EArly In thE mOrnIng mOOn In thE Cartagena IndEpEndEncE dAy
from
dEr hImmEl UbEr cArtAgEnA -a nOn flAsh tAkEs selection-
by David Cardona
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Equinoxe 4 by Jean Michel Jarre
from Akropolis Concert 2006
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Founded in 1504, Cartagena has always been known as a gateway to the Andean region and a natural setting for international encounters and cultural exchange. The IDB recognized that heritage in the early 1980s, when it helped finance the construction of Cartagena's state-of-the-art convention center. Located in front of the Muelle de los Pegasos, where slave ships docked centuries ago, the center offers a full range of services and facilities for up to 5,000 visitors.
Although Cartagena was already famous for hosting Colombia's annual beauty queen competition and one of the region's most prestigious film festivals, the new convention center in 1982 turned the city into a venue for presidential summits, ministerial meetings, and all sorts of professional and technical conferences.
(...)
Environmental hazards, unemployment, crime, poverty, lack of education: Cartagena's residents might debate the causes and solutions to these problems, but they all agree on their urgency. A visit to the city's southeastern section provides a stark example. Along the edges of the Ciénaga de la Virgen, a large marsh into which some 60 percent of Cartagena's waste water is dumped, thousands of families live in precarious and unsanitary conditions, lacking medical facilities, schools and other basic services. Many of these families are originally from Cartagena. Others settled there after fleeing violence in other parts of the country. Some 250,000 Cartagena residents endure conditions of "extreme poverty," according to official statistics. The 200,000 people who live in southeastern Cartagena share a single hospital. Children who are able to attend school in that area face decaying and severely overcrowded classrooms: one local school has 700 students and just 10 teachers.
SANTIAGO REAL DE AZÚA
Interamerican Development Bank
Latin America
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Cartagena Independence Day
November 11. Commemorates the city of Cartagena's declaration of independence made in 1811.
This Photoblog Entry is a tribute to
Cartagena´s ChIldhood as sEEd Of chAngE
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blUElIzArd OpEn rOUnd tAblE Group
A mrcardona&mrstobon@companion
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