Enjoying nature

Medellín is a great place to live, and many people agree that it has the highest quality of life in Colombia.  Posters and notices seen all over Medellín proudly proclaim that the City of Eternal Spring is currently competing with Tel Aviv and New York City as the Wall Street Journal’s City of the Year.

You don’t have to look far to understand why Medellín has been recognized around the world for its innovation.  The list is endless… the modern metro system, the numerous new public libraries in the poorest parts of the city, the new green transportation initiative including a new tram line and a public bike-share program, the cable car system integrated into the metro that allows residents from poor hillside barrios easy access to the rest of the city, and the world’s first outdoor escalator system designed for public transportation for residents of extremely steep neighborhoods.  

In addition to continuous improvements in the city’s infrastructure, Medellín’s city planners always try to preserve as much green space as possible and connect the city to the forests, mountains, and countryside that lie just beyond the city’s borders.  Indeed, in many parts of Medellín it feels as if a city was planted on top of an existing botanical garden. 

Last year an extension to one of the city’s two metrocable lines opened a “tourist line” to a huge nature park that lies over the mountain adjacent to Medellín.  Parque Arví, roughly the same size as the city itself, contains numerous walking paths, lakes, endless virgin forest, in addition to opportunities to rent a horse or bicycle, go camping, and go swimming in the charcos (streams).  With the park covering a large part of the neighboring corregimiento (township) of Santa Elena, itself technically a part of Medellín, the only way to access Parque Arví in the past was to take a long bus up a mountain road.  Now residents of Medellín can access the park by taking the city’s metro and metrocable, and then transferring to the tourist line of the metrocable which takes 15 minutes to arrive at the park, a peaceful and beautiful ride above virgin forest.  

None of the children from this particular one of Globalteer Colombia's partner projects had ever visited the park before, so Globalteer recently organized a day trip for them.  Twenty of the children excitedly gathered in the foundation with their backpacks filled with snacks, packed lunches, and bathing suits.  With only one of the foundation’s staff and Globalteer’s Volunteer Coordinator to chaperone the event, all of the older children were expected to help and take the hands of the youngest so they wouldn’t get lost in the walk to the metro station and the crowded metro system. There have been numerous excursions over the years with the children of the three projects that Globalteer works with in Medellín, and no one has ever been lost or misplaced.  

Upon arrival at the final metrocable station in Parque Arví, the group was met with gorgeous clear skies, bright sunshine, and a park guide, free of charge to all visitors.  The children couldn’t wait to dig into their snacks and before the tour began insisted on devouring their chips, cookies, and malt sodas.  

They needed the energy, as they were unknowingly about to begin a three-hour journey into the wilderness.  The chosen path took the group past a large national police outpost with expansive horse stables for the mounted police who patrol the park.  Soon the pavement ran out and became a dirt road, with numerous old and rustic country houses dotting either side of the path.  A bit further down the path, with the children already beginning to inquire about whether we’d reached our destination yet, the gravel and dirt changed into an old stone pathway, which the guide explained was made by the original indigenous inhabitants of the area, long before the arrival of Columbus. 

The group veered off the main road and into the forest on a narrow path.  The children who had been complaining of fatigue after walking on the main road for an hour all found renewed energy and began to run after each other on the path through the forest, a gigantic natural playground.  They ate lunch on some picnic benches deep within the forest, and then as it began to gently rain the group arrived at the charcos - what the children had been waiting for.  Soon the area and pathways around the streams and small waterfalls were clogged with soaking and shivering children.  While Medellín enjoys a springtime-like year-round temperature, Santa Elena lies at a higher elevation as it’s outside of the valley that Medellín inhabits, and for this reason can be a lot cooler than the city.  The freezing cold water that the children were happily swimming in didn’t deter them, and most spent more than an hour jumping into the shallow pools and sliding down the slippery rocks of the rapids.   

Most of the children at this project live in one of Medellín’s dirtiest inner-city districts, an area filled with car repair workshops, lumber shops, and not a trace of greenery.  Fortunately for the kids, it is easy to get out of this area and find themselves in a place like Parque Arví.   

While it would take more than an hour to escape from the concrete jungle of Bogotá, residents of Medellín have nature all around, and a 15-minute trip in any direction will take you outside the city and give you access to a never-ending natural playground of nearby hiking trails, waterfalls, creeks, lakes, charming small towns, and nature preserves.  It’s no wonder that people in Medellín are very connected to nature.  While they love their city, most never miss the opportunity to visit a small town, ride a horse in the hills, or spend the weekend at a finca, or country house.  The opportunities for day trips with Globalteer Volunteer Colombia children's projects are endless.  Now the kids from each project have made a trip to Parque Arví, and Globalteer staff and volunteers are often asked when they can go again. Will you join them on their next excursion?

