Transformation in Medellín

The City’s Vibe

From the minute I landed in Medellín, I felt inspired. In a city that was once recognized as one of the most dangerous in the world due to its homicide rate, it was surprising to experience the sense of peace I did while exploring. It is large yet neighborly, innovative yet relaxed. I wasn’t quite sure what my time in the city would look like but as it turned out, it was mostly filled with new foods, dancing, traditional celebrations like the Feria de las Flores Festival, and an intro education into Colombia’s culture and history.

El Poblado is known to be the traveler-friendly section of the city and out of convenience, where I spent most of my time talking to locals and trying new foods. This is where I made many international friends who enthusiastically explored with me and enlightened me on how special they felt this place really is after having seen many other places in South America. I heard from many travelers that Medellín is not only their favorite city in Colombia, but it’s one that they keep going back to — and I totally get it. Because of the violence and corruption its endured in its past, it has an emphasis on promoting peace that draws you in. With its diverse beats, innovative infrastructure (read about the cable cars), and obvious ability to bring people together, Medellín leaves you feeling excited and hopeful.

Silleta created by farmers for Feria de las Flores Festival

I believe the reason Medellín can transform a person is because it has transformed itself. Through investments in education, transportation and community, the city has been able to transition from a crime-ridden city to the most innovative city in Colombia over the timespan of about two decades.

Comuña 13 Tour

My tour to Comuña 13 with Zippy Tours provided a great explanation as to how this transformation happened. For context, the city of Medellín is divided into comuñas, and Comuña 13 is called San Javier. Our tour guide, Esteban, met us at San Javier metro station and led us into what used to be Colombia’s most dangerous neighborhood. Just 20 years ago locals were killed by cartels for just walking down the street in this area. According to Esteban, these cartels were formed by ordinary people who were forced into this work and by people who weren’t given the educational structure to understand there were other options. As he put it, “If someone came knocking on your door asking you to work with them or they will kill you, what would you do?” Thankfully the area has cleaned up through efforts to promote peace such as establishing a social work organization, offering free sports for kids at a community sponsored gym, better education programs overall, and by emphasizing the importance of art, to name a few.

Esteban also explained the importance of tourism to this community as well as to other Colombians. He thanked our group for coming to listen to him educate us on the Comuña 13 evolution along with supporting the opportunity growth of the residents. With the growth of tourism in the community, locals have more opportunities to earn an honest living through their own small business, art, tour guiding, etc., which decreases their chances of getting involved in cartels and other groups that have negative impacts on the community. The important piece to note here though is that education is an essential part of tourism in the comuña so visitors learn about the strategies that are helping the community promote peace. Hopefully by helping people to understand these stories, they will go into their own communities and advocate for necessary infrastructure and education so we can work on making the world better together.

Zippy Tour

Power of Positive Change

As mentioned before, there is now an obvious presence of peace, innovation, art, and community. Walking around the comuña, I saw workers walking their kids down the steep hills from school while waving to their neighbors, teenagers practicing dance routines, walls with professional graffiti art, and young people selling hand-crafted artisans as their small business. With only one street in the whole comuña, you have to climb many stairs just to get to some of the restaurants and shops, although there are also escalators the government paid for to help you get there as well. The views from the top are well worth it.

From my perspective, Medellín in one word is transformation. Learn about its transformation and in return, it’ll transform you.

Graffiti art in Comuña 13