Alegría: Palenque Preservation Project

01/02/2026

🥂 Happy New Year! Let's make 2026 great! 🎉

02/24/2025

When Alegria Palenque Preservation Project began two years ago, the objective was no different. We are deeply invested in people and we understand the community that we work with. Getting to the bottom of issues, which affect real people is the best way to solve a problem. This approach is effective because it addresses the underlying causes of the problems. Getting to the root of a challenge enables a leader to understand the best way to fix the challenge. When Alegria Palenque Preservation Project got to San Basilio de Palenque, the focus was to understand what was keeping such a vibrant and innovative community behind.

We got to work and found out the problems of San Basilio de the Palenque. The problem in this wonderful community is not lack of ideas or hard work. The problem is lack of funds. This problem is not new. Instead, this community has experienced a perennial marginalization. As a result, accessing fund opportunities has limited the community from doing a lot of things. Things such as, growing the Palenquero economy, preserving its language, medicinal practices, history, and other important cultural traditions. These are precious aspects of a community, which should be protected effortlessly by the local people. However, for San Basilio de Palenque, this is not easy. It is not easy to perform these simple functions because the community has been robbed of its economic power. The community has been kept behind by practices, which prevent African-Americans from making progress.

When a system deliberately fashions itself against you, you will definitely have a rough time breaking the walls. Because you will be one person against a system. This type of battle gradually develops into an almost impossible battle. As an individual, you cannot win against rules and regulations that are meant to exclude you from the beginning. This is the challenge that San Basilio de Palenque has been experiencing for a long time. The structural systems have discriminated against it. Thereby, preventing this community from accessing the right opportunities to access money that can help it solve some of its pressing issues. But as a non-profit working closely with San Basilio de Palenque, we have come to change the story. We have come to fight for justice. We are here to solve a problem. San Basilio de Palenque should not be discriminated upon because it is a black-only community.

Instead, San Basilio de Palenque should find a level-playing field to compete as other communities. This community has what to takes to succeed. As a non-profit, we have seen the potential. It is this potential that inspired us to get to work. We are here for change and it does not matter how long it will take. Alegria Palenque Preservation Project will help San Basilio de Palenque find a solution to marginalization. And there will be progress in this community. The future generation will witness this progress. And this is why we are appealing to potential donors, businesses with community initiatives, and grant programs to partner with Alegria Palenque Preservation Project. Fixing an economy, which has been broken for a long time is not simple. Hard work will be needed and we are ready to put our best foot forward.

We support cultural preservation efforts for San Basilio de Palenque, a UNESCO cultural heritage site. We also endeavor to expand the scope of the local museum at San Basilio de Palenque. This village was the first free town for formerly enslaved peoples in the Americas.

02/17/2025

The descendants of the current people living in the San Basilio community came to America during slavery period. They were brought in the country to work as slaves. While being shipped to the institution of slavery, a bold man and 36 others saw a window of opportunity. The ship they were traveling in was sinking and that is how they escaped from the slavery boat and founded San Basilio de Palenque. Since, then, several generations of the descendants have lived in the area. It is clear that these descendants are very skilled in different crafts. However, poor economy has kept them lagging behind. Yet, these are a people with great potential. With minimal financial support, San Basilio de Palenque will realize its potential. This community only needs some level of economic boost to get itself from the ground.

Once, the community is on its feet, it will be able to move forward. People in the area are capable and equal opportunity members of society. They are ready to contribute to their society. However, for them to do that, injustices must end. And a certain level-playing ground created. This is where Alegria Palenque Preservation Project comes in the picture. We are here to do our part. To help create awareness of San Basilio de Palenque and through these efforts, find sources of money to inject into the economic growth of the community. We feel that San Basilio de Palenque has struggled economically for a long time and it is now time for someone to look at this community and help it thrive. There is spirit of innovation in the community. There is also, talent, and willingness to fight for economic revival. We saw that willingness during our initial visit to the community.

If you see the kind of work and efforts that Palenquero women do to support this community, you will be shocked. These women spend several hours in the street of San Basilio de Palenque selling candies. And they use the proceeds that they find from their sales to support the community. We felt that given enough support, these women are worth more. Their industriousness can take them somewhere. They only need the right people to hold their hands and walk with them as they seek growth. Alegria Palenque Preservation Project felt the impact of their hard work and decided to create our current economic program. The program is currently dedicated to finding funds for the community. We believe in these people so much and we would like to help them make progress. And you can also join us.

