Undertaking the Laidlaw Scholarship was driven by the desire to grow personally and catalyse societal change. Before our Laidlaw research project, academia was relatively foreign to me: higher education is traditionally inaccessible to people from my socioeconomic background. As a first-generation student, I didn't grow up with anyone who knew how to apply to university - let alone conduct a fully-fledged research project! When selecting my LiA, I held a similar motivation: I invited an experience that could be personally challenging but maintained the ultimate goal of giving back to the community and creating opportunities for others. Make Sense's program on empowering indigenous and marginalised communities promised exactly this. Mexico City's rich culture and vibrant community pulled me into a transformative six-week volunteering project celebrating individual development, collaborative teamwork, and community influence.

From my first step in Mexico City, I was welcomed by the warm smiles of the locals. My taxi driver Jose was keen to tell me about the local art and diversity of the city, himself being an architect. A young man, he also expressed his passion for Mexico's beautiful landscape filled with deep lakes and soaring peaks. I must clarify that this conversation occurred in some of the most broken Spanish you can imagine. Despite this, as someone who greatly enjoys the outdoors, I made sure to take note of the parks and mountain ranges he mentioned. 

After two Inspiration Weeks, we were assigned the organisations we would support in their social and environmental goals. In my team was Emma, a History and English student from the University of Toronto, and Ola, who studies Biomedical Sciences at University College London. Our charity was Inspira Cambio, an organisation based in CDMX championing sexual health services for marginalised groups. These groups include LGBTQ+ people, sex workers and people who inject themselves with needles/drug users. Their services emphasise being judgement-free and compassionate. This is especially pertinent when considering how the Mexican government have rolled back sexual health provisions and even made it legal for doctors to refuse to treat LGBTQ+ patients.

Our work with Inspira Cambio was originally limited to creating social media posts. Not having met us before, they were naturally reserved in their expectations of us and didn't want to create a project that would be unattainable. However, not ones to take the easy way out, the team and I made a pitch to Mali and Sagrario from Inspira Cambio, proposing additional ways we could raise awareness and donations. Thankfully, they took well to our ideas! These initial experiences forged a deeper bond between ourselves and the charity. 

Our objectives became threefold:
1) Promote Inspira Cambio through social media, as discussed
2) Host a Detection Night encouraging HIV and other STD testing
3) Create a testimonial video for their ten-year anniversary using interviews from their staff and service users, celebrating the tireless work and fantastic achievements of the charity

With such ambitious goals, collaboration was going to be essential. The team began brainstorming our vision for the testimonial video. We discussed the narrative we wanted to create and the appropriate tone. We didn't want the video to be sombre since that's not what Inspira Cambio is about. We also discussed what events we would like to run alongside the STD testing and how we can promote merch sales. We ended up splitting up: Ola did a lot of research on the charity to perfect the tone of our work, Emma directed the shooting and editing of the video, and my responsibility was ordering and organising the materials and equipment for the night.

I'm glad to share that the event went off without a hitch, and perfectly encompassed Inspira Cambio's values of education and empowerment. Our workshops included tote bag painting and upcycling clothing, which helped Inspira Cambio shift deadstock and sell their tote bags. One of my fondest memories is teaching a man to embroider for the first time: he was completely natural and embroidered a beautiful image of his cat onto his new T-shirt. We also hosted a sex toy raffle, and I'm proud to share that Laidlaw Programme Director Alex bought a ticket (for his friend, of course). We raised over $5,000 MX, and more than 50 people attended, got tested and met other members of their community. Our testimonial video was a hit too, and warmed the hearts of both the service users and the charity employees. The following day, the team and I headed to Huerto Roma Verde to sell Inspira Cambio's other clothes and jewellery at a local market and raised another $2,000 MX

Outside of the project, I took on some goals of my own. Feeling empowered by the success of our fundraising events and inspired by my conversation with my taxi driver, I committed to climbing Nevado de Toluca. This volcano is the fourth-highest peak in Mexico, reaching a staggering 15,000 feet. I managed to rope in my friend and St Andrew's Laidlaw Scholar Leo Doherty, and we booked our place on a guided tour of the volcano.  

The hike was extremely challenging, and had it not been for Leo's constant encouragement, I might have given up. The air was so thin that every breath had a burning quality. In all fairness, the burning pain went wonderfully with that of my legs. But the journey was incredible. I was met with a stunning parama every time I stopped to look around. The peak was surreal: almost entirely obscured by clouds, the red soil and sharp crags looked like I was on another planet. The volcano became incredibly significant to my experience and mirrored both my personal growth and the resilience formed by my Laidlaw community. The summit echoed the profound realisation that transformation often emerges from challenges surmounted.

As my time in Mexico drew close, the Laidlaw Scholarship experience became a lifelong commitment. My time there represented a journey towards a world where individuals, teams, and communities unite for meaningful transformation. Armed with these insights, I am dedicated to applying these lessons to a local context, such as in my shelter volunteering in York. From climbing Nevado de Toluca to the successful testimonial video, every challenge emphasised the transformative potential of perseverance and illuminated the power of collaboration, resilience, and compassion.