Egipto

Three years ago and three blocks up the hill from Bogota's opera house and Ministry of International Affairs (seven blocks from the presidential palace) you would probably not notice the boy sitting atop a pile of rubble spread across Tenth Street, next to the Egipto Church.  But he was noticing you.

If you were a policeman, the boy would drop his soccer ball to the left, signalling to the men behind the barricade that they should run and scatter.  If you were a tourist, the ball went to the right and you'd be swarmed by the gang members leaping the wall.  Don't resist, or it won't end well for you.
Watching from the wall, the boy already had years of training handling the knife he was given at age five.  Children were given the weapons and began practice at that age to be ready to defend themselves in jail.  Their parents wanted them to be ready.  They knew that they were going to jail.

At age ten, boys were given a brick to carry...weight training for their forearms, so that they'd be able to handle a gun.
No man lived past 20 years, unless he was in jail.
Of Jaime's six brothers, five were already dead.  Jaime had eight bullet holes in his body that hadn't killed him.

Jaime, the son of the gang's boss, was in jail when he met an inmate from Medellin's Comuna 13.  The inmate described the ten-year process that had changed Comuna 13 from the most dangerous place on earth to merely miserable. (Read the blog on Comuna 13 or Wikipedia.)
Jaime, was released in 2016, went back to his gang-mates and led them to a new path.

Today, Jaime's Breaking Borders gang members lead tours through the neighborhood which three years ago meant probable death for outsiders.
We joined our Breaking Borders guides and two young Europeans a few blocks outside the neighborhood and were escorted in.  Don't walk up the street on your own...You might choose the wrong street. Ugh.

Strata One housing: Dirt floors, no plumbing.

I had been studying the social strata, housing and education systems of Colombia and was dying to get inside a strata one or zero neighborhood...something a gringo just can't do on his own.  Breaking Borders was my chance.
Lauren had Lonely Planet's recommendation in hand, so we were confident that we could bypass the many warnings of our Colombian friends and go.  (I love that woman. 😉 )

In all, our five gang-member guides showed us the houses, families and lives of Barrio Egipto.
We met their children.


And toured the new skills training programs.  Here neighborhood women and girls are weaving shoes for a craft fair.  They have retail distributors.

Learned  their stories, captured through iconography on the steps.

Learned (through photos) how to build a home-made weapon. (A changon looks like a sawed-off shotgun, but fires multiple heavy-weight slugs.

After returning to the barrio, Jaime recruited outside artists and not-for-profits to help restore Egipto. Lauren said the experience was the most moving of our year in Colombia...and we've seen a lot.

 The artists wall murals were terrific.  No graffiti here.









Lauren's new friend, known as "Hospital" for her kindness in dressing the wounds of the gang members is about 90 years old. (Right)

We were conscious of balancing our admiration for the changes the neighborhood has made for themselves, the compassion and  empathy we felt, our genuine curiosity in the lives of our guides and recognition that they came from a very bad history.

A peak through a doorway.

One guide, Alex, left jail 13 months ago, serving 14 years for attempted murder.  On his first day back, and seeing isolated tourists on the street, said "Let's go! Easy pickings!" (my paraphrases)

His mates, said "Whoa!  Hang on, bro'.  We've got to get you up to speed.  Things have changed. We're tour guides now, and making more money this way."

It too a while for it to sink in, but today Alex is one of the best of the guides.  He speaks the truth. And he's now there for his children.

Tenth Street, above the church.

Each mural has a detailed story relevant to the neighborhood.