December 9th!

May December 9, 2007 go down as the day it finally happened. Since I arrived in Chimeo in late April, Ive been talking and talking about levantando de nuevo (raising anew) the bee keepers association in Chimeo. It sounds simple enough, but somehow its taken me over seven months. Three months for getting to know people, two for getting to know bee keepers, seeing their hives, and generally building my street-bee-cred, one month to do background project development work, one month simply waiting for a general assembly to come around so that I could announce the meeting to the entire population- there are no CCs on email so passing any news is done door to door or in general assembly.

The general assembly on Saturday the 8th was luckily a short one- we had arrived at the seventh item on the agenda, “various”, in a mere four hours, a feat that usually takes about six or seven. The men in charge- Carlos, Cecilio, Enrique, and Don Justino- called me up to say my piece. For the first time I was looking upon the community as the encargados see it, and I understood how frustrating it must be for community leaders- 95% of the women, seated at center, stared at the ground. The men, thinner than their wives and with bolas of coca where the women suck lollipops, look straight at me, but from the side, on a hill by the meeting hall. As I speak, faces don’t change. I mention the need to meet, sooner rather than later, and ask the apiculturists I know what time tomorrow would be good to meet. No response. “Erm, so we need to meet, but I need you all to tell me what time is best on a Sunday. Morning? Afternoon?”

Carlos whispers in my ear, “It would be prudent to just pick anytime, Jacqueline.”

Don Justino pipes up, “Two oclock! Two oclock tomorrow!”

Finally with Don Justino’s voice, the expressions change from indifference to agreement. Yes! We will come at two oclock!

Although it seems like a somewhat meaningless encounter, I keep on replaying the meeting in my head Sunday morning. I realize how much grabbing the people’s attention relied upon the authorities of Chimeo, who all happen to be my closest friends. This has two implications- one, if I learned anything from studying development in college, its that I need to become closer friends with the less involved in Chimeos politics, Chimeo’s “marginalized” population. The leaders know how to get help, improve their lives, network- it’s the people off to the side that would see a greater marginal benefit from a veggie garden or some more honey in their diet. Second, I have to change. Any leadership position Ive ever held in the past has been based upon leading by consensus, demanding input and building from there. That is not what works in Chimeo. Don Justino, Carlos and the rest speak with a certainty and authority that Chimenos are looking for- they seem to want someone to tell them when, where, and how. This to me feels uncomfortable and paternalistic, but if it’s the way the thing needs to be done, I’ll have to change a bit.

I arrive at two oclock, well aware that no one else will arrive until three oclock, a la tradicion Boliviana. I pass the hour letting some girls I know braid my hair (one of Chimeo’s most popular past times of late), and finally at three, five men show up. We keep waiting, assured that others will appear. We wait until 3:30, when I begin the meeting.

“So, I’d like to talk about this group. What would we like to accomplish?”

Blank stares.

A few more stragglers arrive, this time a group of women, and I start again.

“So, lets talk about some of the advantages Chimeo has in bee keeping. Ive listed a few. More ideas?”

Blank stares.

Finally, at four, another group arrives. I start again.

“Alright. We are making rules. If we are going to have a group, its going to be well organized or it will fall apart, just like so many other projects. Rule number one: arrive on time. Agreed?”

Enthusiastic agreement! Folks discuss why these rules concerning attendance and tardiness, are important, and offer suggestions on how to improve some rules. In the end, we have a set or regulations that to me seems almost juvenile, but Ive been told by other volunteers that this is what works in Bolivia. There are fines for not attending (5 Bs) or arriving late (song and dance in front of the group). We have elected a president, treasurer, and secretary (all women-the group universally decides that women are more trustworthy). This week I will go to Villa Montes to get a formal Libro de Actas to record meeting minutes and, if Im feeling fancy, an official stamp- nothing in Bolivia is official until it is stamped by all interested parties.

Today we are 18, and we have agreed to meet each Sunday at 8 AM. Next Sunday we will clean the much neglected apiculture sede. It was apparently once in such nice shape that the PCV here in the mid-ninties live there- this is hard to believe today. Full of panels and boxes and used wax, it seems to have not been cleaned since the last honey harvest it saw, which was probably while I was still in high school. We’ll see how many of our 18 show up to clean, and then how many show up to begin bee classes after the New Year. If we are even a group of 5 in the end Ill be happy, so long as it’s a good five members.

No matter what the coming Sundays bring, today there has been success in Chimeo- there is a bee group!