Parque Biblioteca España, Medellín.

In 2007, Medellín opened an ultramodern library and cultural center in the slums on a mountainside overlooking the city. Until 2003, people didn't venture outside after dark because of murders frequent guerrilla and paramilitary battles. Now the library is a popular hang-out spot for kids. These two 10-year-olds at the library's overlook were happy to pose.


There library has some entrepreneurial 12-year-old "guides" like the one above. They've learned the history of the neighborhood by eavesdropping on government officials when they show off the library to visitors. For a few pesos, they will tell you about the library, the gondola that carries commuters down the mountain and the murals that depict the neighborhood's recently bloody history.