Economic Alternatives for Q’eqchi Families
Most people in the villages Ak’ Tenamit serves are subsistence farmers who earn less than $500 per year selling corn, fish, or other goods. Ak’ Tenamit consequently promotes income alternatives as part of its sustainable development agenda. Our staff and students help villagers to diversify their farms and teach them to make an array of handicrafts, which include palm-seed carvings, hammocks, candles, decorative calabash gourds, jewelry and an array of paper products made from recycled cornhusks, banana stalks and other kitchen waste. Ak’ Tenamit sells the products of more than a dozen handicraft cooperatives, most of which are composed only of women, at its own shops and to gift shops around the country.

Ak’ Tenamit has helped two villages start a community lodge, which travelers visit as part of a hiking tour led by local guides. The lodge and guiding fees provide needed income for those villages and motivate people to protect the forests and wildlife that are part of the attraction for visitors. Ak’ Tenamit’s sustainable tourism program is preparing Q’eqchi students to launch similar businesses in their communities, which will increase family incomes while decreasing dependency on slash and burn agriculture, hunting and logging.