[00:00:37] Such. Very good morning, my name is Enrique Alvarez and I am here again with a very good guest for another edition of Supply Chain Now in Spanish with us today, the director of Direct Mexico, Eduardo Mendoza. Eduardo, how are you? How are you doing?
[00:00:55] How are you doing? Enrique? Pleased to meet you.
[00:00:57] The pleasure is all mine. Eduardo, thank you very much for accepting our invitation and well, I think this is going to be a very not only informative and fun, but quite relevant episode. I think that what your organization is doing, without going into detail so as not to give more information to the people who are listening to us right now, is very relevant and well, I wish you the best of success.
[00:01:24] Thank you very much.
[00:01:25] Tell us about yourself at the beginning. Tell us who Eduardo Mendoza is. Tell us a little bit about your life.
[00:01:30] Yes, I was born in California in the 80s. Of Mexican parents from the state of Zacatecas. They had migrated to work in the fields. Like all the stories we have heard here in the United States, they wanted a better future for their family and came to California’s Central Valley. And I was born, but immediately after I was born they returned to Zacatecas. So my childhood was in a very rural area of Zacatecas, where I grew up and lived like Huckleberry Finn from the stories here in the United States in the countryside, in nature. And my first six years of life were in Zacatecas.
[00:02:15] Which I imagine must have been precious at the time. I imagine there wasn’t much of a city, it was totally rural and that as a child in particular must have been an absolute freedom, I imagine.
[00:02:27] It is impressive because even when I visit it is one of the places where there is more darkness, where you can see the stars and the Milky Way, when there is, when there is a new moon or not, that is, it is beautiful because you can see the stars, so it is something that for me has been like a treasure to have that as part of part of me, of my childhood. Those early memories have been very nice because I grew up with the whole family in an area that is basically like you go back in time. When I go back it still feels like a time, a time capsule. And it’s very nice because they were the first memories I had.
[00:03:04] How incredible. And well, tell us a little bit about that story that first I struggled to pass to the United States and then they detained me and said you don’t know what, it’s better not to return.
[00:03:14] Of course, they were living in a migrant camp. At that time, Mexican migrants lived separately from the communities. Back then there was still free trade, as they call it in the United States, and I was born while they were living in this, in the countryside of Nel Camp, where many of the Mexican migrants lived in the homes of the farmers and the companies that owned the fields. Then, when they realized that perhaps living in rural Zacatecas was more advantageous for the family, they decided to return because they did not see much of a future for the family and my father was still in the United States working, so it was much more economical for the family to be in Zacatecas.
[00:04:04] Sure, sure, well, so what? It has been a very courageous story on the part of your parents, what did they teach you, what do you admire about the education you had, which I imagine was quite different than if you had stayed in the United States at that time.
[00:04:20] Of course. Well, I believe that valuing the family and valuing the basic values of how to be and how to treat people. And also that courage that I saw my parents had to literally leave their homes and move to another, to another country to excel and survive in this life that you live with what you get. So that has been something that for me has been one of the things that has guided my life the most.
[00:04:56] 12 and well, tell us a little more. You grew up from a childhood extremely attached to nature and good values, in a simple way that is something that as a child you saw that you value very much. Tell us more about what happened after.
[00:05:13] And from there we returned to the United States. In 1990 he already had an older sister and a younger brother who had to cross as undocumented immigrants. I was born in the United States, so I didn’t have to go through that traumatic experience, but we came back to the United States in the nineties and from there with my parents. When I was almost ten years old I started working in the fields on the day of the Northridge earthquake in ’94, which was in January of ’94, it was my first day working with my parents in the fields. So at that time, at that time, at those times, I still remember that for me it was going to the office with your dad or going to see my dad at work. So that really changed my experiences, because for me being a child in difficult circumstances and perhaps because you don’t understand how society works, I didn’t really know what poverty was.
[00:06:16] Of course, of course. And well, then it’s going to be that first day and they go back to the United States and they’re all back in the United States. I imagine that in different conditions than the ones they went to, they were no longer in these camps of course. I’ll be right back.
