This is made a lot easier having such an intelligent and curious group of scholars around me. 

We hosted a cultural fair on the first Friday to meet the volunteers who we would be working with. @Lillian Sparks and I created a British table, containing: marmalade sandwiches, a poll on the tastiness of Marmite (Marmite lovers won, as we should!), chocolate, a little Paddington Bear, and a station for tea and biscuits. Despite some truly twisted souls requesting to eat Marmite and marmalade together, it was exciting getting to meet such a large community dedicated to social impact. And, after putting some light pressure on Keni and Nuri, Lillian and I were told that we had won the competition I had just created of best stall! The perfect end to the first week, and a great way to show my altruism. As for this week, I'm excited to meet the volunteers for specifically Genera Territorios and get properly stuck in now that we're in the ideate phase of Design Thinking. 

¡Adios Amigxs!