Think Creative - Issue 7

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time “forgotten” by local authorities. “I’ve lived through things, I’ve survived,” she told me. Without testimonies like hers and the bullet holes riddling the walls across the community, it would be hard to imagine that such a bright place was once oppressed by crime and conflict. Mere survival is no longer the status quo. With the USAID Crime and Violence Prevention Project’s support, the Tikal Norte community is organized and dedicated to building an environment where its residents can thrive. The murals are just visual manifestations of a deeper change. The power of art became a recurrent theme in my time in El Salvador. From the restoration of an old theater to the use of storytelling to process trauma, a host of creative methods at the community and municipal level are interrupting the cycles of violence beleaguering the country. These moments of light pushing through a prolonged cloud of darkness are, for me, a testament to what is possible for El Salvador. n

Crime and Violence Prevention Project

By Janey Fugate, Writer and Editor

gang violence has not reported a single homicide in nearly two years. Their pride was brilliantly evident. A former gang member-turned-gardener, who after 10 years in prison returned to live in Tikal Norte, cut some mangoes from a tree and shared them with me. An elderly woman led me to a temporary police station, considered a major advancement in a place they said was for a long

When I set foot in Tikal Norte, a small community in Apopa, El Salvador, I was greeted by a friendly host of men and women, both old and young, wearing matching T-shirts. They guided me through the narrow streets under giant fruit trees, pointing out colorful murals and homes. Pausing to explain different aspects of the community’s transformation, they told the story of how a place once known as a battleground for

In this Issue

07 Dispatches

14 p.

Proponte Más by the numbers 10 p.

The Whole Child and Beyond

Updates from around our world

08 // Promoting local ownership in Honduras 09 // • Launch: Mimi’s Place Ethiopia • Pakistan Reading Project to close • Field Notes

10 // By the numbers: Proponte Más results 11 // Reaching Somalia’s out-of-school children 12 // In Focus: Mali Peacebuilding, Stabilization and Reconciliation program 14 Cover Package The Whole Child and Beyond Building holistic education programs that go further than ‘students in seats’

Mimi’s Place Ethiopia 09 p.

ON THE COVER: An Ethiopian girl smiles with her mother while holding her school books. Photography by Jim Huylebroek for Think Creative .

Photos by Janey Fugate (CVVP and top left); JimHuylebroek (bottom left, right)

4 | Think Creative | Spring 2020