[00:06:33] We are now back in California’s Central Valley. We already had the family intact. Obviously they have tried to know and live because they were young parents. I think they were 24 years old when they first came to the United States from Mexico with all three of their children. So it was something new for them. They were also finding out about life in another country, with another language, which I guess must not be easy. So they were no longer camps, but we were trying to move forward little by little, so they were always looking for ways to improve that life for their children.
[00:07:11] It is impressive. I really admire all those people like your parents, who really give up everything they know for the better future of their children. It’s a courage and a passion and a commitment to parenting that I have never, ever had. And you can say lucky or unlucky, but this one is really impressive.
[00:07:38] What gives you that, that, that fire that gives you and that gives you and that drives you forward, even as a son. So you are saying, how can it be that this is already, this sacrifice you have made for me, without me giving 100% to my life and my professional and personal trajectory? Do not give him everything you can because you have seen. In other words, you have the main example.
[00:08:03] Right, isn’t it? Of course, you lived it, you experienced it and well, continue talking a little bit and now we will get to the part of your career. But thanks for sharing this, right?
[00:08:15] Well, when I was 13 years old I started to work in the fields every summer, winter and spring vacation. I lived them working with my parents in the countryside, so I hated vacations because I realized that the countryside is a very hard thing to have. It’s like steel where it breaks you and forges you and breaks you again and makes you strong because you have no other way. I mean, you get up and I was wondering how could it be that my parents do it? This day in and day out, summer, winter and spring, in all seasons and that I can not. I mean, it hurts to get up at 4:00 a.m. and then work from sun up to sun down, basically, and in intense heat and cold. And I said well this, I don’t want this for me do I? And I focused a lot on school, I focused a lot when I was in school and not working, I applied myself a lot because I realized that they had sacrificed a lot for me and I had to sacrifice something minimal for them.
[00:09:24] Hey, and then in school, I imagine, you did very well, you applied yourself 100% and how did you leave? Starting to move towards the direction you have now?
[00:09:35] Yes, because in the. In college I started working with Education Opportunity Program, several programs that were helping youth like me get to college. When I arrived at the university I was given the opportunity to basically help the kids who were in the same situation as me to get to the university and if parents came to the university, who were also migrants, who had also worked and made these sacrifices, I almost begged them to let their boys and girls go to the university even if it was far away, because obviously as a parent you don’t want your children to go away and more than anything because you want to take care of them. But here in the United States it is something very common where you go to study and well, you leave home and as a Mexican it is a very close family, it is difficult to let them go, so that was, it was very nice for me to also learn and see and help the families of these students to come to the university here, I studied in Santa Barbara, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I studied Political Science, Latin American Studies and Spanish because the Spanish I had was very, very poor and ranch Spanish.
[00:10:56] Well, they talked to you, they spoke to you in Spanish all the time.
[00:11:00] So it was my first language.
[00:11:02] Hey, this Eduardo and Santa Barbara, a Santa Barbara, an excellent this career applied in studies, trying to help other socio-political studies, right?
[00:11:17] Political science.
[00:11:18] Why science? Why political science?
[00:11:20] I guess I didn’t really know back then I didn’t know what majors were. My parents had not studied, my parents studied until the third, third and 7th grade each. My dad from third grade and my mom up to 7th grade. We did not know about universities. So, when I was filling out the form to go to the different universities, I said, well, I think politics looks interesting, the bubble is coming and they accepted me. It was really a fluke.
[00:11:49] Well, but it kind of connects everything you’ve been through very well, doesn’t it?
[00:11:51] Because I just wanted to learn a little bit more about history, a little bit more about the history of Latin America. Then I also studied Latin American Studies, Latin American History and politics to also understand how the political economic system worked in the United States and also in Mexico, because I really didn’t have many fundamentals, what I wanted was to have a thirst for knowledge. So I think that. That helped me a lot.
[00:12:18] Incredible. Hey, and well, helping these kids get to have the opportunity that you had, which is obviously quite admirable as well.
