A home honey production project that will generate income, but also preserve native pollinators that are at risk of extinction. Raising native bees is different from raising European honey bees. Their honey and pollen are highly medicinal and will be shared/gifted to the elders in the village of El Sauce. The production of honey from the European honey bees will be offered for sale as an income-generating project. This project has an important environmental, cultural, and economic component.

Bamboo as an Alternative Building Material Traditionally, buildings in Guatemala were built out of locally made materials like mud, or wood. Modern buildings are built out of cement blocks, with materials bought from large companies outside of the local communities. Unlike traditional building materials, these buildings tend to be very hot and moldy in the summer and very cold in the winter. One of the youth is interested in exploring bamboo building technologies in order to plant sustainable building materials, with a variety of bamboo so that he can offer this as an alternative to wood. This project will help develop niche local building skills, protect forests, and show people that there are alternatives and sustainable construction options for the future.

Aurelia Xitumul Iboy, has received three creative solutions grants to incrementally build her home apothecary and clinic and to broaden her services for patients from her rural community. In this picture Aurelia is labeling her massage oils infused with various medicinal plants.

Did you know that tomatoes are native to Mesoamerica? Francisco (Chico) Sic Sic, a young farmer from the village of Chichupac, has taken on a creative solutions grant to recuperate native tomato varieties. Where there were once dozens of native varieties, Guatemalan farmers now know only 2-3. The monoculture production of tomatoes over the last 50 years required the application of more and more agrochemicals. The plants became susceptible to disease, reducing the pool to a few hybrid grocery-store varieties. The Garden’s Edge was able to access 3 varieties of native tomato seeds from the U.S.D.A. Seed Bank, that had been collected in Guatemala in the 1970’s, before the introduction of hybrids. These varieties have since disappeared in Guatemala. We planted them in Albuquerque, New Mexico and then re-matriated the harvest to Guatemala, to try and bring them back again. Chico built a greenhouse to protect them from the diseases that have become so prevalent in Guatemala due to the excessive use of agrochemicals. It is our hope that the beloved seeds that have disappeared from communities all around the world are found and one day returned home.