We understand that the journey to rise a specific amount of money we have in mind will not be easy. However, San Basilio de Palenque is worth fighting for. Something good will come out of this community. There will be economic revival in this community with the right funding. The various activities and innovation that take place in the community have potential for growth. People are open-minded. They are willing to work. And that is the most inspiring part of this journey. People desire to find opportunities to contribute towards the growth of their community. Local people have hunger to see change in the only community that they have known for a long time. Will you help San Basilio de Palenque preserve its culture, history, and uniqueness?

02/10/2025

Our Commitment. Lifting a community out of impoverishment is not easy, especially when there have been deliberate steps to leave a community behind. This is what discrimination does to people and communities. It deliberately creates obstacles that keep people in poverty and away from opportunities. However, something must change. All human beings deserve their dignity. No one has the authority to judge the other, especially when that judgment focuses on the color of the skin. People living in San Basilio de Palenque did not choose the color of their skin. And no one should judge them for who they are. They had a life somewhere else. However, founders of slavery institution thought that they were wise. And they began to uproot people from their countries and ship them to America. Only to turn them into slaves.

The people that were uprooted from their homes and countries did not ask to be moved. They were happy in their homes. But someone thought that free was cheap and saw Africa as the source of free labor. Several Centuries later, the world has learned the hard way. People who currently live in San Basilio de Palenque are descendants of slavery. They did not ask to be marginalized. Their ancestors saw San Basilio de Palenque as a refuge. A place to save lives. And modern society need to see the same thing. San Basilio de Palenque is a sanctuary that needs preservation. These descendants need to be protected. They deserve dignity. And the best way to show that respect is to help lift this community out of stagnation. There is need for economic empowerment. And Alegria Palenque Preservation Project is leading from the front.

We are committed to source funds for San Basilio de Palenque. It does not matter how long it will take to secure enough funds to realize economic growth in the community. However, one thing can be guaranteed. We will be here for as long as, it takes. We will work tirelessly. We will amplify the needs of San Basilio de Palenque to the world. We will continue to argue that San Basilio de Palenque deserves better. We would say loudly that San Basilio de Palenque needs funding to rescue its culture and uniqueness. Alegria Palenque Preservation Project will stand with San Basilio de Palenque and fight alongside it until justice is done. Until there is an economic revival in the community. And you are invited to walk among the bold. Come and let us find a solution to San Basilio de Palenque’s economic problem.

02/05/2025

Community. As a non-profit, we are attracted to the works and dedication that communities show in real life. Resilience always stand tall against adversities in communities. People lift each other up. They create beacons of hope for each other. It is for these reasons that Alegria Palenque Preservation Project looks to support communities. Our organization wishes to see highly empowered and supported communities. Giving these communities what they need result in innovation and economic hubs. These new economies and innovations that come up benefit the people. Local communities are able to dream and create in their own neighborhoods. San Basilio de Palenque is no exception. This community is energetic, hardworking, and committed to preserve and nurture at the same time. San Basilio de Palenque can be so many things with the right support.

The community can not only deliver unique culinary to the market but also creativity. The work that goes in making cultural wares is incredible. The messages woven into those wares are life changing. People living in San Basilio de Palenque are talented. They have so much that they can teach the world. To realize all these things, San Basilio de Palenque cannot do it alone. It needs financial support. It needs money to uplift itself from economic repression. The community has not lived to its full potential due to financial constraints. This image of limitations, lack of opportunities, and being sidelined must end. Our non-profit works with this community to end these negative consequences of economic disparity. People in this community deserve a break. They deserve a new breath of life.

San Basilio de Palenque deserve growth. But it cannot do it by itself. We need to help it stop scrambling for everything. People in this place need to become their own persons. They have lived in this community for over 400 years. Trust me when I tell you that they know San Basilio de Palenque inside out. They know where it hurts and how to stop that hurt. All they are looking for is opportunities to stop that hurt. And you can help San Basilio stop hurting. All this community needs, is a push to start walking the thousand miles. Kick start them today with financial aid if you are a donor, or visit the cultural ware online marketplace and purchase a cultural ware to support their economic revival.

01/28/2025

Beauty of life. There is something defining or life-changing when the world unites around a cause.

The lives of the people whom compassion is shown never remains the same.

Something new begins to birth in their lives.

Something that will stay with them for a long time.

The kindness during critical moments will never be forgotten.

The people will remember when they were almost falling and someone pulled them up.

That act of pulling up will never be forgotten.

It is this act of coming to the rescue that change lives.

When there is no hope at all. When people have exhausted their options.

And when they have tried everything they know.

But things are still not looking good.

Then suddenly, the least expected happens.

Strangers come together to save the day.

This is what makes life meaningful.

When people who do not know each other rise to action when there is a need.

