The Public Pilot Library of Medellín, Colombia at the La Loma was robbed last month and it shocked the local residents. The community expressed their rejection to this criminal act. Although there was a relief that the Golden Nicca prize was recovered, the members of the Rising Voices grantee Hiperbarrio wondered why this happened.

Hiperbarrio member Camela is appalled by the theft and she calls it a “desecration”. Argos points out what the library means to the community:

This is our workplace, our meeting place and the only place of public open permanently to the community in a territory that has no parks, public spaces or platforms.

Catalina Restrepo writes:

“For eight days our souls have departed“, said Gabriel Jaime Vanegas every time they ask him about what happened in the library of La Loma. Today there are many voices calling for the dissemination of this press release through their sites and social networks:

“If you consider the public library as a place of encounter, knowledge and service to the community for over 50 years, it is unacceptable that some take for themselves what belong to another property, intangible assets and property that belong to the community. [..]

“Thus our community today requires and demands the presence of the authorities responsible so that these criminal acts are not repeated.”

Alvaro Ramirez wonders who are behind the robbery:

The theft is consummated and many questions remain in the air. The key may be what motivates these thieves to enter in a library? [..]

As the statuette was abandoned, I think think this may be (the work of) drug addicts. It is very sad to accept, but in Colombia today, they proliferate and their desperation to get money makes them steal, even from their own family and friends.

And he urges that the pain of this tragic event should be converted into action:

It strikes me that if I were now in Medellin, I would go to all the schools in La Loma. To speak with teachers and offer them a class of an hour with each group to tell them about the theft and ask the kids what they think of the event. It is not going to preach the importance of being honest and to respect the community in which they live. We do this often. It is something more radical. To ask questions and engage into deep thinking with them, and let them express themselves with their own mind and think about the future that awaits us.

Suppressing crime is important and must be stopped. But at the same time it is important to discuss these acts of vandalism, with children, young people and older people to find ways to stop this wave of thefts, threats and intimidation within the villages where we live. I think it important to mobilize quickly, and from below, while putting pressure on government authorities to act.

Argos explains how the society has been ignoring the crimes and the pain of the youth:

Every time we see our loved ones suffer. The young people who have seen it grow are those who feel cornered. Without getting more sense in their lives, no future or opportunity in a society that denies them both. A society that is more interested in the further alienation of people by immersing in football, entertainment and media.

Now let us look at other issues the Hiperbarrio bloggers are blogging about.

Xady highlights the museum of flowers “Doña Ofelia Correa” in San Cristobal, a village in Medellin.

Camela writes about the Halloween celebrations and the need to be careful about the safety of the children:

I believe that young people are invincible and do not understand reasons, at least we should take care to children, because this Halloween, they just want to collect their candy and show off their best costumes. Please, make sure to take them out early to collect their candy and be accompanied by their fathers or elders.

Henry Elsucio writes about a recent workshop on animation, networking and socio-cultural issues held in Medellin. Hiperbarrio participated in it:

HiperBarrio was invited to socialize their expertise in the room 4: The digital information technologies and communication processes applied to socio-cultural. Besides socializing are two experiences that are of much more interest in what has been generating using Websocial tools. [..]

The interesting thing about this socialization was that attendees ranging from community service organizations, social work professionals, leaders and persons from community action boards and rechargeable HiperBarrio interest in how this project uses the tools of new technologies for building construction citizenship, on the other side's bench was very productive where it could make an important contact with hypertrophic project that showed interest in the work being done in HiperBarrio, exchanged emails and phone for a possible exchange of knowledge.

Colonel Murión criticize the local media for the veneration of narcotic and mob culture which are affecting the social psyche of the youth.

Meanwhile we have got news from Ituango. The town in situated on the North of Antioquia mountains with beautiful landscapes and kind people as this post describes. Several members of Hiperbarrio visited Ituango for a workshop and cultural week activities but a power cut had postponed the events. “Ituango is an amazing town, a municipality that falls with the human warmth of people who have all the resilient capacity of the world,” writes Catalina Restrepo.

(The translations in this post has been done using Google Translate)