Cacao, Care & Community Impact
When you buy our products, join a cacao tour, or stay overnight, you’re directly supporting a living ecosystem of well-being in the Q’eqchi territory of Lanquín.
Grounded in Relationship
For over 9 years, Tuqtuquilal has been built on relationship. We've listened to stories, shared meals, and followed the lead of the Q'eqchi community. These conversations shape how we define success and guide what we choose to build.
109
Families in the Ratzum Cacao Network
300+
Local individuals involved
10
Full-time employees
55
Women employed as toasters and peelers
173,000+
Pounds of cacao purchased from Red Ratzum since 2022
3 Core Pillars of Empowerment
-
The biggest challenge local families face is the lack of opportunities to earn income. That’s why we created the Red Ratzum Cacao Collective — a group of 65 families cultivating cacao in agroforestry systems.
We offer reliable income during harvest seasons by purchasing cacao and other crops like turmeric, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, vanilla, and cinnamon.
We train farmers in regenerative techniques like biofertilizers, compost toilets, and grafting to improve yields and fruit quality.
We also train and employ women in cacao processing (toasting and peeling), giving them an opportunity to earn income — often for the first time. These groups become spaces for connection, support, and shared learning.
-
Access to healthcare is a major barrier. Emergency situations often push families into debt or force the sale of ancestral lands.
We take a systems-thinking approach that honors traditional healing while building collective resilience. This includes:
❋ Nutrition workshops to reduce reliance on processed foods
❋ Promoting Mayan herbs and traditional remedies
❋ Breathwork and meditation to support emotional regulation
-
Tuqtuquilal serves as a demonstration site to show what’s possible when we build with the land, not against it.
Our property features rainwater catchment systems, swales, and compost toilets. We use local and reclaimed materials to build cabins that respect and revive traditional construction practices.
We've also taught families to build and use compost toilets, creating ongoing fertilizer for their cacao forests.
Ongoing Initiatives
These are the threads we keep weaving. Beyond our daily operations, we’re committed to growing long-term impact through health workshops, regenerative farming, sacred plant reforestation, and women’s empowerment. Each initiative is grounded in local knowledge and shaped by community needs.
Health and Wellness
We offer regular health and wellness workshops to the families in Red Ratzum. Past lessons have included:
Hygiene and basic sanitation
Identifying healthy and unhealthy foods
Cooking classes to incorporate medicinal herbs into common meals
Benefits of medicinal herbs
Breathwork
Stretching
Understanding the connection between emotional, physical, mental and spiritual bodies
We are always open to doctors, dentists, and health practioners who want to donate their time to share wisdom and important information with the community. If that’s you, reach out!
Women’s Work
In a culture that is predominantly machismo, it’s important to give women extra support. We are organizing women’s only events to strengthen the social fabric between women and offer additional support for those dealing with health and fertility issues, birth trauma, and alcoholism and abuse in the home. Our dream is to build a physical structure, safe space for women to have a place to go to rest, connect, and heal together.
We are proud to be partnering with Heartsong Cacao on their mission to empower womb care and are open to more collaborators and supporters of women’s well-being.
Regenerative Practices Training
We offer regular regenerative agriculture workshops to the families to introduce new techniques that will help their village and food forests thrive. Topics include:
Fruit tree grafting
Compost toilets and bio-fertilizers
Tree nursery care and plant exchange
Rainwater catchment systems
Bioconstruction
We are always open to collaborate with outside experts who want to come and offer a workshop or demonstration to the communities.
Sacred Plant Reforestation
The Lanquín region is home to many sacred plants that are recorded in the Mayan bible, the Popol Vuh, and still used by elders for ceremonies and healings. One of these plants, copal pom, is endangered and in need of protection and reforestation. Copal a tree that produces a sticky sap that is hand-harvested, typically stored in a banana leaf, and offered to the sacred fire in a ceremony support the prayers. Another sacred tree called Balam or pataxte. It a cousin to cacao and has incredible medicinal properties. It too, is very beloved and hard to find.
We are starting a nursery at Tuqtuquilal to safeguard these seeds, grow healthy plant starts, and regenerate the mountainsides at our property and surrounding lands to ensure pataxte, copal pom, and rare varieties of cacao are safeguarded for generations to come.
Stay Connected
Want to follow our journey and see how regeneration unfolds? We send occasional updates about new initiatives, community stories, and ways to get involved.
Support Regeneration at the Roots
If your heart is moved to support the Q’eqchi community’s thriving, we are accepting donations. 100% of donations will go directly to the initiatives listed on this page. Thank you so much for your partnership and generosity.