Honey for peace

Late spring, the disturbed workers gathered in the royal cell along with their queen to form a platoon for the future of the colony. It was a reality: ants and other bugs were extinguishing the drones!

The first, one of the workers, exclaimed: —Let's abandon this honeycomb, and move to a hidden place where nothing can harm us.

—Wherever we go there will always be bugs with which we will have differences and perhaps even conflicts —answered the queen bee.

The second, a drone bee proposed: —let's produce the most powerful poison in the world! Let's throw it on plants, flowers and stems, let's kill off all the ants there are, they are to blame for our extinction.

"We bees are not violent insects, we bring honey, well-being and sustenance to the entire world," the queen responded again.

Finally, another of the workers spoke, who stood out for her great wisdom: —We know that ants are our enemies, and we inhabit the same space, but we both take care of the ecosystem and are essential to pollinate, without this the crops do not grow and Without crops there is no food, neither for humans nor for animals. Our life is short, and today more than ever we must work with love to sweeten many more lives.

From the great colony, the queen bee summoned the anthill, for the first time in history they reconciled and repaired scars, and understood how important it was to live together peacefully, take more care of the environment, and work with love.

This short story is inspired by the story of the Giraldo Areiza family, made up of Dayron Giraldo, Alba Rosa Areiza and their son Mateo Cuero, who is part of the Reconciliation Choir (an initiative of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, a commitment to peace in which signatories and victims of the Colombian armed conflict, join their voices to sing in harmony) from the age of twelve; a family permeated by the Colombian armed conflict and in which the parents were members of the unarmed Farc-EP militias for more than fifteen years, currently signatories of peace.

Northeast of Medellín, in the Santo Domingo Savio neighborhood, this family exchanged the bitterness of violence for a sweet venture, a beekeeping and coffee growing field. Currently, Honey and Coffee La Esperanza produces more than forty kilos of honey per year and three pounds of coffee per year, and benefits more than fifty farming families in the municipality of Anorí. “Bees teach us to live in community and work as a team to serve others,” says Dayron, who affirms that in his business there is a spirit of cooperation and there are no differences, “…we can be in the same space with different people who were part of it.” of armed groups and even victims, that is healing.”

In that tireless search to repair their lives and heal, this family found in the Reconciliation Choir a hopeful experience for their son Mateo, who is passionate about cooking, chemistry, cello and choral music. And the choir has become a commitment to give a voice to those people who historically lost the possibility of speaking out due to the armed conflict.