Sustainable Livelihoods for 100 Families

Dear GlobalGiving supporter,

I’m writing to you today because I know you care about the families and communities we work with in Guatemala. My name is Elmer Urízar and I am the Field Technician for EcoLogic’s project with Mancomunidad Frontera del Norte in Ixcán. I want to take this moment to THANK YOU for your generous support. It allows us to respond to the immediate needs of rural and indigenous families so that they can have dignified lives and livelihoods in the places where they live. I have worked in this community for over 5 years, providing technical assistance to implement a series of complementary strategies that seek to empower rural communities to conserve their forests and natural resources.

One of these strategies is beekeeping. Beekeeping can help build sustainable, resilient livelihoods from the harvest and sale of honey. EcoLogic’s beekeeping project has grown to include seven communities Ixcán, who have received beehives, training and assistance to enable them to adopt a livelihood alternative to slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture. This year we are expanding to two new communities that were identified and selected to benefit from beekeeping expansion, given their strong interest and commitment.

We started by approaching community authorities to make ourselves known. We then conducted community consultations, carried out in a participatory manner under the concept of family participation--to further encourage the active participation and leadership of women. The 50 beneficiaries were selected through community assemblies, where each family nucleus will become a participating family. An important part of the process was a learning exchange we facilitated between these new communities that were considering these activities and a community already engaged in agroforestry and beekeeping. The communities have also selected volunteer promoters (community leaders) to be further trained and provide ongoing support to all project participants.

We then held several workshops to train the participating families in the process, care, and maintenance of beehives, use of the equipment, safety tips, etc. so that they would be ready when the bees arrived.

Finally, last week, we were very excited to deliver the first 50 beehives, safety equipment, smokers, and other tools. It was quite the process, as these communities are very remote and the bees were delivered at night so that they would be calmer. We were all up until the wee hours of the morning making sure everything was delivered correctly and distributed as planned. The new beekeepers are incredibly grateful, committed, and ready to go.

I look forward to keeping you updated on the experiences of these communities as we move forward with the process. Thanks again for your kindness and moral support, it gives me the strength to keep fighting for my people and my country each and every day!

In solidarity,

Elmer Urízar
Field Technician, Ixcán, Guatemala