Violence and crime reign in many slums of Latin America. Young people grow up in communities that no longer have any cohesion or common commitment. In this context, the partner organisations of terre des hommes Switzerland work with young people in football courses: Here they discover that there is community and protection even beyond violent and criminal gangs.
Andrea Zellhuber, Violence Prevention Unit
The everyday life of young people in the urban slums of Brazil and El Salvador, where partner organisations of terre des hommes schweiz are active with projects, is characterised by violence, fear and crime. In the neighbourhoods where gangs and drug trafficking dominate, there is often no longer any social cohesion. Living together is marked by mutual distrust, because everyone is suspicious. In many places, the inhabitants are paralysed by permanent fear.
In search of orientation
In this context, violent gangs are particularly attractive to many young people because they feel protected and recognised within the group. For these young people in extremely difficult life situations, who urgently need orientation, sport in projects for the prevention of violence is an important door opener to another life - a life in which they do not get off the beaten track.
Teacher soccer: Teams instead of gangs
Playing football in particular is a very effective means of reaching young people in risk situations and binding them to project activities. For example, the terre des hommes Switzerland partner organisations GCASC in Brazil and Quetzalcoatl and Las Melidas in El Salvador organise extra football courses and tournaments for girls and boys. In sheltered areas for games and sports, the young people learn social skills that would otherwise be neglected or lost in their environment. And they learn to stick together and get involved with each other.
Team spirit and self-confidence
In these oases of equal opportunities, they develop their new skills by playing together in a short period of time, regardless of their gender, the milieu from which they come or their individual life history. As a group they build up self-confidence. They learn to deal with clear rules and to solve conflicts without violence. Through football they experience a sense of community, togetherness and team spirit. Playing together helps to strengthen social cohesion in these neighbourhoods, which are so torn apart by violence and mutual distrust. It literally brings movement into an atmosphere of tension and paralysis, providing alternatives to a life of violence.
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