An art attack!

Globalteer’s development manager, Annie Irving writes:

‘When I visited the vibrant city of Medellin early this year, one of the things I enjoyed most about the city was its public artworks.

‘The city centre, in particular, is full of amazing sculptures. My favourites are the 23 voluminous bronze figures by Colombia’s famous artist, Ferdinand Botero, which are displayed in their own plaza in the central city. A very large portion of the Museum of Antiochia, which fronts on to this plaza, is also devoted to Botero’s chubby works. There I discovered Botero’s paintings, which depict equally voluminous people, animals and still lifes. There’s even a chubby Jesus!

‘There are several more striking sculptures in the area around Medellin’s administrative centre. The 38-metre-tall Monument a la Raza is a monument to this region’s people and their struggles against diversity. The lower right part resembles a Greek temple pediment but the left side soars majestically skywards, so that, when photographed from a certain angle, its figures appear to reach out and touch the nearby skyscraper.

‘Though this monument is spectacular, I personally preferred the small bronze figures of local people, by Olga Inés Arango, in the adjoining square in front of the council building. The shoeshine man has an incredibly lifelike face, as has the old woman saleswoman, and the newspaper seller has been caught in mid-voice, shouting out the latest headlines.

‘Across from the administrative centre is the impressive Plaza Cisneros, with its artificial forest of around 300 light poles, some up to 24 metres tall, which is remarkable during the day but must be even more so when lit up at night. The concrete poles are interspersed with stands of tall bamboo, emphasising the idea of an urban forest.

‘I also discovered the Madre Monte, the mythical mother nature sculpted by José Horacio Betancur, in the city’s botanical gardens. And, after a quick google search, I know that Medellin has a multitude of amazing sculptures that I haven’t had time to see.

‘And then there’s the street art ... graffiti on the concrete walls bordering the motorways, images of human figures and huge flower murals adorning the sides of buildings, shops advertising what they sell by painting whole walls with images of their products.

‘Exploring Medellin was a totally unexpected visual feast of colour and artistic imagination! I just wish I had had the time to see more.’

If you volunteer with the Globalteer Volunteer Colombia Kids Project, you will be able to see and enjoy these amazing artworks for yourself. Check out our website now for the project details. Yet another reason to visit Medellin!

Fun at the water park!

A half-hour’s bus ride north of Medellín in the small municipality of Barbosa lies El Parque de Las Aguas, the metropolitan area’s only water park. At the suggestion of recent volunteer Alex, a daytrip was organised to the water park for the kids from one of Globalteer’s Volunteer Colombia Children’s projects in central Medellín.

This was the first time any kids from any of the projects Globalteer works with in Medellín had ever visited the water park or been transported so far outside the city but, fortunately, it proved logistically easy because of Medellín’s excellent public transport system. As this particular project is conveniently located next to one of the city’s metro stations, the twenty children and five adults from the project were easily able to travel to the metro’s northernmost station and then transfer to a local bus to Barbosa, all with a cheap integrated ticket. Though Barbosa sits at a slightly lower elevation than Medellín and therefore boasts a hotter climate, the weather on this particular Friday afternoon was typically gorgeous for this part of Colombia, perfect for a paseo (outing).

Sadly, Alex was not able to come along on this adventure as he had had to return to Canada unexpectedly early, but he was adamant that part of his donation be used to take the children to the water park. Though Alex missed out on the fun, new volunteer Carleen from London and ex-volunteer Michael from Denmark were more than happy to help chaperone the outing. 

Luckily, the water park wasn’t too crowded when the group arrived early on Friday afternoon. The two accompanying social workers unpacked the lunches they had brought along and the group sat enjoying a picnic under the shade of several shelters. The children could hardly wait to strip down to their bathing suits and were soon running excitedly hand-in-hand around the park.

While Michael accompanied the four youngest children in the kid’s pool area, the other chaperones were run ragged trying to keep up with all the other kids who had either jumped into the huge wave pool, were showing off to their peers on the steepest waterslides, or had taken refuge from the heat in an inner tube on the slow river that circles the park. At the end of the afternoon, it took quite an effort to track down all of the children, most of whom had scattered all over the park and, of course, began running as fast as possible away from their chaperones at closing time. 

