Photo By 1st Sgt. Luisito Brooks | Graduating from a beekeeping training program, 25 women stand next to their beehives...... read more read more
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TARMIYAH, Iraq — A blossoming new program organized by embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team-North is creating a buzz and giving some area women a much sweeter outlook.
The "buzz" is teaching Iraqi widows and divorcees the ins and outs of beekeeping in order to help them put food on the table while they help put honey on the tables of others.
Twenty-five Iraqi women graduated from the beekeeper training program, March 27.
"These women are the heads of the household, many [because of] the sectarian conflict," said Mary-Denise Tabar, the public diplomacy and women's affairs advisor for ePRT-North. "The program aims to train local rural women on the theoretical and practical applications of basic beekeeping."
ePRT-North embeds with 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and receives its security from the brigade's subordinate battalions. This allows them to work safely on projects in areas north of Baghdad, including Tarmiyah and the city of Taji, including the bee course.
Taught in four-hour sessions over a period of six days, the course covered the proper care of bees and techniques to harvest their honey.
"The women were chosen by the non-government organization, Fafedian Foundation, who knows the community and the women who need it most," explained Tabar.
Interest in the beekeeping course proved to be extremely high, explained Tim Lowery, an agricultural specialist with the ePRT. They received more applications than there were available seats, so the team is already planning more for courses.
Upon completion of the training, each woman received her own active and healthy beehive containing thousands of the bees, along with all the necessary equipment to operate it.
In total, the entire beekeeping training program including the 25 beehives for the graduates, tools and supplies cost approximately $23,450, said Tabar.
Each beehive houses anywhere between 10,000 and 30,000 bees that on average can produce about 15 to 20 kilograms of honey a year. Bees also provide a valuable resource for local farmers, helping to pollinate their crops.
"For most of these women, this is how they earn income for their households," said Tabar. "They can sell a kilo of honey anywhere from $20 to $50."
During the graduation ceremony, family and friends looked on as the new beekeepers were called forward to receive their certificates and beehives. They showed their support of each other with rounds of applause.
The honey has yielded an additional benefit, bringing together these women who are dealing with great adversity, and with the new skill, the added bonus of reducing the stigma that they are a burden on their families and society.
One graduate was so overwhelmed that she was brought to tears during the ceremony.
"A woman told me that she was so thankful for everything and can remember having bees as a child," said Lowery, "She said that she will raise the bees like they were her own children."
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2010 09:36 |
| Story ID: | 47596 |
| Location: | TARMIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 301 |
| Downloads: | 228 |
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