MARCH ‘24: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
To support International Women’s Day, we teamed up with the Mexican food tour company, Eat Like a Local. In line with our coffee initiative, we’re on a mission to empower women around us, inspired by the incredible people we have met on our travels to Mexico.
This special organisation supports women in Mexico City with their education and opportunities.
All we did
Throughout the month of March, we added a £1 donation to every bill for tap water and raised a total of £1,790.22. These donations were collated and sent to Rocio and the team at Eat Like A Local to support women in Mexico City with their education
and opportunities.
Our Story
So, where do we start? We’re lucky to have visited Mexico more times than we can count and we could go on for hours about the country’s hospitality, the unrivalled street food scene and the incredible people we’ve met along the way. We’ve always wanted to do something to show our appreciation to the locals there; It was on a recent trip to Mexico City that Fran, one of the team, and a very good friend of ours had the pleasure of meeting Rocio, the wonderful founder of Eat Like a Local.
Fran was touched by the work Rocio and the team were doing. It was a no-brainer, working with an incredible hospitality team to support women whose lives had been dedicated to the food industry of the city was where our efforts had to be focused.
Rocio and her family when she was five (she’s the one in green)!
Rocio’s Story
Born and bred in Mexico City, Rocío Vázquez Landeta founded the food tour company, Eat Like a Local, in 2018. The business was inspired by a stint travelling; shocked by the tourist traps, pricey restaurants and umbrella tours. It was during a memorable night in Istanbul, where Rocio found herself exploring the city with a group of locals, that she realised seeing a city like this is how you really experience it. From that day, Eat Like a Local grew, leading hundreds of visitors a year around the markets, introducing them to the local street food vendors and giving them a true experience of what Mexico City’s food and drink scene is all about.
The fish sandwiches that started everything
A little more about Rocio…
After a string of abusive relationships and having to flee her own home, Rocio came to a realisation. She had stayed in these relationships because she couldn’t afford to leave. If Rocio needed financial independence to fix her situation, it was likely other women were in the same boat. Setting up a social program, Eat Like A Local, now works to support young females in the La Merced and Jamaica Markets.
“The main goal of the program is to expose kids from La Merced and Jamaica Markets to kindness, feminism, inclusion, respect, and love. We teach them to say no, that their voice matter, that they can leave any situation when they feel uncomfortable. We teach them to set boundaries, self-love, and self-care; we teach them everything we wish someone told us when we were kids growing up in a misogynistic world. We want to show them that education can actually lead to a better life and that knowledge can set them free, that they are not powerless. It is about cultural exchange, great ideas, and great people is about creating the world we want to live in, by changing one kid at a time.”
- Rocio
Working with specific females in the market with a dream to explore a different way of life, Eat Like a Local uses funds raised by their tours to teach the girls English, educate them on different countries and cultures, widen their knowledge of sexual education and feminism, and teach them about financial independence, helping them plan and save for their future.
What will your donation be used for?
English lessons: The girls have English lessons every week or daily, depending on their school schedule.
A Culinary program: Each month, the girls are guided into researching and learning all sorts of details about a different country, from religion to social issues. And as they try the food from that country, they chat about what they've learnt.
Feminism and sex education: Eat Like A Local makes all the key information accessible to the girls; the idea is to give them tools to set them free.
Financial education: The girls learn how to save money, make more of it, and understand their assets to potentially start a business or apply for a job. They're also offered the option to have Rocío and the team manage their savings to prevent family or partners from taking their earnings.
To support Eat Like a Local and their social programme, throughout the month of March, Madre will be adding a £1 donation to bills when serving tap water. These donations will be collated and sent to Rocio and the team with the specific aim of helping one female in particular who is currently trying to save money to study outside of Mexico due to the mafia becoming increasingly violent in her market.
For more information, head over to: https://eatlikealocal.com.mx/