Honey

Rubén Ulo has a honey business. He has been working in a settlement near the town of Caranavi for the last two years, training community members how to raise honeybees. The community members bottle their honey in his house, and convince businesses in Caranavi to sell it.

It was time to "grow" the business. "The potential for honey in Bolivia is tremendous," he explains. "But we were way below our potential."

Rubén faced another challenge: he had not completed a research project, a graduation requirement. Last year, however, the College approved another way to graduate: write a business plan. So Rubén decided to write a business expansion plan, and kill two birds with one stone.

Yesterday, Rubén defended his business plan. It included training more farmers, making bi-monthly visits to producers to control quality, and do a marketing campaign. In five years, he plans to market over three tons of honey, and also to produce and sell royal jelly.

During the defense of his plan yesterday, a professor asked, "What if the farmers you train split off and start their own businesses? You are training the competition." True to our mission, Rubén responded, "The supply is far below demand, so there is plenty of room in the market for more production right now. But our job as graduates of the College is to pass our knowledge along so that more and more people have options, and can live with dignity. I would glad to know that my work could help more people."

Congratulations, then, to our latest graduate, already contributing to the development of the country. His success is all of our success.


Photo: Rubén signs his graduation documents -- our newest graduate!