The journey back to their project was fun too. As all the trains were empty when they got back to the metro station, the children each claimed a seat for themselves, surely more comfortable for the youngest (6 and 7) than sitting on the laps of their friends (or the Globalteer volunteer coordinator) as they had done in the bus. Before long, however, the train began to fill up, and bewildered passengers realised that nearly all the seats were taken up by young children, who stubbornly refused to give up their seats after such a tiring day at the park. 

As the train approached Estación San Antonio the chaperones realised that they would have to scramble to round up all the twenty children who had scattered throughout the train upon boarding, but were now lost in a labyrinth of passengers. Frantically weaving in and out of the confused crowd, the foreign volunteers rushed to gather the children who were having such a good time climbing on the seats and looking at the city pass by outside the window that they didn’t want to get off. Unable to do a headcount until everyone had gotten off, the chaperones were hugely relieved to discover that they hadn’t lost any of the children on the metro!

Standing breathlessly on the platform the three foreign chaperones were reminded that most things don’t happen smoothly or as planned in Colombia, and that, while things get done and eventually work out, it can require a lot of patience. Being flexible and having an open mind are great assets in Medellín. Expect the unexpected and be aware that every day will contain a new adventure or challenge. That’s partly why everyone loves the place so much!  

The children from two of the three projects that Globalteer collaborates with in Medellín still haven’t been to the water park, but that day isn’t far off. Will you be here to join them? See the details of how to volunteer with Globalteer on our website.

Medellín’s Annual Flower Festival

Every August the already bustling city of Medellín bursts with life and merriment during the annual Flower Festival, one of Colombia’s most famous events. The two-week party includes numerous cultural events, with free concerts, exhibitions and parades, all of which are designed to show off Colombia’s second city to the world. People from all over Colombia and, indeed, all over the world, descend on Medellín to partake in the festivities which include an antique car parade, an orchid and bird exhibition in the city’s botanical garden, and a six-hour horse parade with more than 10,000 participating (and in many cases, inebriated and/or scantily-clad) riders. 

Without a doubt, the largest and most famous event is the Silleteros Parade, in which dozens of campesinos, or farmers, from the neighbouring municipality of Santa Elena walk slowly down the mountain into Medellín, painstakingly carrying intricate flower arrangements on their backs. The parade is one of the proudest moments for the city, a spectacle that demonstrates the lingering memories the Paisas have of the agricultural beginnings of their city, and the strong connection they maintain to the surrounding countryside and to nature in general.

Motivated by the wonderfully festive atmosphere that pervailed in the city, and taking advantage of Colombia’s Independence Day falling on a Tuesday, the children and staff at one of GlobalteerVolunteer Colombia Children’s projects decided to throw a big party at their project. The pijamada, or pajama party, took place on the Monday night before the holiday, and was attended by around 20 children, staff and volunteers. 

The all-night event included numerous co-operative games in which the children had to work together in order to beat the opposing team. Ex-volunteer Alex used some of the skills he had learnt during his time in the Canadian Army to instruct the children on his team in the best ways to duck under or jump over an extended rope, or to successfully snatch away the other team’s flag. The kids stayed up all night, first enjoying a large meal of soda and Chinese rice, and then being entertained with ghost stories, karaoke, and scary movies. 

To further celebrate the Flower Festival the children at the Globalteer Volunteer Colombia Children’s project took a cue from the Silleteros Parade and spent the following week constructing their own silletas. Instead of flowers, they used coloured tissue paper, and made constructions specifically to represent the project at a large children’s parade in one of Medellín downtown parks. 

The parade, El Desfile Infantil, was attended by numerous children from various foundations from Medellín’s downtown area, each foundation arriving with their own unique silleta and with their children adorned in traditional costumes. The children from each foundation took turns walking behind their silletas, proudly showing off their finished products to onlookers.  

Wet, wet, wet!

The residents of Medellín frequently speak of how the quality of life in their city has improved drastically over the past decade. After Medellín-native Alberto Uribe became Colombia’s president in 2002, the Paisas, or residents of Medellín, began to see a striking change in their city, as the federal government focused more attention on Colombia’s second city. Infrastructure was improved, public transport was upgraded, and safety concerns were tackled head on. Most strikingly, many of the social problems that had plagued the city began to be addressed through a citywide cultural revolution.

One of the most notable initiatives was the creation of a Sports and Recreation Institute, INDER, an organization that encourages young people to engage in physical activity and play sports. Across the city you can see numerous public soccer fields, basketball courts, swimming pools, playgrounds and youth recreation centres. Medellín hosts over seventy such facilities, completely free and open to everyone, from foreign tourists to children from poor neighborhoods. 