[00:12:30] Of course, yes. And well, once I got to college, I did an internship with National Cancel Barraza’s National Council of La Raza, four blocks from the White House, which really helped me to see how the U.S. civil association system worked and how it worked to help low-income people and other Latin Americans succeed. So that helped me a lot, because not only were they helping me, but I was also giving a little, contributing a little to the help of other Latin Americans and Mexicans as well.
[00:13:11] And is that a key or important moment in your professional life or what would you describe as something you say? Okay, well, everything I put into it was worth it.
[00:13:22] Yes, I think there are several, there are several key moments in your life, many times they present themselves or they present themselves every five years, many times they are more recurrent when you are younger. I believe there are several. There are several key decisions that change this, this job, this internship that I did in Washington, D.C. Well, it opened my eyes because I was a year away from working in the field. Then one summer I worked in the field and then nine months later I was in the spring.
[00:13:50] Next to the House.
[00:13:51] Blanca, next to the Blanca. And that changed my perspective that I could, so I was on the right track. Like you say, you realize how, as a child, as a young person, as a human being, when you’re on the right track you’re making a decision and you say ok, it looks like this is going well. I mean, I don’t know what’s ahead because nobody knows the future, but I know that I like what I’m doing and where I’m getting to. So I always kind of lead with my heart and if it feels right keep doing it and keep guiding yourself, your work and your path to that path. So we got to 2005 and it was like I’m like I’m like four blocks from the White House, I seem to be doing well. Then you keep putting that in little by little. And that helped me to get to a master’s degree, to study for a master’s degree. So that helped me to get a master’s degree, which was in international relations with a humanitarian focus.
[00:14:45] That’s when you knew a little more about what you wanted. No, it wasn’t just checking the box.
[00:14:50] Exactly, that’s where I got the idea. I had several, several teachers who became friends and kind of saw potential in me and helped me visualize what my possibilities were. And well, my professor asked me, according to Professor Kline, who is still a friend of mine, what do you want to do with your life now that you’re graduating from college? And I told him I would like to study for a master’s degree, I don’t know what, but I want to help. My focus is to help, be it from my heart towards this. Then there is a new master’s degree that has just started here at the same university. You don’t have to leave Santa Barbara and I think you would be a good candidate and I am on the acceptance committee. And then they accepted me and that’s when I began to understand. Basically it’s called Global Studies, which is like international relations, but with a focus on globalization, and we already know that now logistics, supply chains, it’s all through the globalization of companies. So that’s where I started to learn about the global interconnectedness of economies and supply chains.
[00:16:03] And that’s where you started to get a little bit more into the logistics supply chain part and the panorama within that area started to open up even more.
[00:16:14] Correct. Just came the. At that time to give a course a guest lecture, as they call one in a class. By. For one day he told us a little about what he was doing. What was Direct Leaf doing? He had several questions that for him at that time were very important and crucial for the organization. And I was fascinated by what I was doing and it was like something very concrete, because a lot of organizations are more about policy and about Public Policy, not public policy, where it’s more how to guide strategies. But I liked this organization because it did something about it.
[00:17:01] It was not just whether planning or strategy. And well for all of this I think it is a very good time for you to introduce us and our audience. What is Direct Leaf? Many people may not know who they are or what they do. So, if you can tell us a little bit. What it is and what it does.
[00:17:21] It is a humanitarian organization that was founded in 1948. We work in the distribution of medicines and medical supplies. We are currently the largest organization in that focus with the distribution of medical supplies. Basically, we are like a wholesale distributor. Of humanitarian medical supplies as a cardinal health. As they move global humanitarian logistics, but with a strictly humanitarian focus for the people who need it most. So, that approach has helped us to be able to say how can we use the tools of the market, the tools of the leading companies in the industry and apply them with a humanitarian approach, because almost all of us are focused on the online bar, which is very good. But if we used that same lens to help people who can’t pay, what would it be? That’s like an experiment that would be the result, and that’s the result. That is what we are doing now.
[00:18:28] How incredible and exciting. And you take it at an optimal time for you, I imagine, but also very exciting for the organization as such.
