Juliette

Juliette's story is one of extraordinary resilience, love, and determination. Living in the Arua area of Uganda, she never had the opportunity to have children of her own. So she opened her heart and her home to 18 orphans — the youngest just four years old, the oldest now in Senior 6 — and dedicated her life to raising them.

Facing the enormous responsibility of feeding, educating, and nurturing 18 children, Juliette turned to beekeeping to make ends meet. "Life was very difficult. I saw people doing bee keeping and a thought struck my mind to start bee keeping to meet the needs of my family. And with time, opportunities started to pop in from the cooperative societies and now I am better."

She began with just 3 beehives and no experience whatsoever. Through training from cooperative societies and her own sheer persistence, she grew her apiary to an impressive 60 beehives. The honey income now pays school fees for all 18 of her children and covers their daily needs.

Bee farming, she says, has become "a part of me compared to other projects. Because there are a lot more losses in other projects than in bee keeping."

Despite serious challenges — a house fire that destroyed her storage facility, the threat of theft, and termites eating the wooden hive stands — Juliette has never given up. She dreams of building a permanent house, securing transport to reach markets, and adding metallic hive stands to protect her investment from termites.

Juliette is among the most inspiring figures in the Honey Pride community. Her beehives sustain not just one family, but eighteen children who now have a chance at education and a future. She is a living testament to what is possible when rural women are given skills, markets, and the chance to grow.