When Laura Ortiz was growing up in Colombia in the 80s, she had a favorite children's musical group.

It was called Okie Dokie.

They had a song called Parin No Disparin.

Parin No Disparin means stop. Don't shoot.

Eight-year-old Laura loved this song. She jumped on her parents' bed and sing it at the top of her lungs

using a hairbrush as her microphone.

I don't want to be a fan of fan, fan of them as I'm deceased.

Nobody was shocked by these song lyrics in Colombia.

Children there, especially in rural areas, had to grow up in a true war zone.

I wasn't super safe, but it certainly wasn't the scene of the worst violence in the war.

Laura had always wanted to do something to help the kids who weren't as lucky as she was.

So when she graduated with a degree in literature, she thought of something she could offer them.

I believed that she could change the lives of those children with books.

I always believed that literature has a special power to imagine other possible worlds.

She thought literature could offer those kids a new world of possibilities,

but her world was going to drastically change as well.

I was the one who was going to learn.

Bienvenidos and welcome to the Duolingo Spanish podcast. I'm Martina Castro.

Every episode we bring you fascinating, true stories to help you improve your Spanish listening

and gain new perspectives on the world.

The storyteller will be using intermediate Spanish, and I'll be chiming in for context in English.

If you miss something, you can always skip back and listen again.

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