Cultivating Resilience in Mexico City
Wanderstayfinder.com – Climbing a steep incline toward a modest community of roughly forty-five residences in Cristo Rey, located above San Gregorio Atlapulco, Ana Aparicio Bahena reaches her humble dwelling. Moving through her vibrant, green garden, she highlights various flora, including prickly pear cacti with delicate spines and bushes heavy with blackberries, which she offers to her two young daughters. “I can grow vegetables,” says Aparicio Bahena proudly, holding up a small onion. “I have avocados, lemons, potatoes … I never used to be able to grow my own food. It’s wonderful.”
Similar to numerous informal neighborhoods throughout Mexico, her residence features a metal roof and lacks a direct connection to the municipal water grid. For many years, she was forced to trek to a nearby well, a journey taking approximately thirty minutes each way. Given the persistent lack of water, maintaining a garden was not a primary concern. This changed four years ago when a rainwater harvesting mechanism, designed to capture and filter rooftop runoff, was placed in her yard. The setup includes a primary reservoir holding 2,500 litres and a secondary container dedicated solely to plant irrigation with a capacity of 1,100 litres.
