The frailejón and the lotus: two flowers, one water
Why we are called Frailejones — the guardian of the páramo that gives birth to water, and the flower born of water without losing its beauty.
Our name is no accident: it is a declaration of principles.
The frailejón is the guardian of the Andean páramo. It grows barely one centimetre a year and lives for centuries. Its thick, woolly leaves capture moisture from the mist and guide it, drop by drop, to the springs that feed millions of people. It is persistence made plant: slow, patient, indispensable.
The lotus is the symbol of our parent foundation, Lotus Children’s Foundation, which works for children in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The lotus blooms in murky waters without losing its beauty: it is rebirth, purity that will not be bargained away, hope that rises out of hardship.
The frailejón gives birth to water; the lotus is born of water. Frailejones is the Colombian páramo walking hand in hand with its parent foundation: two flowers from different worlds, joined by the same water — the conviction that communities can flourish even in the harshest conditions.
That is why we work the way the frailejón grows: without haste, without pause, putting down roots. And that is why we believe, like the lotus, that no water is too murky to bloom in.
From the mist to the water. From the water to life. That is how we understand our work.