Recently the children from one of Globalteer Volunteer Colombia Children’s projects were treated to an afternoon excursion to a nearby pool by new volunteer Alex and visiting ex-volunteer Michael. Equally thrilled to be welcoming Michael back to the project after several months away from Medellín, as well as from the excitement of showing Alex their neighborhood, the children eagerly took turns grabbing the hands of the two foreigners and leading them along as the group of twenty-five paraded through the bustling hillside community. 

The INDER swimming pool is only a ten minute walk from the project, but for many of the children it was their first visit. As it is a public pool and the Paisas take personal hygiene very seriously, everyone was obliged to come prepared to swim with tight-fitting swimming suits and caps. While the other adults changed into their Speedos, a few of the children chose a bright lime green swimming cap for Michael from the vendor outside the pool. 

The complex is small but state-of-the-art, boasting a small children’s pool and a much larger one for adults. Several INDER employees stood watch, clad in the organization’s easily recognizable yellow and green outfits, and led the twenty small children (and the foreign volunteers) in various aquatic activities. 

Unfortunately, two of the young boys had forgotten to bring a tight-fitting swim suit, so were not allowed to enter the pool. Forced to remain in the small plaza between the two pools in their baggy shorts, they looked longingly through the chain-linked fence at the other kids playing in the pool. All of a sudden powerful jets of water erupted from hidden spouts in the plaza, soaking the two surprised boys. The other children quickly abandoned the pool to join them, running around the plaza enjoying the impromptu shower, and often sitting directly on top of the jets. Various children placed their swimming caps on top of the strong jets of water and squealed with joy as their caps shot high up into the air. 

After several hours playing in the water the children were worn out, and several were even able to trick the volunteers into carrying them part of the way back to the project. The group collectively decided to stop at a corner restaurant on the way back and the twenty children, two staff members, two volunteers, and volunteer coordinator all shared a large meal of chicken and Coca-Cola. The irony of the food choice was not lost on the children, as they had all taken to affectionately calling Michael “chicken” during his six-month stint as a volunteer. Obviously thinking it hilarious to be eating chicken with the man who had so successfully taught them the word in English that they had decided that it should be his nickname, many of the children insisted on having their picture taken with both Michael and a drumstick or chicken breast.

During what was to be the first of numerous future visits to the neighborhood pool, the children were reminded by their adult chaperones of how lucky they were to have such impressive recreational facilities so easily accessible for everyone to use. The city’s initiative stemmed from the belief that by providing the city’s youth with unrestricted and plentiful access to recreational opportunities and by promoting sports and wholesome activities for them to become engaged in, the young people would be far less likely to fall victim to many of the temptations, vices, and dangers that have been known to plague the city’s marginalized hillside barrios. By all accounts the INDER initiative seems to be a huge success.  

The magic of Medellín

There is something magical about Medellín. Maybe it’s the perfect weather, maybe it’s the beautiful setting, or perhaps it’s the friendly people. Whatever it is, it keeps drawing people back to visit and even to live here.

Long-term Danish volunteer Michael is on his way back to Medellín right now. He came to Medellín for a three-month volunteer stint in November 2011 but found it so difficult to leave that he ended up staying a total of six months! You can read more about ‘the volunteer that wouldn’t go home’ on our Globalteer website. 

In his old life, Michael was head of an anti-corruption initiative at the World Economic Forum in Geneva but volunteering in Medellín changed his life and he now plans to start his own organization to help impoverished children. We wish him the very best of luck!

Michael and some of the kids at one of our partner projects

Australian volunteer Jodie volunteered with Globalteer at one of our Colombia Children’s Projects in August 2011. She came back to the flower-filled ‘City of Eternal Spring’ a few months back and is now planning on making the city her home.

Kevin was one of our Globalteer Colombia Children’s Project volunteers in May 2011. He had such a great experience that he recently returned to Medellín with a friend for a 10-day visit. Kevin was keen to see the wonderful kids he had worked with during his volunteer stint and loved catching up with them all again at one of our Globalteer Colombia Children’s Projects. Kevin is planning on moving to Medellin next year and is committed to helping more and raising funds for the projects here.

Californian Bob holds the record for returning volunteers - he has volunteered at one of our Globalteer Colombia Children’s Projects three times! He continues to make donations to help support our projects and he will be coming back to visit ‘his kids’ at the end of the summer.

