Think Creative - Issue 1

Program steers minority youth away from violence Success in family strength

By Evelyn Rupert & Jillian Slutzker

at a family, peer and individual level, broth- ers Wilson, 11, and Irvin, 13, both fell into this high risk category and are participating in a crime and violence prevention project called Proponte Más. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International, Proponte Más is aimed at preventing the most at-risk youth from joining gangs through a family-based counseling model. The project’s approach centers on strengthen- ing high-risk youths’ family support systems – the best asset for preventing young people from falling into gangs. More than 50 coun- selors have been trained to work closely with families in five of Honduras’ most violent cities, including La Ceiba, over the course of a year. The goal is to alter risky behavior and strength- en relationships that lower risk factors and build resilience to the lure of gangs. The boys’ mother Ronna says that before the program, Wilson and Irvin often skipped school, fought with their siblings and class- mates, and were disrespectful toward her and other adults. “They had the perception that because their dad was abroad, and their mom didn’t spend time at home, it was because they didn’t love them,” counselor Diana Flores says of the boys. “We worked out a strategy – we have to, in some way, see how we can try to create a little

Wilson and Irvin Guity’s father Carlos is returning home to the coastal Honduran town of Corozal for a visit from Panama, where he spends long stretches of time working con- struction jobs. While the boys’ father migrates for work, their mother Ronna Ballesteros picks up housekeep- ing jobs in order to provide for her sons and their younger siblings. “I shouldn’t have left, but I had to,” Carlos says. “Here, there aren’t opportunities.” Despite the distance, the family is now growing closer – and, in the process, reducingWilson and Irvin’s chances of becoming involved in gangs. The Guity family is Garifuna, a minority group of Afro-Caribbean descent. Garifuna com- munities dot the northern coast of Honduras, including in Corozal, just outside the larger city of La Ceiba. The Garifuna and other indigenous groups have long been isolated frommainstreamHonduran society by race, history and culture, and face dis- crimination and inequality in relation to land, justice and basic social services. In addition, they are affected by the same challenges playing out across the country: gang violence, job scarcity and migration. In Corozal and elsewhere, these factors are straining family life and leaving youth at a high risk of joining gangs. Based on an evaluation of nine risk factors

bit of closeness with mom and dad.” Counselors like Flores work to help youth identify themselves first as a member of their family. Strong family unity makes a young person less likely to seek out that sense of belonging from a gang, she explains. To date, the approach has had success. After just six months of intervention, all 445 youth in the program showed a reduction in all nine risk factors for violence. Nearly 75 percent of youth lowered their risk factors enough that they dropped below the threshold for being considered “at risk.” Community on the precipice Honduras has one of the highest murder rates i n the world, recently estimated to be about 60 homicides per 100,000 residents. Against this backdrop, crime and violence rates within the Garifuna community are relatively low. ProponteMás relies on an empirical assessment to identify youth who are at the highest risk of engaging in gang activity, through amethod

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