Luke Dowdney is an inspirational community worker who has pioneered research into youth gang violence in Brazil and created the Luta Pela Paz (Fight for Peace) project in Rio de Janeiro. Fight for Peace is based in Complexo da Maré, a favela where there has been a decade of territorial drug wars between two of Rio's largest trafficking factions. Here openly armed children and adolescents patrol the streets and alleyways to 'defend' the community from rival factions or police raids. According to statistics from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the firearms related mortality rate of 15-17 year olds in the Complexo da Maré is over 150 per 100,000 inhabitants, a statistic rarely seen outside war zones.Through its focus on boxing, Fight for Peace has maintained regular contact with young people from the favela most affected by violence and drug trafficking, offering free access to sports and education courses. The project also offers training in wrestling and capoeira. The project helps to create real alternatives to crime, armed violence and the drug trade for children and adolescents in Maré. This is fundamental if the number of young people dying unnecessarily is ever to be reduced. Fight for Peace, which is supported by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, is a sanctuary in the midst of an area where drug trafficking and organized armed violence dominate. Dowdney says: "Boxing is showing these kids another path, added to which our educational programmes and social support seek to provide a real hub for the community and a chance for young people to develop in ways that would otherwise be impossible for them."Dowdney first came to Brazil when studying for a master's degree in social anthropology at Edinburgh University, to write his dissertation on violence and Brazilian street children. And he decided to stay to help. He is also the author of the book, 'Crianças do Tráfico' ('Children of Trafficking') based on a study conducted in 2001 in which he interviewed 300 people in 25 favela neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro. Among them, police, youths, representatives of neighbourhood associations, and protagonists of drug-trafficking and violence.A respected boxer at Edinburgh University, winning the 1995 light-middleweight British Universities championship, he fought as an amateur boxer in Scotland, England, Nepal and Japan and is now certified as a trainer by the Rio de Janeiro State Boxing Federation.Thanks to its focus on a rigorous sport like boxing, Fight for Peace can maintain regular contacts with youngsters most affected by violence and drug trafficking. It offers the ability to change lives for the better and gives children and young people a sense of self-worth as well as a strong incentive to live a healthy and a positive life. It actively encourages participants to return to school or provides alternatives for those that cannot access formal schooling. The project seeks to enhance the potential of each and every child. Fight for Peace works with local businesses, public institutions, and non-governmental organisations to place participants in paid part-time internships and jobs. This provides access to the formal job market and allows them to develop important skills for their future.
|
