A Maya Solar, Local Farmers and the Vision Behind 382 Pizza 🍕🌱

When we started rebuilding 382 Pizza, we knew we wanted it to become more than just a pizzeria.

We wanted to build something connected to real people, real stories, local roots, and community.

That is how Oxkutzcab slowly became part of our story.

Pam is originally from Chile, and when she moved to Mérida, she began looking for other Chilean people living here. That is how she met Bella.

Even though Bella later became a Mexican citizen, she was also born in Chile. What started as a simple connection between two Chilean women living far from home eventually became a beautiful friendship built around family, community, and shared values.

In December 2025, during Christmas vacation, we traveled with our children and my parents to a small town near Oxkutzcab. Pam contacted Bella to finally meet in person.

That visit changed something in us.

Pam and Bella discovered they had many things in common:
both are intelligent, hardworking women, deeply committed to their families, supportive of their husbands’ dreams, present in their children’s lives, and at the same time passionate about helping their communities grow.

Bella invited Pam to become part of Inderusy, an initiative focused on supporting women and local people through agroecological entrepreneurship and community projects.

Inside a place called “Quinta del Abuelo,” there is a one-hectare maya solar cared for by Armando, an agricultural engineer with years of experience and deep respect for nature.

There are pitahayas, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes, peppers, honey, and many other crops growing there.

Everything is cultivated with techniques inspired by the way the maya people cared for the land generations ago — respecting natural cycles and avoiding agrotoxins whenever possible.

But what impacted us the most was not only the agriculture.

It was the way they live.

Their connection with nature.
The peace of the place.
The generosity with which they share knowledge.
The way they teach students and help their community.

Armando even creates educational videos to help local farmers improve their harvests, while Bella continues developing projects to bring more opportunities to the region.

Their daughters also contribute to the community by teaching music to local children:
Lisa teaches violin and Karen teaches piano.

When we visit them as a family, we always leave inspired.

The flavors of the food they grow and cook are honestly incredible. You can feel the care, patience, and respect behind every ingredient.

That is why one of our dreams is to continue integrating ingredients from their harvests into our pizzas at 382 Pizza.

For now, because the community is far from Mérida, we sometimes need to wait until we can travel there ourselves to bring products back with us. But Bella and Pam are currently working on projects that could eventually help bring agroecological products from the community into Mérida more consistently in the future.

More than ingredients, what inspires us is the idea of creating bridges:
between communities,
between technology and tradition,
between local producers and families,
between people who believe small projects can still create real impact.

382 Pizza is still growing, but we hope it can become a place where all those worlds connect.

Thank you for reading our story 🍕❤️