Week 1: Getting Started

Hi everyone! Welcome to week 1!

This week, I contacted schools and community service organizations in Mexico to see what they needed. This information will become a starting point to determine what items I will be fundraising in the next few months.

Why do people feel the need to help others? How do others receive this help? What are the substantial impacts of community service? I hope to answer these questions through this project in the next few months. Simultaneously, I hope to go on a journey of my own, widening my worldview and talking to people around the world about their own unique experiences. There is so much in the world for me to learn and explore, and I hope to approach life with an open mind and a readiness to learn and improve.

In order to conduct my project in Mexico, I want to learn as much as I can before I make my trip. I read Diego Castañeda Garza’s “Moderate opulence: the evolution of wealth inequality in Mexico in its first century of independence”.

After Spain conquistadors established the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1521, societal inequality was prevalent through systems such as the encomienda system. In the 19th century, when Mexico gained independence, Mexico still encountered political conflicts—wars, governmental change—that left the wealth gap more jarring than before.

Wealth inequality in 19th-century Mexico demonstrates fluctuating patterns with peaks during periods of economic reliance on merchant financiers and valleys during intense warfare and reconstruction. The Porfirian regime in 1877 intensified wealth concentration through cronyism, contributing to discontent and eventual revolution.

In order to go to another country and understand the people living there, I hope to explore the history and culture of the place I’m visiting.

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

Sources:

1. Challú, Amílcar E., et al. “Patterns of Wealth Inequality in 19th-Century Mexico.” Explorations in Economic History, vol. 50, no. 3, 2013, pp. 388-402. ScienceDirect, doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2013.04.001.