[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
PANAMA:
Outreach Centers are an oasis for at-risk youth
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Despite Panama’s significant economic growth, pockets of poverty remain—and youth are the most vulnerable. Explore how communities have organized to provide at-risk youth with opportunities, while trying to stem the temptation of gang life, through Creative’s three-year Alcance Positivo program.
Among Alcance Positivo’s successes: It developed 22 youth Outreach Centers in five municipalities, which assisted nearly 10,000 youth ages 12-29; and it provided direct funding to a 107 organizations benefitting more than 43,400 youth through violence prevention community projects, including training in life skills, entrepreneurship, vocational training and other cultural activities to create a healthy alternative to engaging in criminal activity.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Panama City—There are two Panamas: the rich, and the poor. Most people here live parallel lives. But a growing number of companies are getting involved in their communities—and reaping the benefits as these worlds combine.
Watch Video[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Kids in Panama don’t have it easy. Besides gangs, drugs and climbing violence they face a lack of opportunities for play and work. Creative’s Youth Outreach Centers provide a place where young people—even from opposing groups—can come to just be kids. They play games and sports, practice their computer and English skills, start small businesses and learn valuable skills for life. Watch how these centers are helping kids and communities in Panama City turn things around.
Watch Video[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Panama City – Ten stories up, children pause their soccer scrimmage to peek over the railing-less roof of a colossal teal apartment building. A naked man is visible from a fourth-floor window. Behind, a river serves as a haven for drug users, and a repository for the weapons gang members toss out of windows when the police show up.
Read full story[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Panama City—The sleek executive offices of ENSA, one of Panama’s largest electric distribution companies, are a world apart from the seaside city of Colón, where rotting buildings and open sewage are the backdrop for joblessness, poverty and violent crime.
Read full story[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Panama City—There used to be a line here that you could not cross, guarded by men with guns. It separated the American Canal Zone, with its greenery, nice schools and the YMCA—constructed to offer workers with “entertainment of an elevating character”—from the rest of Panama City.
Read full story[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]