EMPOWER

For the Love of Mexico

White Chedda

 

Chapter 3

Puerto Vallarta & riQueZo

 

What a City!

The sun, sand, surf and super low cost of living has made Puerto Vallarta the #1 vacation destination in the western hemisphere. Especially since Covid gave people the travel itch and forced us all to re-ground ourselves

in the journey towards finding joy in the simple things.

And many have moved here. Forget the drama and political messiness of America and Canada. The world's smartest 'gringos' are now living the Mexican Dream. Embracing their happiness in this paradise place.

As these priorities shift for those from The Great White North, so shifts the demographic of this great city. We're mixing it up! Culture, People, Styles. And if you ask

any Anglo, they'll tell you the same thing.

Their favorite part about living in Mexico...

the people.

The Mexicans could easily hate us. We've come in droves. We've raised the property values. And some of us even pronounce the 'L's in Vallarta!

(pause for a shiver)

We’re acting like conquistadors all over again.

But they don't. They don't hate us. It's not in their nature. The Mexican people are kind-hearted. Often carefree. And, admittedly, much more in tune with what's truly important in life: Family. Tacos. Working Hard. Tequila.

We know they're right. That their perspective is more intuitively badass than those of us wandering around the planet with mucho stress and misery. They have

discovered the secret that many of us are constantly

searching for: how to live a long and happy life.

But there is a tragedy afoot. And it is glaringly obvious. The Mexican people, for all their wonderfulness do not share the same financial prosperity that we've become accustomed to in the developed world. The majority

don't make enough money to flourish.

And many, not even enough to survive.

We all know it.
We all see it.
And it bothers us.

But where there is tragedy, there is opportunity. An opportunity for the Americans & Canadians here to demonstrate a compassion through our wealth. To empower the local people by putting more money in

their hands. A little for us goes a long way for them.

Enter Empower Vallarta
aka riQueZo

Empower Vallarta is designed to connect the financially blessed with the financially stressed in this city. It's a gifting platform. Not lending. Not investing. Pure gifts.

It's a website where Americans and Canadians can find a local hardworking Mexican entrepreneur, learn a little bit about their family, dreams and business and send them 'micro-gifts' direct to their PayPal, to

empower them and their work.

Established in 2020 right before the pandemic, Empower Vallarta immediately became a high impact project for those suffering from the economic downturn associated with quarantine & city-wide closures. It started

with one entrepreneur, Esmeralda, whose tamal

business (tamales) was affected greatly

by the closing of the beach.

Through Facebook, Esmeralda found support from many Americans and Canadians watching Vallarta from afar and wondering, 'How can I help there?'. She immediately began to feel the love. Without the family of empowerers who sent her riQueZo gifts, her Covid story might have been a true crisis. Instead it became a beacon of hope.

Then came Fabi, a gym and restaurant owner here in PV. She started to feel the love. Then Jesus, Yaneli, Hector. And so on and so forth. Now, in 2024, the family is 13 entrepreneurs strong, with a ton of people

standing in their corner, either as one-time gifters

or full-on team members.

The most common gift:

$11.11 USD per month.

The mission is large. Empower Vallarta hopes to establish the paradigm for ending poverty. A massive problem that seems totally insurmountable, indeed.

 

But we all know that the world has the wealth, technology and compassion to do it! It just takes innovation and enough good people who care. If there was one statement for how to most effectively eliminate this problem on a global scale, it is this:

 

Financially empower hardworking entrepreneurs

in the developing world.

The reason is because once these self-starters transcend the psychological burden of daily survival mode and start to flourish and prosper, they are very likely to go off and create an opportunity for another person. It doesn't just happen overnight.

You have to light the fuse to the bomb.

And there is our chance. Our window of opportunity opening right in front of our very eyes. In this city,

WE CAN become the world's greatest example of how

one people group truly empowers another. We can

show the goodness of humanity. The love.

Many people have their own individual ways of giving back in this community. Tipping more. Donating to the food bank. Random giving. But the real power comes in organizing our energies and exercising

our compassion as a team.

We love this city. It's our home. Or at least our favorite getaway. And why not? It's truly perfect. If there's one thing we can fix, however, it's the prosperity of the people here. And we can. We just have to believe we can.

For, lack of a better phrase, open up our wallets

and open up our hearts.

Empower Vallarta looks a lot like a dating app. You visit, you swipe through profiles, you learn about a person and when you find someone that resonates with you, you click their 'Empower' button which directs you right to their PayPal. Go check it out! Make someone's day. Meet a new friend. And help us build heaven on Earth right here in Puerto Vallarta. After all, we are already so close.