A Park That Brings Everyone Together
Scroll to read the story ↓Adriana Panameño, 16, lives in Cali, Colombia. She has been actively involved in Vivo Mi Calle activities and in local multi-stakeholder roundtables, where she has helped bring adolescents’ perspectives on their neighbourhood to city representatives. One place in particular captures what she values about her community: Parque de la Paz.
A place that brings my community together
Parque de la Paz is a place where many activities take place. When something is happening there, the whole community comes together – people from my neighbourhood, people I know and people I don’t know.
Through Vivo Mi Calle, for example, we organise activities and games and paint the park. We have also painted traditional games on the ground, where you have to jump on one foot, then two feet, or follow instructions using your left foot, right hand or left hand.
What I like is that we can all enjoy the park together. There are games that require strength, for example, and everyone takes part – children, adolescents and adults.
“I keep coming back to the park because of the beautiful stories, everyone’s smiles and the joy.”
The parks I wish I could change
There are other parks in my community that are very run-down and need to be restored so that children can play there.
I would like to make these spaces more welcoming. We need more plants, and the parks could be improved by painting them and repairing damaged structures.
I wish adults and decision-makers knew that…
“I would tell adults to try to understand us. Obviously, we don’t all think alike: children think like children, adolescents like adolescents, and adults like adults. So, I would ask them to understand us.”