By Hailey Amato
Staff Writer
Medellin, Colombia, has some of the worlds’ highest rates of murders, cocaine distribution and kidnappings. A city of only 2 million, small by American standards, it leads the world with a record 4,637 homicides per year.
Although most see Colombia as home to ongoing guerrilla warfare and the world’s most famous drug trafficker, Pablo Escobar, Pepperdine’s top women’s golfer, sophomore Carolina Llano, notes that there is much more to her home of Medellin than what the media portrays.
Llano, who took first in the NCAA Fall Preview Tournament last weekend, grew up in Medellin, and is quick to set the record straight about its notorious reputation.
“There are some really bad areas,” Llano said. “There are places that are affected by poverty and where violence is a big problem. Here in America people say to me, ‘You can’t even go out of your house in Colombia,’ but that’s not true. You only see the stuff they show on the news. You don’t see that Colombia is a beautiful country that is just going through difficult times.”
Llano’s neighborhood in Medellin is one of the safer ones. She said she doesn’t feel scared to go out, even though a bomb went off two blocks from her home. It is a place where little boys play soccer and most little girls don’t play sports at all. Teenagers can go to coffee shops, movies and dance clubs and everyone is always friendly, according to Llano. Despite the conflicts currently facing Colombia, Llano sees beyond what Americans hear about on the five o’clock news.
“We see Colombia’s beautiful cities and sprawling plantations,” Llano said. “Colombians enjoy the same wonderful weather throughout the whole year. We have mountains and volcanoes and snow and a huge variety of different flowers and animals.”
This doesn’t change the fact that no place has higher kidnapping rates than Medellin. Daily newspapers often feature ads from families to their abducted loved ones. This subject hits close to home for Llano. Her uncle was kidnapped when she was 17 years old. She was playing in an important South American qualifying tournament when she received the news from her mom.
“You become used to all the problems when you live there, but you still don’t think it will ever happen to you,” Llano said. “My family just sat around waiting for someone to call and demand money from us, but they never did. Fortunately, my uncle escaped, but it was really hard for my family. My grandparents were dying and it was so hard for me to see my mom crying all the time. I kept thinking, ‘Why is this happening?’”
According to Colombian police reports, today there are 150 well-armed gangs operating in Medellin. Universities have “violentoligists,” experts on violence. Llano said she knows of many people who are involved with drugs, but she quickly discredited the idea that all of Medellin is corrupted. She energetically discussed the close-knit, loving environment she grew up in.
At a young age, Llano’s family got her involved in golf, a passion that would eventually redirect her life away from Medellin, thousands of miles away, to the hills of Malibu.
“Ever since I was little we were always around the golf courses,” Llano said. “To really play golf in Colombia you have to be a member of a club and my family would go every single day. I started taking golf lessons, but once I started competing I realized it was something I wanted to take seriously.”
She attributes golf to helping her get into school in the United States.
“My greatest golf achievement was being able to get a scholarship,” Llano said. “It was the result of a lot of sacrifices — missed classes, not getting to go out with my friends because I needed to practice for a tournament. Since I was 10 years old I’ve wanted to come to the States for college.”
Llano found her place on the Pepperdine squad, where she liked the coach and the team, and the weather that “was almost as good as Colombia.” In the end Llano picked Pepperdine because of the combination of top-ranked golf program and academic excellence.
In Colombia you don’t see many girls involved in sports, Llano said. High school sports are not as popular as they are in the United States. While in high school she struggled to balance golf and academics, which are challenging in Colombia’s rigorous private school system.
In Colombia everyone goes to private schools unless “you don’t have enough money to buy a pencil,” Llano said.
“It was hard to stay up with my classmates,” Llano remembers. “I’d always be gone for golf, but to me it was worth it. I’ve represented my country and now I have a scholarship to a school I never thought was a possibility.”
Llano was Colombia’s No.1 amateur golfer. She finished 21st at the 2002 World Amateur Cup and is the Waves’ top golfer. At Pepperdine she was named the West Coast Conference’s “Player of the Year” and “Freshman of the Year” for 2003.
With all she’s accomplished Llano said some things feel different when she goes back home to Medellin. Local newspapers write articles about her and neighbors tell her how they follow her golf successes via the Internet.
“Everyone is …wanting to know how it is in the States,” Llano said. “I get so much more attention than I ever got when I lived there. For us, going to the U.S. is huge. All the time people ask ‘Are you happy?’ and I answer that I am really happy. I love Pepperdine.”
Llano is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international business at Seaver College. She wants to get a master’s and a doctorate. Ultimately, she dreams of playing professionally in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. “I don’t think I’ll go back to Colombia right away,” Llano said. “I don’t want to say never, but I want to play golf professionally and you can’t do that in Colombia.
“My family hasn’t ever pressured me to do anything,” Llano continued. “They’ve given me the opportunities and the support…They’ve made sure golf is something I really like. They say I’m giving myself a dream.”
September 18, 2003