“Welcome to the most beautiful city in the world: Medellin!” Ever since landing here in Colombia, I have heard several people say the same phrase, and I can confidently say they're not wrong! From the lush forest to the favelas in Independência 1 & 2, and even at the top of Picacho, this city explodes with pride for its country. 

Though the city is beaming with beauty today, in the 80’s it experienced the opposite. There was a period of intense conflict and violence; at that time, it was considered the most violent city in Latin America. However, organizations and reform groups have worked with the community and are asking how we can uplift our city again. Forty years later, we can see the transformation of everyone's hard work to bring the city back to life. 

The organization I am partnered with has been asking the neighboring communities what they can do to make sure their youth can give back to the community, and they have answered. Platohedro is a collaborative arts and cultural immersive organization that integrates art, technology, and education to drive personal and environmental transformations. Their slogan "Buen vivir y buen conocer" (Good Living, Good Knowing) reflects the outreach they have for the youth. Providing programs such as D-Formación (Education), Web3Wasi, (Artistic Experimentation, this gives an outlook of creative discovery and a shield against urban violence. 

My role as a scholar was to help them bring awareness to there orgaization through physical and media communications as well as conducting fundraisers for an international presence. By elevating their platform on an international level, patrons and donors can provide significant aid to allow these youth programs to flourish beyond the scholars' help. Although I am very excited to start working on this project, there will be some barriers I will have to overcome during my 6 weeks on the LiA project. I will be steadily learning Spanish to communicate with the community members individually. By doing this, I believe I will be more able to aid the program as I can reach a wider audience for impact. 

Over the next 5 weeks, I hope that we will be able to plan, execute, and see our impact on the community around us and on the international level. I'm very excited for what is to come!