Angela's Story
October 26, 2007
Angela Quiix is not afraid of bees. In fact, she's embraced them for the benefits they bring to her family and community.
The 31-year-old mother of six helps raise bees in Xalache, a Mayan village in northern Guatemala. "I like it because it's easy and practical," she says as others pump smoke around her to quell the remaining bees in her hive. In her hands she holds the fruits of today's harvest: a honeycomb dripping with sweet, organic honey.
Last June, Mercy Corps showed Angela and 11 other women how to become beekeepers and supplied them with materials for 20 hives. The group responded by harvesting 5,000 Quetzales (about US$700) worth of honey in the first year.
The village consumed about 15 percent of the honey themselves, then bottled and sold the rest to restaurants and hotels in Coban, the regional capital. With the profits they purchased supplies for another 18 hives and stocked away money in the community's savings-and-loan cooperative, which helps community members buy livestock and increase their production of cardamom and corn.
"This project contributes to our family income," says Angela. "Hopefully it will contribute to the education of our children, too."
Over the last five years, more than 89% of resources allocated directly to programs.