Women’s collective
Ruk’u’x Ulew was founded in 2016 by Cecilia Mendoza Chiyal, an indigenous Mayan mother of three, born and raised in San Marcos La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.
Cecilia once ran a small cafe in her village and many local women would come and ask her for work. She was troubled by not being able to help all these women with employment, so she would pray to God and sit with the fire spirit and ask: “What path shall i take? What sort business can I do to give enough work to so many women?”
Cecilia would prepare her own traditional cacao drink for her family every Christmas and Easter using the highest quality cacao beans, sourced from an organic family farm in Alta-Verapaz. She often received compliments on her delicious cacao. This gave Cecilia the courage to ask a few of the busy cafes in her village if they would be interested in selling her blocks of cacao. They agreed and sold out quickly. The customers reaction to her cacao was overwhelmingly positive.