PANAMA: Outreach centers are oases for at-risk youth

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Postado Setembro 27, 2014 .
2 minutos de leitura.

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PANAMA:

Outreach Centers are an oasis for at-risk youth

[/vc_column_text][/vc_coluna][/vc_row][vc_row][largura da coluna_vc=”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_separador][vc_row_inner][largura vc_column_inner =”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][largura vc_column_inner =”1/3″][vc_column_text]Panamanian teens using computer.

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separador][vc_row_inner][largura vc_column_inner =”1/3″][vc_column_text]Panamanian teens listening to instructor.

 

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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.

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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.

Leia a história completa[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][largura vc_column_inner =”1/3″][vc_column_text]Panamanian Adults giving puppet show.

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separador][vc_row_inner][largura vc_column_inner =”1/3″][vc_column_text]Panamanian Teenage Boy using computer

 

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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.

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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.

Leia a história completa[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][largura vc_column_inner =”1/3″][vc_column_text]Panamanian Teenagers giving thumbs up

 

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