glyph 155: africa bees honey . entrepreneurs, microfinance, microloans, Henry Okiria, Learning Empowers Uganda, Soroti ... free university, boulder, colorado

Steve Elliott
Longmont Free University (Fees $50.00) Total: $0.0
Late Summer 2004 (course no longer offered, March 2008)

My hobby is raising bees in Uganda, East Africa. Through some generous donations and two non-profit agencies - one here in the US and one in Soroti, Uganda, some friends and I have established a co-operative of farmers there who are learning how to become beekeepers. We give them a week's worth of training, and a microfinance loan for about $125 that pays for two bee hives and gear for each farmer. When the honey is harvested, they will all work together to process the honey and sell it in the local markets. This class is going to follow the project, make suggestions, and, as soon as the farmers come up with a name, we will produce all the labels for the honey jars and ship them off to Uganda. We also want to investigate free voice over internet phone calls so we can build a better digital bridge to Uganda. I'm not taking any money to teach this class, but the $50 materials fee will go towards tools, books and other supplies for the project.

I visited Uganda in March and made lots of friends. Now I'd like to help them become self sufficient.

[an obsolete link to the course once taught at Longmont Free University removed, 02Mar08]

Photo of Steve Elliott and friends, taken near Soroti, Uganda, and published on the Degree Confluence Project's website: https://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/132.html

https://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/155.html
entered before July 9, 2006; edited/updated November 26, 2015