[00:18:38] Yes, that’s the one. At that moment, when I learned about decline was when I said Today I would like to work there. And well, almost at the beginning of finishing my master’s degree I got the job. There was an entry level position where I was basically just doing purely administrative projects. He was an administrative assistant in 2008. And what happens? This is another one of the challenges or things that change you, isn’t it? In 2009 I started the number one outbreak in Mexico and at that time I was the only Mexican American working in the program department. And I asked Tommy what we were going to do about it. And we were trying to see how to help with the supply chain to Mexico, and we realized that first there was no good mechanism to get there. Second, that Mexico was a giant country with a well-developed pharmaceutical industry, but that there was no mechanism for them to donate the needed product if they wanted to help. At that time there was a shortage of Tamiflu in Mexico. We had Tamiflu here in the United States and we wanted it to reach Mexico and we did not know how. And the industry wanted to donate from the United States and didn’t know how to get there. So that was the challenge that. There were also times when my boss told me, “Well, Eddy, if you want to take on this project and you think you can do it, this would be your project to establish Mexico. And that’s where the seed was planted and I never got rid of it.
[00:20:23] 2009.
[00:20:25] 2009. That is where the seed of decline was planted, Mexico. And we kept thinking about it for several years, developing a strategy, looking for funding, we managed to get funding from some of the companies in the industry and some foundations that gave us resources to do a market study and hire lawyers and accountants to help us establish the charter, that is, to establish the articles of incorporation of DIRECTLY in Mexico and eventually by 2014 we had the legal entity formed in Mexico.
[00:21:04] But you followed everything. From the United States I was told that you had to travel from Los Angeles to Mexico on certain occasions, but normally still based in the United States.
[00:21:13] Still based in the United States, because we were forming the legal structure of the institution, the mechanisms and all the internal processes. Well, you know, it takes a long time to know about the supply chain, to know what would be the best strategy at the lowest cost, but with the greatest positive impact in Mexico. And in 2016 I moved to Mexico. I am located in Mexico City, I live in Mexico City and that is where our office is now. But I basically arrived with my backpack on my back and I arrived. Okay, we have a legal entity, but you have to make it happen, you don’t have to get everything you need to basically have a company with a humanitarian focus.
[00:22:05] Very, very, very interesting. Going back a little bit to that year 2009, 2010. You talked a lot about understanding the supply chain at that time in Mexico and well, maybe in general in the United States how it worked at that time. How about practicing a little more about the supply chain? And how do you manage to partner with certain suppliers to be able to distribute medicines and all the products that are so important and necessary or not?
[00:22:36] Of course. Since its inception, it has been an organization with an entrepreneurial approach. The founders were entrepreneurs. Those who were watching World War II, who wanted to use the practices they had within their companies, but for humanitarian distribution. So they established, they were distributing support to Eastern Europe after World War II, but they focused, they started to focus on only one type of product which was drugs and pharmaceuticals. This is obviously one of the most complex and highly regulated industries in the world. So, for us it was one of the challenges where you have to comply with all the requirements and all the regulations of the pharmaceutical industry and at the same time comply with all the requirements and regulations of transportation so that all the products arrive on time and with all the necessary care. In 2008 we established this API, which helped us a lot to have the mechanism to grow steadily and at the same time use fewer human resources, that is, fewer people to do more work. That helped us a lot, to be able to move up, to increase our global reach. So thanks to that system and just when I started working in the organization, is when this system was implemented and it was one of the biggest challenges of the institution, because it took us several years to make the implementation, the implementation to fit well to the systems and for everyone to learn how the mechanism worked. And thanks to that we have been able to coordinate several at the scale we are now.
[00:24:23] At that time, in 2008, nine, ten was when the institution really began to grow, because we also began to have more need for support for these emergencies such as H1N1, they were more and more recent. I don’t know if you remember in 2010, I think it was in January 2010, it was the earthquake in Haiti. This was also a milestone for the institution, because we were able to coordinate logistics and distinguish ourselves from any other organization, because we are the only organization that uses Skype and has a much more agile control and management of logistics and inventory systems. So we managed, I remember we had a shipment going to Port-au-Prince in 2010, when the earthquake happened. And we also realized that how are we going to do it? Because the port was completely damaged. So we managed to change the ship so that they could arrive in Santo Domingo a couple of days later and from there cross it by land and also using air logistics to get there. But at that time also the logistics of air logistics was blocked because the airport was full of. Of humanitarian aid that was not needed. One problem we have seen in humanitarian aid is that many times people have a great, great intention to help, but many times it can create more logistical problems because something is sent without a recipient. If there is something without a plan, then you start to see a buildup of unnecessary stuff at ports where you need mobility and you need interesting flow.
