IMPACT:
6,619 people RECEIVED collective property titles with our support: LAND FOREVER.
23,696 people have REQUESTED collective property titles with our legal support.
500 urban indigenous people from the Zenú and Inga peoples were legally recognized in Cartagena
238 volunteers from 29 countries have been trained
in participatory methodologies and learned to work and collaborate with rural communities, becoming global agents of change with a more inclusive mindset.
INTERVENTION TERRITORY:
We work with Afro-descendant and indigenous families in the departments of Bolívar and Sucre
(Colombian Caribbean).
We also operate in the territories of Arjona (Sincerín, Rocha) and María la Baja
(Primero de Julio).
Our priorities
At FEM, we offer our services to communities free of charge, prioritizing the following areas of work:
Legal Advice
Leadership Education
Safeguarding traditions
Participatory design of structures and spaces
Research for change
Our implementation of ethnodevelopment plans is comprehensive, which allows us to address multiple issues in an articulated manner. Furthermore, due to the size of the communities, it is possible to achieve concrete and measurable solutions.
Research teams find these communities to be an ideal space to contribute to solving specific, concrete, and measurable problems.
Current projects
Since: 2025
¨Tierra Por Siempre¨Project - Primero de Julio
Location: Primero de Julio
Objective: To uphold the rights of the population through elements of social justice and equity, and to strengthen the community council to generate profound transformations in their territories.
So far, we have conducted workshops on ethnic law, entrepreneurship, and leadership for a group of 27 young people from this community. In addition, we are supporting the strengthening of the community council with law workshops and are currently drafting the minutes for its registration at the Mayor's Office of Maria la Baja. Furthermore, our support also includes social monitoring and social risk prevention actions.
Beneficiaries: 900 families, predominantly of Afro-descendant heritage
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Since: 2026
Mural project on 20 de Julio:
Location: 20 de Julio, Cartagena.
Objective: strengthen the sense of identity of the children and adults of the 20 de julio indigenous community. To achieve this, with the participation of the inhabitants, nine murals will be created on different facades in the community with designs linked to their history and culture.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
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Since: 2025
Support for English learning at the Sincerín Mega School.
Location: Sincerín.
Objective: To offer young people in the communities a tool to broaden their horizons: not only as a language, but as confidence, motivation, and new possibilities for the future.
Beneficiaries: 45 children
Since: 2026
English learning support at Primero de Julio:
Location: Primero de Julio.
Objective: To offer young people in the communities a tool to broaden their horizons: not only as a language, but as confidence, motivation, and new possibilities for the future.
Beneficiaries: Beneficiaries: 25 children
Date: 2026
Cleaning Journey on Primero de Juilio
Location: Primero de Julio
Objective: Together with the children of the community, residents, and the board of directors of the community council, we collected plastic waste that was found in various parts of the town.
Date: 2025
Design of a sports court model in Primero de Julio.
Location: Primero de Julio.
We held 6 participatory workshops with an architect to design a multi-purpose court with the goal of encouraging sports practice, particularly by girls, and also to create a space for meeting, care, and coexistence. It was designed by the community according to their needs and vision.
Beneficiaries : 2,471 inhabitants
“Rocha Collective Titling” Project
Location: Rocha
In 2023 and 2024, FEM, and in particular its legal team, supported the Rocha community with law workshops and administrative processes to obtain their collective title. On May 5, 2024, the Rocha community council received the great news from the National Land Agency that they had been awarded 135 hectares of land.
Beneficiaries: 7,000 inhabitants.
Process:
2013-2014: Creation of the Rocha Community Council and registration with the mayor's office of Arjona, Bolívar.
2018: Submission of the collective titling application.
2019-2020: Submission of expanded information to the National Land Agency (ANT) and initiation of the title application process.
2023: Technical visit by the ANT.
2024: The ANT awards the "vacant land" to the Community Council.
2025: Collective titling achieved.
It is a great achievement!
Apoyo al Cabildo Indigena Zenú en El Remanso
Date: 2024
Location: El Remanso
We updated the community census and accompanied the Cabildo in its registration with the Ministry of the Interior
Date: 2024
Sincerín Painting Workshops
We had the opportunity to take 13 professionals in painting, music, and dance from the HAMPTON FRIENDS OF THE ARTS INC foundation in North Carolina, USA. There, they conducted painting workshops for 100 boys and girls and gifted each of them a painting kit, held a film and social media workshop, and created the first Mural of Sincerín, highlighting the history of the railroad.
Date: 2024
“Girls Destined for Greatness” Project
Location: San Basilio de Palenque
This project benefited 40 girls in Palenque, where, through self-awareness activities, we encouraged knowledge of their history and traditions, in which they can discover what it means to be Palanquero, carrying their roots with pride.
Date: 2024
“Hands-on” Project, a social project for community participation
Location: 20 de julio neighborhood, Cartagena de Indias
The project aimed to address the low participation of residents in the Daniel Lemeitre neighborhood, specifically 20 de Julio sector, regarding community decision-making. This intervention promotes community participation as an initiative to generate local development processes, with the community being the main actor in its own social transformation. Therefore, we carried out participatory, reflective, and recreational activities aimed at both adults and children.
This project was developed by Social Work students from the University of Cartagena and volunteers from FEM.
Location: Sincerín
Our achievements
Date: 2022
Participatory risk management workshops
Location: Comuna 6 of Cartagena de Indias
After several months of work, we are publishing the final report on the Participatory Risk Management Workshops to Identify Risks and Solutions in the Community Welfare Plan in Commune 6 of Cartagena de Indias. This document compiles collective knowledge about risk conditions and proposed solutions to reduce them, gathered from 4 neighborhoods in the 6th district of Cartagena through FEM workshops. The workshops were supported by the Fundación Grupo Social and were part of the Community Welfare Plan.
To better understand this process, we are sharing this video that summarizes the work we carried out with the communities of Olaya Herrera, Fredonia, Nuevo Paraíso, and El Pozón.
Empowerment project through Zenú cultural heritage
Location: Zenú Indigenous Cabildo in El Remanso de Arjona
This project aimed to preserve the traditional weaving technique and Zenú folklore by passing this knowledge on to the next generation. Additionally, it sought to empower adults to lead a business and launch a sustainable business such as a tourism agency that will offer tours within their community. This will improve their leadership skills while simultaneously providing valuable economic opportunities.
Beneficiaries: 35 children and 30 adults
Date: 2020
Date: 2019
'Strengthening Artistic Expressions and the Memory of Afro-Colombian History' Project
Location: Sincerín
The main objective of this project was to foster a sense of identity among children of Afro-Colombian heritage. This goal was achieved through interactive sessions designed to raise awareness about their cultural roots and empower them in their identity. Throughout the project, participants delved into the history of their ancestors, highlighting the achievements in freedom and rights they obtained. Furthermore, we empowered them by providing information on available resources, including scholarships designed specifically to support members of these ethnic communities.
Beneficiaries: 1,350 families in Sincerin - our main activities consisted of interactive sessions with a group of 30 Afro-Colombian children aged 7 to 18.