01/22/2025

About US. Alegria Palenque Preservation Project (APPP) is a non-profit foundation based in St. Louis, Missouri. The organization was founded in 2023 by Erin A. Francis, a philanthropist and doctoral clinical psychology student. The story of APPP was mission-oriented from the beginning. The founder became interested in a day trip to San Basilio de Palenque, while visiting Cartagena, Colombia, especially because the excursion had been marketed as the most popular day trip from Cartagena. But she missed the highly anticipated day trip due to the time constraints of her brief vacation. However, Erin didn’t remain disappointed about missing the trip. During her time in Cartagena, the village of La Boquilla, and an excursion to La Cienega de La Virgen, Erin indulged her curiosity and engaged in conversations with locals, as well as with women from San Basilio de Palenque who were selling fruits and candies on the beach.

Erin became inspired by witnessing their dignity and joy despite underserved surroundings, and listening to their accounts of palenques, discrimination, and resilience within the region. The women from San Basilio de Palenque, commonly called “palenqueras,” also highlighted that they were selling fruits and candies to support San Basilio de Palenque, a UNESCO heritage site and the one of the only surviving free towns founded by Africans with a distinct culture and way of life. San Basilio de Palenque is characterized by a rich history and heritage.

The stories that the palenqueras told were not beautiful stories, but instead stories of devastation and shock. How could a place, which has been identified as a UNESCO world heritage site be so neglected to an extent of almost losing the same attributes that made it a UNESCO site? Erin sought additional information and research about this community, its vulnerability to historical and structural discrimination, erasure, economic underdevelopment, and the lack of support it receives from local and national governments. The aforementioned factors leave the culture and unique language of San Basilio de Palenque at risk of extinction. Erin recognized that this community needs support to meet its needs and keep its culture alive.

San Basilio de Palenque was on the verge of losing both its identity and history. Assimilation and emigration also play prominent roles in harming Palenque. It’s from these sad stories that Erin found new energy and thought about creating a program that will focus exclusively on financially supporting Palenque’s cultural preservation and economic development. After her visit to Cartagena, Erin continued to think about San Basilio de Palenque, the effects of neglect on this community, and how to preserve its way of life. And this is when the name, Alegria Palenque Preservation Project was born. Alegria refers to one of the candies that palenqueras sell throughout the region. The word means “joy” in Spanish, a key word that palenqueros consistently embody and is at the heart of our mission. Like the community of San Basilio de Palenque, our commitment to helping to preserve palenquero culture is characterized by joy.

Improving the economic status and development of San Basilio de Palenque would surely add to the community’s emblematic joy. The vibrant spirit of entrepreneurship is alive in Palenque. And we strongly believe that with sustained financial support, the town will regain everything it has lost out on due to discrimination. To that end, our primary role is to support San Basilio de Palenque economically. We intend to source for funds through grants and redirect the vast majority of these funds to the maintenance of the community’s cultural history museum, Casa Museo, and preservation of palenquero culture (e.g. the palenquero language, cuisine, medicine, music, law, art, religion, etc.) by way of restaurant, marketplace, and tour development. Our objective is to provide financial support on an ongoing basis.

There is a lot of joy and rich history in San Basilio de Palenque that we would like you and future generations to encounter. Our commitment right now is to source funds to achieve the goal of sharing and preserving the culture of San Basilio de Palenque. You are welcome to walk with us on this joyful, yet complex task. Raising money is not easy. However, we are determined. A world heritage site will not collapse under our watch. We would do something, even if that something is hard. We know that meeting every economic need on the list of San Basilio de Palenque is not going to be simple. This work is going to be a journey of a thousand miles. And we know that to get to a thousandth mile, we will have to start with the first step, which is to invite philanthropists, donors, federal programs that fund historical sites, and ordinary people interested in charitable works to work with us.

01/14/2025

Our Work. The work that we do as an

organization has a long way to go.

The community that we intend to

support needs a lot of hard work.

As a non-profit interested in funding

San Basilio de Palenque to help preserve its

cultural historical museum and other

cultural features including its language,

we are taking one step at a time.

We take a step after the other because

we understand what is at stake.

The current economic collapse being

experienced by San Basilio de

Palenque community is devastating.

That is why we are inviting

philanthropists,

donors,

federal programs that fund historical sites,

and ordinary people interested in charitable activities

to partner with us today

and let us change San Basilio de

Palenque one step at a time.

01/10/2025

Building Communities. Learn about a new non-profit poised to change a struggling community with a beautiful history, which is about to extinct due to economic depression.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-new-year-joy-giving-building-hnbff read our story and join us on this worthy mission.

It is a new Year and I know that you have plans. You plan to do a lot of things.

12/26/2024