[00:26:21] And it’s a little bit what it says, not much help, to the one who is not in the way is certain things. But going back a little bit to the Dark Relief part, obviously the advantage of having SP, something that in no other or few other organizations have like yours is it helps you a lot, but how does it work? Do you have the donate? In other words, you donate the drugs, the medicines, you put them in your warehouse. And then who pays for the logistics? Or if you can give us a little more?
[00:26:54] Sure, yes, the logistics basically starts with a chain. The chain starts with the pharmaceutical industry, being an offer many times product that.
[00:27:03] From donation or have to buy from donation.
[00:27:05] Donation. They basically make an offer of product that is manufactured and maybe the shrinkage is not sold where they say look, we have product with a nine month expiration date or a little over a year, in other words. Then they send us the list, we receive it, we do an analysis and it can be used within our network of beneficiaries. But since the network is already so large, we have more than. 3,000 beneficiaries globally, including the United States. So, basically it is a network of need where a product has been manufactured. The industry is casting for people who can buy it, but there is no casting for people who can’t buy it. This means that there is like a black area that cannot be understood in the market because there has not been a market study for people who do not have the money to pay. So, what we do is basically that study where we have the network of beneficiaries that helps people who do not have money to pay. Shall we make you an offer? They say Yes, of course, well we have people who can use it. Then you only bid or receive what you can use. We have here a distribution center for.
[00:28:25] Then they collect it and it is all collected or sent by the hospitals to the industry.
[00:28:31] The pharmaceutical industry sends us out of their trucks and out of their trucks. We have a 14,400 square foot warehouse here now in Santa Barbara, California, which gives us, gives us the capacity to absorb over 10,000 pallets in our warehouse at any given time. We also now have two cold rooms, each with more than 200 pallet spaces of capacity. And we also now have ultra-cold freezers for ultra-cold vaccines such as Ecobici. And it has been investment after investment year after year, seeing where we could improve ourselves, as if we were a wholesale distributor, which we are, but privately owned. So we have built that during this infrastructure over the last three years, but the chain has always been the same. The industry offers, we receive, we give them their tax deductible and we see with our network of beneficiaries who is what, what is needed. And we pay the shipping.
[00:29:37] All shipments are paid by you, you do not have any of them. Those who receive the products actually pay nothing.
[00:29:44] Correct? Correct. Because the idea is to find hospitals or health secretariats. Their focus is to help the person who needs it most. So yes, we can help in this way without them having to pay for the logistics because they are doctors, not logisticians. Of course, then our job is to identify the best logisticians to mobilize that pharmaceutical resource and get it as quickly as possible to the best doctors who are helping the people who need it.
[00:30:15] And with someone to receive it. That is also part of the equation that is applied. Well, someone has to import it or receive it.
[00:30:24] There are several countries, there are some that have exemptions, humanitarian exceptions, but there are others that do not, so they have to figure out how to release it through customs and the network of beneficiaries. One of the criteria is that they have to know how to clear the product through customs. So, since that is the beneficiary’s task, no, but we already have it quite developed in so many countries, in so many countries many times the easiest thing to do is to connect one of your contacts who is already in the country, who can help the other new contact so that they can continue to benefit.
[00:31:02] Hey, and speaking of a little bit of numbers, you were telling us more than 3,000 beneficiaries. Beneficiaries in how many countries?
