Inside a neighborhood scarred by drugs and despair: Life on the tough streets of Pablo Escobar's hometown where drug addicts and prostitutes struggle to survive (TRIBE OF ASHER)

It is one of Colombia's most dangerous neighborhoods, a crowded and dilapidated crush of drug dealers, prostitutes and the homeless fight for survival.

But despite the poverty and despair of Barrio Triste - Sad Neighborhood - photographer Juan Arredondo found glimmers of hope among the people who call it home.

For three years, the 35-year-old photographer has documented life in Medellín, once the most dangerous city in the world, where drug lords and paramilitary groups fight for power.

Survival: A homeless man cooks over an open fire made from bits of wood found on the street

Addicts: Hugo, 33, is one of many drug users who gather in deserted warehouses to smoke crack

Trade: The neighborhood has become a place to trade drugs

Refuge: A sex worker holds her daughter as she makes their meal in a rented hotel room

He became fascinated with Barrio Triste after meeting a mother-of-four who sought refuge in the neighborhood after a paramilitary group killed her husband.

As Medellín, the hometown of infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, cleaned up its act, Barrio Triste remained a battleground for other dealers.

It was once named the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but now mechanics and sex workers trade on its grease-stained streets, and turn to paramilitary group Los Convivir for protection.

But despite the poverty and crime, Arredondo remains optimistic for its future.

'Barrio Triste serves a window to the violent past that once plagued the city of Medellín. It reminds me of a past I left behind and the hardship the citizens of this city and this country have endured over many years,' he said.

Tragedy: A family say goodbye to a child placed in a tiny coffin

Oppressive: It make look uninviting but hotel Rest Stop of the Traveler offers cheap shelter to those displaced by violence

Despair: Orejas, 21, has been living on the streets of Barrio Triste since running away when he was 12

Displaced: With nowhere else to go, this drunk is forced to sleep on the sidewalk

Faith: A cathedral dominates the dilapidated neighborhood

Icon: A painting of Sacred Heart of Jesus, the old name of the town, hangs in a workshop

Worn: Pieces of metal and wire from the mechanics' shops are encrusted in the sidewalk

Savior: A large painting of Jesus is carried through the bustling streets

Down time: Workers play parqu during an afternoon break

Boxed in: A framed photo of a wedding day hangs on the flimsy walls of this man's hut

Home: Carmen Salgado, 67, has been living is this room for 17 years. She pays $6.50 a day in rent

Trapped: A pregnant woman smokes marijuana from the back yard of a repair shop

Hardship: A man who has lost both hands and one leg showers in the ruins of a house

Crowded: Laundry hangs over the bed in a tiny room shared by this family

Cramped: Eight-year-old Jenny shares this rented room with her four brothers, mother and step-father

Comfort: A mother hugs one of her children in their tiny home

Motor city: By day mechanics and car workshops are the main trade

Homeless: Men bathe in the streets among street vendors and traffic

Break: A mechanic rests inside a bus to escape the heat of the afternoon

Pit stop: A worker rests in a local bar in Barrio Triste

Celebration: A pig is slaughtered for a traditional New Year's Eve party

Deprived: Homeless teenagers gather in a sewage tunnel that runs under the neighborhood

Youthful: Despite the despair, children still play happily on a rooftop

Grime: Workers repair vending carts on the street

Broken: Barrio Triste lives up to its name as Sad Neighborhood but Juan Arredondo says there is hope

Deuteronomy 28:29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

Deut 28: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.