‘El Chico de las Fresas’ opens his own shop in Cartagena’s Bocagrande

After years of selling strawberries on the streets of Bocagrande, Wilmer Medina now has a place of his own. The Cartagena vendor known as “El Chico de las Fresas” has opened a fixed sales point at the Campito de Sóftbol in Bocagrande.

The new location includes a fitted cart where Medina can prepare and sell his products. The opening received support from Cartagena’s municipal government after Mayor Dumek Turbay learned about his story and committed to helping him continue the business.

The project took shape through the Impulso Emprendedor program of the Treasury Secretariat, which provided 18 million pesos in seed capital. The funding covered the stall and the equipment needed to operate, including a mixer, blender, refrigerator, tables, chairs, preparation tools, ingredients and toppings for the strawberries with cream.

The move changes how Medina carries out his work. Instead of serving customers amid the city’s traffic, he can now welcome them at an established site frequented by residents and visitors. Medina had told officials that he wanted to keep working, earn his own income and contribute to his family.

“Wilmer told me something very simple: he wants to work, he wants to generate his own income, he wants to feel useful and support his family. And that is precisely what we are doing: giving him the tools to work with dignity and build his own life project,” Turbay said in a statement shared by the city government.

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Wilmer told me something very simple: he wants to work, he wants to generate his own income, he wants to feel useful and support his family. And that is precisely what we are doing: giving him the tools to work with dignity and build his own life project.