Select a language for our site
Share this page:
Gangs attack vulnerable young people. But a guy whose circle of relatives has been devastated through those criminal organizations relies on his beyond to offer an alternative to other young people.
But the tragedy did not end there, Mauritius’ murder triggered a number of other traumatic consequences that spread over many years, forcing the circle of relatives to move from space to space in search of protection and eventually forcing Santiago and his mother to flee.the country for their lives.
“In a week everything changed,” recalls Santiago, now 32.”My circle of relatives has not yet recovered.
Despite this, Santiago spent years trying to turn his family’s misfortune into something positive for his network.As director of Youth Against Violence, he helped a nascent non-profit organization become one of the vital gang fighting forces in Honduras.
The maras, as they are known in Spanish, expose scams that range from drug trafficking to extortion and robbery, committing murders, assaults and rapes to control entire communities; they seek to recruit vulnerable youth, occasionally threatening to kill their families if they resist. .
“My circle of relatives hasn’t recovered yet.”
Youth Against Violence disrupts gang practices by running with young “ambassadors” who interact with their peers to counter recruitment by showing them that futures can be chosen.
The organization, which began a decade ago and is supported by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, has lately held more than six hundred young ambassadors to Honduras, as well as some two hundred child ambassadors, some as young as six.
Gangs thrive in neighborhoods where poverty and the presence of the weak state abound.By running in the box in some of the country’s most marginalized communities to establish family ties and generate respect for teachers and schools, the organization has made it more difficult for gangs to recruit other young people as disposable infantrymen to sell drugs and enforce their reign of terror.
“Violence prevention begins at home,” Santiago said.”If young people and adolescents feel enjoyed and valued, they are less likely to be dragged into the whirlwind of the crime that has flooded our country.”
Violence in the Central American country – which until the end of 2019 had a rate of 44 homicides of 100,000 more people, according to the National Police – has led many Hondurans to leave their homes and communities; at least 148,000 Hondurans had fled the country.and implemented for asylum until the end of 2019, making it one of the ten most sensitive countries of origin for asylum seekers in the world. In addition, an estimated 247,000 other people were internally displaced between 2004 and 2018.
Violence and its effects are something Santiago knows very well, his own life began to disintegrate after a father became involved in a gang and ended his duty of money, in revenge, attacked Mauritius, shooting him more than 30 times and main component of the circle of relatives into exile, first in Honduras and then abroad.
Santiago returned to Honduras after about a year and, against all odds, controlled those who followed him in his career in social work.
“In them, I see my brother’s face.”
“I wish there was an organization like Youth Against Violence before my brother was killed and before my family member cared about drug sales,” he said.”Personally, I am very motivated to paint with young people because in each of them I see my brother’s face.
The organization works to rehabilitate young people who were once affiliated with gangs.
“In general, there are two tactics to get out of a gang,” Santiago said, “joining the church or dying.”
But in communities where Youth Against Violence is active, “there is a third option: our organization,” he said.”Gang leaders know our paintings and know that when other young people are with us, there is no way to involve them in anything.more.”
Artist Byron Espino, a former member of a gang that is now a Youth Against Violence volunteer, teaches art categories as part of the organization’s education programs, said the gangs rushed to recruit him after his family circle collapsed.
“My mom died when I was seven and soon after, my sister died in a fire.My dad became an alcoholic and I … I was left alone.That’s when I joined the gang,” Byron recalls, adding that as a Youth Against Violence volunteer, his purpose is to “show the children the filthy rag that my life so much …who don’t care about gangs.”
Maria Rubi of Mexico City contributed to this report.
© UNHCR 2001-2020
Subscribe to our newsletter