Fundación Hicotea
Empowering youth in San Jorge y La Mojana through education, science, and environmental stewardship
Our Mission
Fundación Hicotea supports education, scientific research, and environmental conservation led by young people in the San Jorge and La Mojana region of Sucre, Colombia. We bridge international resources with local talent to create lasting impact in one of Colombia's most ecologically important and underserved territories.
El Hombre Hicotea
The hicotea (Trachemys callirostris) is a freshwater turtle native to the wetlands of the San Jorge and La Mojana region. In Resistencia en el San Jorge (1986), the third volume of his Historia doble de la Costa, Colombian sociologist Orlando Fals Borda developed the figure of the Hombre Hicotea to describe the campesinos of the San Jorge river valley: like the turtle that buries itself in the mud to endure the dry season (months without food or water) and then re-emerges when the rains return. Patient endurance, then fierce resistance. Fals Borda drew this metaphor from the people's own words, capturing a resilience shaped by centuries of life along the river. The same body of work introduced the ser sentipensante, the feeling-thinking person, now foundational in Latin American sociology. A monument to El Hombre Hicotea stands at Puerto Real in San Marcos, facing the river. Our foundation carries this name as a commitment to the resilience and dignity of the people of San Jorge y La Mojana. For further reading, see El hombre hicotea y la ecología de los paisajes acuáticos en Resistencia en el San Jorge by Alejandra Boza Villarreal.