[00:31:11] In more than 90 countries it fluctuates year after year, year after year, between 90 and 100 countries to which we send support and in the United States we have more than 2000 health center clinics, free centers and these centers are a network of non-profit beneficiaries that help migrants, workers, people who do not have insurance, which in the United States is something quite serious, where if they do not have insurance, health care is very expensive. So it is very important to have access to that. And we support these clinics in the United States. In other countries such as Mexico, where I have the focus and am in charge of our work, in Mexico we work with all types of institutions, whether IMSS, ISSSTE, IMSS health secretariats and also small groups that help in rural communities such as in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas, partners in health in alternancia de la paz that have clinics in the Chiapas highlands where they also reach the most remote communities. So there are different types of beneficiaries, there are beneficiaries that are health secretariats or very sophisticated third level health institutes, and others that are not. First level, which are clinics that help rural areas, which is the first health focus where you can receive support. So the type of product that can be received is very broad because our network of beneficiaries is wide in terms of the capacity of their capabilities. Then we can receive oncologicals that help the Cancer institutes or Tylenol, not from the most basic.
[00:32:59] From the most basic to the most sophisticated and timely and good. And all of this is already done through Mexican organizations. Donations are already mostly Mexican or Latino. Is there a mix of both from the United States?
[00:33:16] We have a mix right now. At the moment what we were doing is we have been developing the logistics network, we hired a very good supplier from Three Logistics called Nagel. A Nagel provides warehousing services to the Mexican pharmaceutical industry and to us as well. So, yes, it fits good enough for the pharmaceutical industry for us. Of course.
[00:33:40] No? Well, of course it is.
[00:33:41] It’s good enough for them. Also for us. So it seemed to us that we did not want to reinvent the wheel. We work closely with FedEx. So FedEx, for example, is one of the best logistics service providers globally. So why not work with them and not ask them for money, but ask them for their services to give us? Basically at the margin of its of its cost? It is very little that they give us transportation from one side to the other because they are already doing it, they already have the space for what? Why create a warehouse, a warehouse in Mexico without having that knowledge, when someone else has already done it and does it much better than any other group, so you ask them for 200 pallet spaces, which is what we have right now with Cancun en Aguila, in Mexico, which helps us to have everything completely in order and in compliance with all Cofepris regulations in Mexico, which is the FDA of Mexico. So thanks to them we can have this possibility of being at the forefront of all the regulations and all the internal processes of storage and logistics and transportation.
[00:34:57] And well, apart from that they still have that app I imagine, and they can have good connectivity there with these worldwide companies. And in the part you said something important they ask them for support in the part of what they are best at, which is logistics, instead of giving them, asking for donations. However, I imagine a lot of the engine is run through companies that are donating it, right? How, how does the collection part work, let’s say donations.
[00:35:28] Let’s say that 1/3 of the funds we receive are from the industry, which gives us projects for different projects to be implemented. But most of the resources we receive are from the general public. In the United States there is a very generous population where there is a very important donation culture and annually that percentage is more than 50% of the resources, it is from individuals, it is from individuals. We as an institution do not receive support from governments, so we are apolitical, non-religious, with a strictly helping approach. So this has really been pushed through the work and support of the general public, because online is where we have been able to receive donations and also from philanthropists, from philanthropic foundations that want to support us. So we really believe that in Mexico, the goal of Relief in Mexico, which is what I focus on, is to create this same mechanism that we have in the United States, to develop philanthropy in Mexico, because we believe that it is a country with more than 1 trillion dollars in economy, with a very sophisticated industry and with many people with a very high purchasing power. I think if you compare it, if you look at it one way, it can be a Canada of buyers within Mexico that has the purchasing level to Canada. So you wouldn’t ignore the Canadian market, would you? And you say Mexico has 130 million people, but there are 30 million or more who have the purchasing power of Canada. So, how can it be that we cannot create a philanthropic culture within Mexico where we can be leaders in Latin America with everything that is manufactured, with all the inputs, with all the things that can be done to help, not only within Mexico, but also in America. E Central America and Latin America in general.
[00:37:34] Well, in general, people in Mexico when something happens, we usually unite together, people, people who maybe don’t have the philanthropic culture that we have in the United States. However, they are united people, people who care about others, giving people, people. So, I don’t know. Isn’t it interesting that we all don’t have that one? What do you think is the missing piece? Maybe it is the process that is missing, because the Mexican’s desire to help is there, isn’t it?
