How Ximena Cultivates Her Mexican Roots While Pursuing the American Dream Kiva
go to original September 24, 2022

Ximena with her husband Carlos and their two children (Kiva)

When Ximena first came to the U.S. on a student visa, she was terribly homesick.

“I was always missing my family and just everything, my people, my food, everything,” says the Mexico City native, who grew up in the colorful borough of Coyoacán.

Nine years later, that longing has brought Ximena solace—and success—with a business importing artisanal Mexican goods, a venture that has thrived with the help of a Kiva loan. She and her husband, Carlos, now run Huitzil Imports in Beaverton, Oregon, just outside of Portland, where they serve the metropolitan area’s robust Hispanic and Latinx community.

“We decided to start this project because it is hard to find some cultural gifts that have a deeper meaning,” she says of the woven belts, traditional medicines, handcrafted jewelry, and spiritual totems they sell.

“And because it is a good way to support the work of our hometown people.”

A Little Bit of Home

These days Ximena is quite happy running the business with Carlos and their two small children. But back when she was a 19 year-old in a new country, her heart ached knowing it would be at least five years before she was able to return home.

Describing her urban bohemian neighborhood as having the “soul of a village,” Ximena deeply missed the lush gardens, brightly-painted buildings, and bustling bazaars of Coyocán as she pursued her studies in Portland.

“Maybe some people will think that $25 is not enough to support you and your business. But with Kiva, it's the whole community putting in a little bit of their money, time, and effort.”

Her yearning was assuaged a little when she met Carlos, who was from the Western Mexican city of Guadalajara. After the young couple established their status as U.S. residents, Ximena was finally able to bring her new husband to meet her family and show him the vibrant place where she had come from.

That’s when she got the idea to take a few pieces of her old home to her new one—not only for herself, but also for others craving traditional Mexican culture and art.

“I just decided that I wanted to bring a little bit of that to the other friends that are not able to go see their families or their loved ones,” she remembers. The requests began piling up from people all around Portland, and after her trip back home, she knew could turn it into something bigger.

“They were paying me, and I was like,’OK, I think I have a business now.’”

Read the rest at Kiva

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