Barranquilla, June 2022. This community located in one of the two corregimientos into which the rural area of the city of Barranquilla is divided has a vast majority of the population exposed to conditions of vulnerability, which generate their income through informal and temporary work. . 70% of the population is born in the sector, however, in recent years a population of people in a situation of displacement due to violence has arrived, as well as Venezuelan migrants.
Faced with these conditions, the La Cayena Foundation has sought to be an articulator between the business sector and the community of Juan Mina through programs aligned with a common agenda built with the community, impacting 8,400 inhabitants of the area. Among these programs are Employability, which seeks to promote the employment relationship of families in the sector through promotion, training and postulation of positions, to the vacancies generated by companies in the area of influence; Seeking Excellence, which focuses on having a better comprehensive and bilingual education for the children and young people of the Juan Mina Educational Institution; and the Cuenta Conmigo program, which aims to promote the use and use of free time by young people and children through soccer as a tool to teach values and develop life skills.
On the other hand, there are the Social Entrepreneurship programs that seek the productivity of families in the area of influence, especially women, through the construction and formalization of productive units, and business strengthening; and Building Dreams with Alfa, which promotes improvement in the habitability of the families of Juan Mina, Villas and its surroundings.
The Cayena Foundation has managed to articulate the actors of the private and public sectors in order to meet the needs of the community, including improvement of education, infrastructure, employability, among others. Thus, more than 14 companies have joined the initiatives of the foundation, managing to impact 12,460 people in the community in the last 5 years.
The companies that have made these changes in the community possible in 2021 are: H. UJUETA, supporting the sponsor Plan; PRO FLO LATAM in terms of employability; CARL BAGUHN, donation of toys for Christmas celebrations; FIRENZE CORP in the sustainable purchasing program; HADA INTERNATIONAL, with the accompaniment and support in the development of community programs; and GRUPO ALFA in habitability.
It should also be mentioned that, during the pandemic, companies such as Cartonera Nacional, C7R SAS, Banapol del Caribe and Optima Balistic, supported the coverage of basic needs and thanks to this, the Cayena Foundation reached 6,110 people in vaccination days , donation of masks, delivery of food packages, awareness activities, among others.
“For the Cayena Foundation, it is a pride to have these allies that make it possible for the living conditions of this population to improve. Our objective is to continue building a sustainable, prosperous and equitable community around the Juan Mina, to guarantee that its development goes hand in hand with the progress of Barranquilla and the Colombian Atlantic Coast, because as our motto says: There are no successful companies, if their environment it is not part of the development,” says Ana Maria Matalla, president of the La Cayena Foundation.