[00:38:03] Of course, yes. So I think there has been a lack of processes and a group like us that is transparent and that can give that accountability, because accountability is very important and having that transparency and having to work in the highest standards, because you see and hear tragic stories in Mexico where no, well the product was found this in a secret warehouse and.
[00:38:31] They are selling it.
[00:38:32] Each one black. So for us that is what we want to avoid as much as possible, to create these mechanisms and these secure systems where we can ensure that the product will reach the people who need it most and that it will not be diverted, because that is extremely important. We saw that Mexicans donated a lot during the 2017 earthquakes. What we want is for it to be donated in a more structured way. For example, I remember after the earthquakes in Oaxaca, in Mexico City, I arrived in Mexico City and people were donating in the collection centers, gauze and medicines and these other things on the sidewalks in Roma Norte. And I remember that they were leaving these things in the truck and it started to rain the medicine, the supplies got wet. How are we going to use those products now if you don’t have any? First, you don’t know what’s inside that collection center. There is no system where it tells you Ah, this is, this is good, this is open, this is closed. And then, to find out what’s inside all those inventories is when I see this. I immediately say and how am I going to get it into my inventory system? And imagine, it’s the same problem for everyone, everyone within a supply chain. You have to know what you have in order to move it and create your documents and have control and tracking of what is about to be moved. So when people arrive and say Ah, look, I have very good intentions, I want to donate this, but it gets wet or it is inside a collection center, not very well, that is, in the heat where the drugs also have to be or.
[00:40:09] You don’t know, like you say at the end of the day, hey, we have all that and nobody is not in a system, nobody is going to take it into account. Medications in particular can spoil after a certain period of time.
[00:40:22] And people say How can it be that the government is destroying this product? And the media comes out and you say, what other alternative does he have? If you have 100 chemists to check everything and verify it, the broth is more expensive than the meatballs.
[00:40:38] Yes, exactly. And if you take the other alternative and start distributing them, well, maybe you’re going to be, you have no idea what you’re giving, if it’s right, if it’s wrong.
[00:40:47] So we want to provide a platform for you to say OK, we’re going to support Leaf to pay for the transportation of those products and for the industry, those who are manufacturing the product they need, to donate it through a controlled supply mechanism that can be tracked and that can be moved in a closed, temperature-controlled transport to get it to the people who need it. In other words, that is what we want to create. We wanted to create a little bit of structure to the chaos that exists during specifically, during, during disasters. In other words, we are recognized for our work that we undertake during times of disaster, when there is a hurricane, when there is an earthquake, many people support us because they know that the money will reach the people who need it and that it will be used for things that they believe can help society. So that helps us. But what we want in Mexico is to bring that structure so that people can say ok, I’m not going to leave this product in this collection center anymore, because that lends itself to bad practices. We can donate money even if it’s a little bit, $10, $20, it helps and we can mobilize resources more effectively.
[00:42:02] It seems to me that it makes a lot of sense and is a very rational way to face these very serious problems that will continue to become part of living on this planet.
[00:42:14] We’ve been looking at forecasts at frequencies of 100, scientists’ forecasts and all that. There are going to be more frequent hurricanes, at least in Mexico, and many people do not analyze, but we have these tools that help us to understand that. Fair. The Pacific receives more hurricanes than the Yucatan. And to see just where this product is going to be needed in order to have it beforehand, to be prepared and not to be always responding, but to think ahead. Talk to the industry and tell them you know what? We are going to create a mechanism so that we are prepared with medical supplies before it happens. We already have it in stock. Ready, safe, secure. Something happens and it’s mobile.
[00:42:57] It is already there, nothing more. It’s a truck instead of blowing it up.
[00:43:00] And you don’t have to bring it from the United States. So the idea we have now is also to deploy backpacks for rescuers, to have backpacks in our warehouse in Cuautitlán so that they can be mobilized when needed. So that, those projects where you can anticipate a little bit what’s going to be used, because almost always you’re going to need medications for chronic diseases that the family that deployed forgot their glucose, meter, their test strips or their blood pressure medications. Those are medications and those are things that are going to be dictated almost regularly when people are facing a crisis situation. So, for us, how can we create these these systems and have these these ready before we need to, before anything happens and do it continuously? And for that you need to be on the ground in a country or have groups that are on the ground with these same ideas in a country like Mexico or the United States, where there are also hurricanes every year.
