Mexico and Me - My Experience So Far  

As part of my Master’s degree in International Development I was lucky enough to carry out fieldwork in Mexico for my dissertation research. Although at first completely overwhelmed at the thought of going to the other side of the world alone, I realised I had to take this opportunity to leave my comfort zone and experience my dissertation topic directly. Around writing a lit-review and rushing to meet research deadlines, I immediately attempted to network from the UK and found that through university Alumni and friends of friends I had some people I was able to reach out to in Mexico. It turned out that a previous Master’s student at Birmingham, Gustavo, was now the Director of Marketing in World Vision Mexico. He immediately demonstrated the typical Mexican hospitality when he invited me to discuss my work with him in the WV office upon my arrival in Mexico. 

A tour of Avenida Reforma

On my full first day in Mexico City (DF), disoriented and overwhelmed, I made my way to his office. The language barrier because apparent when I tried to gain entry into their building with little luck for the first 5 minutes until I managed to make myself understood with my poor Spanish and the wonder that is Facebook messenger – where Gustavo and I had been communicating. Following this, Gustavo greeted me and discussed my aims from my visit to Mexico, then introduced me to Betal - a recent graduate and WV employee who had also completed some research on Human Trafficking in DF. Meeting her opened a whole world of possibility as she kindly offered me her complete anti-trafficking contacts list and advised me in our limited Spanglish conversation over Pozole (Mexican corn soup).

Over the next couple of weeks I balanced my time between emailing everyone I could think of in the world of Mexican anti-trafficking to set up interviews, and trying to find my bearings in this enormous maze of a city – luckily set out in blocks in which I walked around in circles until I gathered the courage to venture beyond Zona Roma into other parts of the city.

I was completely dumbfounded when I discovered some of the leading individuals and organisations in anti-trafficking were willing to talk to me about their experiences. 

 

Mexican tradition - Quince Años

I was lucky enough to meet government ministers, UN representatives and truly passionate people from all types of anti-trafficking organisations over my initial two weeks in Mexico. This gave me a real insight into the public perspective and true nature of human trafficking in Mexico. However, the pivotal moment for me was when I was introduced to two survivors of trafficking, an opportunity that I never searched for or thought I would have due to the delicate nature of the topic. It was through a missed meeting with Congresswoman Rosi Orozco that I found myself in a Starbucks in Central Mexico City, frantically trying to communicate with her in the only place I could find internet, that she suddenly told me that whilst she was unable to reschedule the meeting at that time she was sending the owners of a safe house, Fundación Reintegra, to meet me along with two trafficking survivors. I had no idea what to expect from this surprise meeting in a Starbucks, that for me was so important and yet the setting seemed to unfitting.

My meeting with the safe house owner and his wife, along with a law student, who is supported by the refuge and will become the refuge director when fully qualified, and the two girls who were staying there began so normally. There were simple introductions followed by ordering drinks and a brief conversation about my research. However, to my surprise, the younger of the two girls – a 19 year old who had been studying in USA and had recently returned to Mexico City to find her first job, began to unravel her experience of trafficking... The Inspiration

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