How one Medellín neighborhood transformed from landfill to thriving community
CNN
Medellín's Moravia neighborhood was once a landfill -- and home to thousands living a precarious existence. Today, it's a colorful, thriving community that draws tourists. Find out how it made the transformation.
(CNN) — It's a sunny afternoon in Moravia, and people are busy weeding the communal gardens on top of El Morro de Moravia (Moravia Hill), which sits at the heart of this working-class Medellín neighborhood.
Others are in the greenhouse, inspecting orchids in myriad tropical shades and rows of bromeliads, whose glossy orange bracts erupt from waxy leaves.
Outside, children fly kites, the flimsy colored plastic shuddering in the gusts that blast and swell, before leaping up into cerulean skies. Around them are families, meeting to chat and enjoy the panoramas of Medellín that this vantage point, 35 meters (115 feet) above the neighborhood, grants.
Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to successful cognitive aging ((is successful the best word to use? seems like we’ll all do it successfully but for some people it may be healthier or gentler or slower?)), including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.