Eduardo Sanchez was a former gang member, now in charge of a larger initiative that distributed breakfasts to poor schools in Charco Azul, an area notorious for being one of the most violent ones in Aguablanca. Principal Esperanza had put us in touch with each other with the belief that he would be able to help us guide our field researchers, which turned out to be us. Esperanza had helped us with the first conversation, but we would have to handle the meeting ourselves.
Eduardo's headquarters went by the name Centro Educativo Charco Azul. The taxi driver found it without any problems. Eduardo greeted us with a big smile. He immediately gave us a tour of the three-story building. The second floor had a music studio, where two other youngsters were working on a music video. Eduardo asked them to show us what it was about. I was immediately impressed. From a digital video camera, they played a clip, which was mirrored on an old computer screen. The quality of the computer was sad, but the quality of the music video was incredible. It showed a couple of youngsters walking through the local area, where we would soon find ourselves, rapping about the violent tragedies caused by clashes between the gangs in the opposing neighbourhoods. The text was about the tragic desire for revenge, which I had already heard about too many times. It still functioned as inspiration for the production and the whole concept of a music studio with and for former gang members, who sought a different path in life through music.
We greeted a couple of other young people in a next-door room, where the administration of the Centre's activities was handled, before we were allowed to sit down in Eduardo's room. He showed us the list of schools in the area that he visited and welcomed us to join him whenever we wanted. The only problem was that he started his tour at half past six in the mornings, before school started. Today's schedule still allowed for an additional visit from Eduardo's side this morning to show us around. The breakfast van was unfortunately not available, so we had to walk. I heard Eduardo exchanging a few hurried words with a colleague in another room, without immediately understanding what he had said. The word escort was mentioned. We followed Eduardo out and started walking along the street. Eduardo's colleague had crossed to the other side of the street and kept a distance of about 15 meters behind us. He had a bag with him hanging on his right shoulder, while his right hand was hidden in the bag. The whole thing suddenly became serious, when I realized that Eduardo's colleague was armed.
Despite the nervousness, it was not possible to avoid being influenced by Eduardo's positive energy. He made no hint whatsoever about the area we started walking in being dangerous, at least not to him. I understood that the armed escort was for us, in case something, or rather someone, should be inconvenienced by our presence. Like in the visit to El Retiro, this area was also full of groups of young people with icy stares in most street corners. It was a certain type of youth that instilled this unsettling feeling, and it all started from the stares. In general, we were met by friendly smiles all over Aguablanca. Some blocks, however, were terribly nerve-wracking to pass through, due to the heavy sense of gang violence lurking nearby. Charco Azul was full of these types of neighborhoods, and unlike the fast whizzing by in El Retiro on motorbikes, our relatively slow walking pace forced us to absorb everything we passed through.
We reached a playground, empty of children, but where another couple of Eduardo's colleagues were filming. They were working on the same music video project we had just seen some clips from. It felt surreal to actually pass through the same playground that we had just seen in a half-finished music video. I had great respect for street musicians, who struggled for a better life and envisioned a future success story of the caliber of contemporary artists from the United States. The thought struck me that I could contribute somehow by opening doors at home in Europe. Similar dreams came to greet me a number of times with an enthusiasm that was really inspiring, to say the least.
We made only one school visit that day, and thanks to Eduardo, everything went nice and smooth. Before I contacted him again, he surprised me with a very exciting invitation to come back at night time the following week. This invitation, however, became alarmingly controversial among all our friends in Cali.
The above is an excerpt from the upcoming book “5 Years in Colombia - How I Reeducated Myself on the Streets of Laughter”. It’s the first book in a 15-year memoir trilogy, highlighting the educational adventures from the author's final years as a disillusioned top student to becoming a young professional with a purpose far beyond what he could have imagined. For more information, please reach out to the author directly.
Author: Joni AlWindi
Published by: Joni AlWindi
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