Bob and friends

And recent volunteer, Norwegian Bjarne, had such a great experience in Medellín that he is also planning on coming to live here in 2013.

Bjarne on an outing with some of the cute Colombian kids

Lukas, who came from Holland to volunteer for 8 weeks from October to December 2011, also had a life-changing experience in Medellín. He recently went back home after staying and living here for 8 months but he didn’t go alone. He met a local Colombia girl, fell in love, and has taken her back to live in Holland where they are planning on getting married very soon. Congratulations, Lukas!

Lukas on an outing with some of the kids

It’s amazing and very special to us that many of our Globalteer volunteers have enjoyed both their experience at our projects and their stay in Medellín so much that they have either stayed much longer than originally planned or have found a way to come back to visit or live! 

Barefoot in the park

When listing the various reasons why they love Medellín and have either continued to return or stayed longer than planned, many foreigners routinely mention the perfect weather, great public transportation system, gorgeous natural setting, and friendly and open people. Another pleasant surprise is the numerous public holidays that Colombia enjoys. 

With 18 days, Colombia ranks first in the world for its number of public holidays. These are taken so seriously that officially, if a holiday does not naturally fall on a Monday, the day off is moved to a Monday so everyone can enjoy a three day weekend (called puentes, or bridges). The holidays are so numerous that most Colombians have no idea what the occasion is and, when asked why everyone is celebrating, most locals will reply with blank stares or answer with a shrug “it’s something religious” or “because it’s Monday”. 

At one of Globalteer’s Volunteer Colombia children's projects, most of the seventy-odd children go home to spend time with their parents on puentes, but not all the children have parents or homes to go to. On these occasions as many as ten children of various ages remain at the project, occupying themselves by playing games, watching TV, or revising their schoolwork. Though there are several nearby parks the children can only go to these when accompanied by an adult, a rule demonstrated by the constant cries of “tio, vamos al parque” whenever a volunteer arrives for the day.

Recently, when Globalteer Colombia’s latest volunteer, Bjarne Aakeroe from Norway, began his placement at one of Globalteer’s Volunteer Colombia children's projects, his first day coincided with one of these puentes. When Bjarne and Globalteer’s volunteer coordinator John arrived at the project, it was unusually quiet for a residential foundation normally filled with noise and activity. While several of the older kids busied themselves doing teenage things upstairs in their rooms, the five smallest remaining boys hovered over their collection of trading cards in the main lobby. 

Delighted to welcome a new visitor to the foundation, six-year-olds Mario, Carlo, David, Paulo and Alejandro* quickly took Bjarne by the hand and led him on a personalized tour of their home, visiting the separate dormitories, the library, the computer room and the classroom. The children were rewarded for being such good tour guides by a visit to the nearby court and with palos locos (crazy sticks), their favorite popsicle from the corner shop. Bursting with energy, they ran wildly around the court while licking their treats and shouting that their crazy sticks make them crazy! 

John and Bjarne then decided that such a particularly beautiful day called for a trip to the nearby Parque de los Pies Descalzos, or Barefoot Park. An expansive complex filled with restaurants, an interactive science museum, an urban bamboo forest, a large sandbox-like area where shoes are not allowed, shallow pools for splashing your feet, and hidden fountains which shoot jets of water out of the ground, the park was a gift to the city by the adjacent Empresas Publicas Medellín, one of Colombia’s largest power supply companies. At the taxi driver’s urging, the five young boys scrambled in to the backseat of a taxi along with the squashed volunteer coordinator, while the larger Scandinavian volunteer got to stretch his legs in the front seat. The taxi driver appeared bewildered to hear the two foreigners addressed by all the children as tio, or uncle, and asked how many nephews they had!

Barefoot Park was filled with families, ice cream vendors, picnicking couples, helpful park guides, and numerous wet children running through the random jets of water that erupt from the ground. The five lucky boys immediately shed most of their clothes and ran to the sandbox where they took turns burying each other under sand and gravel.

Emerging smiling but completely filthy, they then ran to join the other children in the jets of water to wash off. Before long most of the boys had exhausted all the energy obtained from los palos locos, and were found stretched out on the pavement in the middle of the plaza, suntanning and drying off as if they were at the beach. Only Mario* remained at the fountain, sitting cross-legged directly on top of a dormant spout, patiently awaiting the next round of water with a large toothless smile on his face.

At the conclusion of an unusual first day of volunteering, the Norwegian remarked to the volunteer coordinator, “I think I’m going to like it here”.  


(* The children's names have been changed to protect their privacy.)