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AJS helps loosen drugs' grip on poor neighborhoods
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Honduran police officer shows a bag of crack seized from a dealer
during a joint operation with Peace
& Justice Project staff. |
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| Youths involved with an AJS-supported leadership training group participate in a team-building activity. |
February
2010 - Honduran
drug police arrested four crack dealers in the neighborhood
of El
Arca* last month based on information provided by AJS’s Peace
& Justice team. This brings to seven the number of
drug arrests
the project has achieved since it started working in the neighborhood
eight months ago. Sources say there are at least 15 other suppliers at
the same level as those already arrested who work in the neighborhood.
P&J investigators hope to help police make at least four more
arrests this year.
“Drugs are one of the things that hurt the community most, because they lead to increases in other crimes like robbery and murder,” a P&J investigator said. Addicts are more likely to rob small local businesses, assault people on the streets, or extort bus drivers in order to make quick cash to fuel their habit. So by decreasing the supply and use of drugs in the community, AJS hopes to also decrease the frequency of other crimes, too.
The drug problem in Honduras has grown critical as the country has become a prime shipping corridor for drugs transported from South America to the United States. These drugs find their way into Honduran neighborhoods by way of drug traffickers who are paid in drugs instead of cash. This means drugs sold on the street are cheap—less than $5 for a "rock" of crack.
AJS is also combating the drug problem by working with at-risk youth to develop values and make good choices. Last year the staff from AJS’s Gideon Project began working with seven groups of youth from four marginal communities using a methodology based on problem-solving games, storytelling, and community service projects. Additionally, AJS enabled 60 youth to participate in vocational training in areas like automotive painting, carpentry, cooking and graphic design.
These two projects combine to make neighborhoods safer today, and keep them clean in the future. “We hope that by providing youth with alternatives we’ll ensure that they don’t reach the point where they are joining gangs, or getting involved in drugs,” said Nazaria Romero, the Gideon Project coordinator and psychologist.
The complementary approach is working. Thanks to the Peace & Justice and Gideon Projects, the number of crimes committed in these neighborhoods has been reduced by as much as 60 percent in recent years.
*neighborhood name changed to protect staff and beneficiary security.
“Drugs are one of the things that hurt the community most, because they lead to increases in other crimes like robbery and murder,” a P&J investigator said. Addicts are more likely to rob small local businesses, assault people on the streets, or extort bus drivers in order to make quick cash to fuel their habit. So by decreasing the supply and use of drugs in the community, AJS hopes to also decrease the frequency of other crimes, too.
The drug problem in Honduras has grown critical as the country has become a prime shipping corridor for drugs transported from South America to the United States. These drugs find their way into Honduran neighborhoods by way of drug traffickers who are paid in drugs instead of cash. This means drugs sold on the street are cheap—less than $5 for a "rock" of crack.
AJS is also combating the drug problem by working with at-risk youth to develop values and make good choices. Last year the staff from AJS’s Gideon Project began working with seven groups of youth from four marginal communities using a methodology based on problem-solving games, storytelling, and community service projects. Additionally, AJS enabled 60 youth to participate in vocational training in areas like automotive painting, carpentry, cooking and graphic design.
These two projects combine to make neighborhoods safer today, and keep them clean in the future. “We hope that by providing youth with alternatives we’ll ensure that they don’t reach the point where they are joining gangs, or getting involved in drugs,” said Nazaria Romero, the Gideon Project coordinator and psychologist.
The complementary approach is working. Thanks to the Peace & Justice and Gideon Projects, the number of crimes committed in these neighborhoods has been reduced by as much as 60 percent in recent years.
*neighborhood name changed to protect staff and beneficiary security.
Donate to help the Peace & Justice and Gideon Projects continue to make neighborhoods safer and healthier
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