The new year is off to a great start for the members of Aj Tikonel Kab’! In early March they botted and packaged 120 jars of honey with their own label and began to reach out to stores, restaurants, and cafes around Lake Atitlan to carry their product. In just the few weeks since then, the group has sold its entire stock and new customers from all over the lake are lining up for more. 

With a portion of the income generated from sales, the group plans to cover the costs of future hive maintenance and product packaging, as well as expand the apiary to increase honey production for the coming harvest in April and May.

The remaining income will be divided among members, many of whom have lost over half of their annual coffee harvest income to Roya, the coffee fungus currently devastating the Guatemalan highlands. This, along with a drop in international coffee prices, has dealt a significant blow to the livelihoods of these farmers. What they make from honey sales will provide a much-needed new source of income for their families.

Meanwhile, we’re hoping to incorporate 10 additional coffee farmers into the beekeeping project cooperative.

This new group of farmers approached us earlier this year to express interest in beekeeping so that they too can become more resistant to the coffee rust epidemic. Like our current beekeepers, half of the new group members are women, and all of them are excited about the opportunity to embark on this project.

We hope to begin training new members in early April. Our current members will guide the new beekeepers by providing mentorship and technical support, and when the time comes both groups will work together to sell the honey they produce under the Aj Tikonel Kab’ label.

Catherine, a high-school senior from Pittsburgh, PA, writes about her experience volunteering for a week with Pueblo a Pueblo in Guatemala:

My first thought when I first saw the massive mountains of Guatemala was “wow.” And now, having been here for a whole week, “wow” is still my first thought.

Leaving the United States for the first time to come here, I had never thought that I would experience such a culture shock. To me, almost everything is different. The money, the language, the public transportation, the amazing landscapes, the shops, the phones, the food, and even the showers—everything.

But despite having to adjust to all of these changes, as soon as I began talking to the people here, I realized something: the people, apart from looking different and speaking a different language, are not any different than the people I encounter every day in the United States. They still have to buy their groceries, send their kids to school, and pay the bills.

Here, however, people are not blessed with the same luxuries as we are in America. And I think that what I’ve learned the most from Guatemala is that despite all the daily difficulties and roadblocks, people endure.

The children that I met in the school in Chacaya, despite having holes in their shoes and barely any school supplies, welcomed me with smiling faces that melted my heart. They asked me questions about my life and were happy to answer questions about theirs. They pulled on my shirt and put flowers in my hair. They held my hand as I struggled to walk up the impossibly steep hill from the garden. When we said goodbye, they kissed my cheeks and shook my hand. One girl, Francisca, pulled me close and said, “nunca te olvidaré.” (I'll never forget you).

Walking with adults to the beehives later that day, I noticed their strength, too. I consider myself to be in shape, but I was sweating through my clothes and struggling to find footholds on the path. The Guatemalan women behind me were doing the same thing, but they also carried small children on their backs and wore worn down sandals.

When we reached the hives, they fearlessly interacted with swarms of buzzing bees while I covered my ears and prayed for it to end. Even around town, I was shocked to see men and women of all ages simply climb into the back of a pick-up truck and stand there, bracing themselves against the wind and the curves in the road.

But it wasn’t until I saw three-year-old Louisa – the child that my mother sponsors from the United States – that I realized how big a difference a little help can make. As she silently clutched the new pencils and stuffed puppy my mom had sent for her, I finally understood how important our work here had been.

Now, having stayed in Guatemala for just a week, I can say with confidence that I will never forget it. I will never forget the children, or the food, or the beauty of standing on the bed of a pick-up truck, zooming down turning roads, looking out at the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen, surrounded by the only volcanoes I’ve ever seen. Like Francisca told me in Chacaya: Guatemala, nunca te olvidaré.

Shane, a high-school senior from Pittsburgh, PA, describes his experience volunteering for a week with Pueblo a Pueblo in Guatemala: 

When I arrived in Guatemala, I was amazed by how different everything was from the United States. Of course, I knew that life here would be strange compared to what I experienced every day at home, but I was taken aback by just how much I had underestimated the differences. The borderline recklessness of many of the drivers, the number of stray dogs, the number of women selling scarves and other woven items on the streets - just the sheer chaos of it all. And that was only Antigua.

After two days in Antigua, we took a long drive over mountainous terrain to Santiago Atitlan, where over the rest of the week we traveled to several different communities to visit schools, learn about Pueblo a Pueblo's projects, and experience firsthand what daily life is like for many Guatemalans. My fondest memory of this week will be my second trip to the school in Chacayá, where I was treated like a human jungle gym by a group of first through third grade students. It was easy to see how happy they were to have visitors, not to mention how interesting they found us given that we are foreigners. 

In the afternoons, when school wasn’t in session, Catherine and I spent time making packs of clothing, translating storybooks into Spanish, and translating letters to sponsors from children in the communities. Reading the letters opened my eyes to the importance of Pueblo a Pueblo’s work. In them, kids thanked their sponsors and explained their living situations. Some had only one parent. Some had multiple younger brothers and sisters for whom they had to care. Most would never have been able to afford school without the help of Pueblo a Pueblo and the generosity of their sponsors.

During my time here, I’ve come to understand that there’s a difference between helping people for the common good – donating to charity, even volunteering at an organization like this – and getting the opportunity to experience firsthand what the work is doing. I came to this realization one afternoon towards the end of our stay when Catherine and I spent several hours jarring and labeling honey for Pueblo a Pueblo’s Beekeeping Project.

When we started, we thought that jarring the honey would be a long, exceedingly boring task. At first it was, as it took almost twenty minutes to fill one jar. After about an hour and a half, though, Felipa, one of the beekeepers, arrived and kept us company while we worked. The three of us talked for a while, joking around, sharing stories, and just passing the time.

During our conversation, Felipa told us that her husband had recently passed away and that she now had to care for her five children, ranging in age from five to fourteen, on her own. She works every day in the mountains near her house, hiking an hour or more each way, often carrying heavy loads on her back. She does all of this just to be able to support and provide for her family.

After hearing her story, everything that we had done this week suddenly became that much more meaningful, and jarring the honey, which at first seemed to be a boring task, became even enjoyable, now that we understood just how much we were helping Felipa.

Having had this experience and having seen just what life is like for so many people in Guatemala, I have a newfound appreciation for my home in Pittsburgh. This trip has been an eye-opening experience and certainly one that I will never forget, and what started out as a senior project has ended as something that changed both my life and my view of the world.