¡Hola Mexico City, Hola Huerto Roma Verde!

Diving into the leadership element of this project, I am delighted to be working with Make_Sense, in the beating heart of Mexico City: Huerto Roma Verde; a laboratory of BioSocial resilience.

The Huerto Roma Verde project intersects community, ecology, physical and spiritual health and sustainable technology. Being a model for potential solutions for the wider social fabric, my specific role is to communicate the core messages and create an optimal user experience for the space, guiding a team of volunteers and using a mutli-media appraoch.

Immersion, Conversations, Emphathy. 

This week has been crucial in setting the foundation for our sustainable project in Mexico City. Approaching this project with an open mind was essential, ensuring that our work truly addresses the mindset, needs, and issues on both a local and country-wide scale. This initial period has been successful on multiple levels, notably in getting to know my team and understanding our collective strengths.

Successfully hosting a cultural welcome event allowed me to introduce my culture and present our project to the volunteers. This was vital in establishing a strong connection with the team I’ll be working with over the next few weeks! Creating an informed, safe, and open environment significantly contributed to a positive start for the project. 

As a newcomer to Mexico, this period was crucial for satisfying my curiosity and gaining a deeper understanding of the local culture. Engaging in many Spanish conversations, sampling local cuisine, participating in rituals, and researching the area’s history were essential components of this immersive learning experience. Entering the Temazcal, an ancient sweat lodge tradition and hearing the peoples songs of prayer brought me closer to understand their values. The strong sense of community among the people is evident; they are deeply committed to equally their family, community and the environment.

Team and Collaborators.

Establishing the right questions for the organization (“How does your organization measure the effectiveness of user experience promotion?”) and the users (“What makes a successful experience?”) was pivotal in our initial success, providing a solid foundation for our collaboration. Since we would experience both of these sides, documenting and understanding both perspectives was important. 

Background and Education

I learned about the qualitative and quantitative aspects of Mexico City, such as its huge problems with garbage management, water distribution/availability, and extreme pollution. Equally notable was the liveliness of Mexico City's culture and the goodness embedded in people's nature. It was heartwarming to see how passionate people are about the community, openly discussing important aspects and eagerly hosting events to spread awareness and educate both foreigners and locals, emphasizing the significance of passing on ancestral wisdom.

Misogyny, political corruption, and lack of safety are also priorities that need addressing in this beautiful city. On one hand, the first week opened my eyes to the realities of living in CDMX, but it also planted seeds of hope as I saw how individual and small-scale projects carry great weight in making a realistic impact on the people of Mexico and the city's fabric.

A big part of this first week was also building strong relationships with my HRV team as well as the other groups. This was one of the most enriching experiences. Coming from different backgrounds, we had very interdisciplinary approaches to many discussions, and thanks to this diversity, we were able to explore the city and its depth together on different levels.

Overall, I feel this week has been extremely important and I am so grateful to be part of such an amazing team (special thank-you to Triana and Nuri for being the most incredible leaders and guides)
The upcoming next weeks look like they're going to be filled with challenges, important lessons and I'm very passionate to realsitically contribute to such an important cause!

¡Adiós y estad atentos a las próximas publicaciones!