[00:44:05] It is admirable what you are doing Eduardo. And well, it is a great, great example for many organizations and people in Mexico, as in the rest of Latin America. I would say that around the world I think what you are doing is a standard of quality and processes and technology as well, which I think helps a lot, especially if you want to implement Mexico and then go down to all of Latin America, which I imagine could be part of your objective in the future. Changing the speed of the questions a little bit and moving a little bit from that of the supply chain. A little bit to your leadership you have had and demonstrated throughout your life great leadership. You have come out of many complicated situations and I think you still have that personal motivation to do more and do more. Would you have any challenge, any obstacle that has marked you? Maybe something you haven’t already shared. And how? How did you get something out of it? Because.
[00:45:15] Yes, of course. I think the same challenge as before. In other words, I believe that having been a migrant, a farm worker, taught me perseverance, taught me how to get ahead. I think those are like fundamentals, it’s fundamental to the way I am. It has helped me think through complex projects and tell if I could get out of.
[00:45:37] It is clear.
[00:45:38] Mexico’s project, well, that’s easier, but having that perseverance and having that perspective that nothing is impossible, that you can continue to give as much as you can. If you lead with your heart and your best thoughts, can you continue to reach these goals? No, because the idea is very simple, but nothing more. It is to continue continuously. And what did he have? When you are in the field you say How do I get out of this situation, right? So it teaches you to persevere and at the same time to be humble. In other words, we are all equal, we all have the same value. And how can we show others that yes, they are worth it? Because we often forget to remind others that we are all worth the same. So, for me that’s always been what motivates me to help others, because I was there. I was in a situation where we had no drinking water in Zacatecas, where we were now migrants in the United States, where we had no insurance, where we had no money for different things. So, how can we close this gap, this gap, this gap between those of us who live with maximum technology and all the advances that industry and humanity have contributed, and then close this gap between those who do not have access to it. So, because we all could have been that person, let’s not forget that. And for me it’s always been that leadership, those experiences that I really let that guide me to what I’m doing. And that makes you work harder.
[00:47:19] Thank you very much. I really enjoyed this interview. Thank you very much. You have our full support for anything you need. I am confident that the Mexico project will continue to be a success. And well, many of us would like to invite you in another year or so to see you give us an update on your accomplishments. But thanks, thanks to you, thanks to Direct Leaf and to all the organization. I was told that it is a great team, with a very good culture and I know that this is a team that is making change in the world. So thank you for what you do on behalf of all the people I know really, the people who listen to us, how can they contact you? How can they learn more about relief? How can they even support today something that you are working on some campaign that you want to promote? How do we join your effort?
[00:48:17] You can follow us on our website Punto org. There you can donate if you like. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and our social networks. And I can also be contacted through the internet, which is a tool that I use a lot because it helps me reach the public that is really interested in supporting me. So through LinkedIn, Eddy Mendoza you can look me up and send me a message and I will be happy to respond. And the website for what? For them to learn a little more about the work we do in Mexico and the activities we have at a global level. Right now we are currently supporting a project that we are carrying out, for example, we are looking at how to help Ukrainian refugees in Mexico City and Tijuana. We are collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see what needs these individuals have and how we can mobilize some resources, even if they are few, to make life a little easier for these individuals who are experiencing a tragedy in their lives. So that’s one and another one we are working on right now. We are about to bring more than 60 trailers in 95, more than 30 million mouth covers that we hope will help the country not to have to continue buying, because it has been a disadvantage for all the countries in the budgets they had for these products. They no longer have them, so we are working on that, on that logistical system.
[00:49:58] Well Eduardo again thank you very much to all of you who listen to us, if you want to continue listening to interviews as interesting and motivational as this one, please do not hesitate to subscribe. My name is Enrique Alvarez, thank you for listening and this was another episode. In Spanish. Thank you. And have a nice day.
