Grow an Indigenous Youths' Beekeeping Cooperative

The announcements have been made: This year's youth arts and music festival is happening!

The Bee Boys have been working hard making preparations: coordinating artists, videotaping the introductions of local rap artists, painters and breakdancers to play on projectors and promote on social media. Jeremias is in charge of booking the bands, sound equipment and videos. Edwin keeps the accounts and meets with the municipal government, catholic church and local organizations for permissions and participation. 

They festival coordinators worked with local artists to design the festival logo: Ijatz "The Seed" symbolizing the re-emergence of mayan traditional knowledge, the multicolored corn cob symbolizing cultural diversity and harmony, and the white, red, yellow and black representing the four directions and the Mayan colors. 

The stage will be playing a series of rap, rock and traditional marimba music, poetry, breakdance with art displays lining San Pablo's public basketball court in the center of town.  All these artists will be displaying their work voluntarily in the spirit of community development and youth awareness of social issues affecting their town. This year the festival is dedicated to Overcoming Violence: bringing awareness to violence in all forms: drugs and alcohol, gangs, domestic violence and emotional abuse.

The coordinators say they want to show the state of Solola that San Pablo is full of artists and people committed to social change.

Thanks to you, [first name], we were able to support the Bee Boys and the San Pablo Youth Group's effort to keep their yearly festival free and open to the public!  

                                                          Stay tuned for videos from the artists!

Wow, it's been a great year for the Bee Boys. They now have their honey sold in 3 local shops, including the health food store - fetching them them better prices per gallon than ever before! 

They also have brand recognition and regular eco-tourism groups visiting their bees with protective coveralls. It keeps them going and they are happy. 

THANKS TO YOU!

Now they want to help sponsor a free public Tzutujil Music Festival to pursue their social mission of growing indigenous ways of life amongst their peers. 

The Bee Boys approached us last month to request special assistance for something they hold dear to their heart: the annual Indigenous Music Festival on International Youth Day!

The festival attracts a crowd of more than 500 Tzutujil and Kaqchikel teenagers and twenty-somethings to listen to local artists sing in their indigenous languages. 

The festival plays an important role for youth culture: honoring San Pablo artists and musicians who intermesh tradition and pop-culture, farming and hiphop. 

The total festival budget is just over $1,300 to pay for lights, sound, artist videos, publicity and transportation. Thanks to you wonderful monthly donors,  so we're practically almost halfway to the goal! 

Now we need your opinion:

Do you think the youth indigenous music festival is a good project to support?  Send us your thoughts!