Bee the Start
Donation protected
“Bee The Start”... be the start of what? The answer is of change. Be the start of a better future for everyone. Be the start of something bigger than all of us. I am taking the initiative to start that. And that’s where the name of this movement comes from. We are using bees and beekeeping as a tool to help people across the ocean.
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” -Maimonides
In the past, nonprofit organizations have gone into underdeveloped parts of Africa and provided those communities with schoolhouses for educating their youth, wells which allowed easier access to water, and implemented better forms of sanitization.
As time went on and those organizations checked back in on these villages to view their progress, it was to their surprise when they discovered that once the wells stopped working, the villagers would go back to their two hour walks to the closest water source and wouldn’t bother fixing them. Their schoolhouses were used for things other than education, and the outhouses ended up holding the villages supply of fish.
It wasn’t until these attempts of helping proved pointless that it dawned on these nonprofits that the best way to help the struggling communities of Africa wasn’t just to go in and give them the things they needed to be successful. The actual answer was to show them how to succeed on their own. And this is what my team’s goal is.
My name is Emma Kieckhaefer, I am part of the team working with Bob Wolff and the B.R. Honey Honey Company and B Products. I am 20 years old and just starting out my career in conservation and education. I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Most of my life I have spent out in nature, whether I was climbing trees, gardening with my mother, or hiking in the boundary waters of Ely, Minnesota. I guess it wouldn't be very hard for you to understand that the environment means a lot to me. Along with that, I've spent time at our local nature centers here volunteering and helping with classes educating kids. I am a strong believer of hands-on activities being the fastest way to learn.
(This is me, and my beloved dog, Ellie, in our unfinished backyard.)
(Here I am, in the Boundary Waters at one of the various portages.)
Bob has been awarded a scholarship through the Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Fellowship program. This scholarship allows Bob to collaborate with a Ghana beekeeping company with developing their beekeeping program.
Bob Wolff, our associate Becky Marshall, and I intend on traveling to Ghana, Africa this May to teach rural farmers beekeeping and how they can use the multitude of products bee produce to create businesses that would then help stimulate their economy. This will include teaching them how the beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly can be used to manufacture cosmetic products, such as soaps, lotions, shampoos, and ointments.
Along with helping farmers develop business plans, and teaching them beekeeping, we will take time to educate about 400 school children about the importance of bees in our ecosystem and pollination. As an extra step to help the local economy in Ghana, all materials we use during our trip will be purchased from sources in the region.
In order to accomplish these goals, I need to raise $5,500. This money would cover the cost of my visa, which is needed for me to get into Africa, my flight there and back, food during our stay, lodging, and anything else I may need during our stay there.
With your donation, you can help me, help others. Not only will we be improving their quality of life, but we will be benefiting the environment as well. We have the opportunity to strengthen our relations with a continent that is foreseen to be an “economic powerhouse”, and to show the world that America likes to support it’s fellow nations.
Along with aiding the people of Africa, you’d also be allowing me pursue my passions of taking care of our planet, and you’d be giving me the chance to build up my career. Your money will be going towards a worthy cause and every donation is appreciated.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” -Maimonides
In the past, nonprofit organizations have gone into underdeveloped parts of Africa and provided those communities with schoolhouses for educating their youth, wells which allowed easier access to water, and implemented better forms of sanitization.
As time went on and those organizations checked back in on these villages to view their progress, it was to their surprise when they discovered that once the wells stopped working, the villagers would go back to their two hour walks to the closest water source and wouldn’t bother fixing them. Their schoolhouses were used for things other than education, and the outhouses ended up holding the villages supply of fish.
It wasn’t until these attempts of helping proved pointless that it dawned on these nonprofits that the best way to help the struggling communities of Africa wasn’t just to go in and give them the things they needed to be successful. The actual answer was to show them how to succeed on their own. And this is what my team’s goal is.
My name is Emma Kieckhaefer, I am part of the team working with Bob Wolff and the B.R. Honey Honey Company and B Products. I am 20 years old and just starting out my career in conservation and education. I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Most of my life I have spent out in nature, whether I was climbing trees, gardening with my mother, or hiking in the boundary waters of Ely, Minnesota. I guess it wouldn't be very hard for you to understand that the environment means a lot to me. Along with that, I've spent time at our local nature centers here volunteering and helping with classes educating kids. I am a strong believer of hands-on activities being the fastest way to learn.
(This is me, and my beloved dog, Ellie, in our unfinished backyard.)(Here I am, in the Boundary Waters at one of the various portages.)Bob has been awarded a scholarship through the Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Fellowship program. This scholarship allows Bob to collaborate with a Ghana beekeeping company with developing their beekeeping program.
Bob Wolff, our associate Becky Marshall, and I intend on traveling to Ghana, Africa this May to teach rural farmers beekeeping and how they can use the multitude of products bee produce to create businesses that would then help stimulate their economy. This will include teaching them how the beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly can be used to manufacture cosmetic products, such as soaps, lotions, shampoos, and ointments.
Along with helping farmers develop business plans, and teaching them beekeeping, we will take time to educate about 400 school children about the importance of bees in our ecosystem and pollination. As an extra step to help the local economy in Ghana, all materials we use during our trip will be purchased from sources in the region.
In order to accomplish these goals, I need to raise $5,500. This money would cover the cost of my visa, which is needed for me to get into Africa, my flight there and back, food during our stay, lodging, and anything else I may need during our stay there.
With your donation, you can help me, help others. Not only will we be improving their quality of life, but we will be benefiting the environment as well. We have the opportunity to strengthen our relations with a continent that is foreseen to be an “economic powerhouse”, and to show the world that America likes to support it’s fellow nations.
Along with aiding the people of Africa, you’d also be allowing me pursue my passions of taking care of our planet, and you’d be giving me the chance to build up my career. Your money will be going towards a worthy cause and every donation is appreciated.
Organizer
Emma Kieckhaefer
Organizer
Cedar Rapids, IA