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A handful of Esperanza graduates have done something pretty spectacular.
They have taken an area that was riddled with robberies, shootings, and assaults…and turned it into the safest place in town.
For those who don’t know them already, these young men were once part of a well-known gang. But they have transformed into community leaders over the past 365 days.
And to celebrate that 1 year anniversary, it was a very surreal experience for us here at Esperanza: to have some of our best supporters sitting in what used to be a bullet-ridden alleyway…
Photo Credit: Sarah Tyler
Only now we were enjoying champagne and violin.
Photo Credit: Darren Ornitz
The five former gang members who now run Fortaleza Tours, gave a short presentation announcing proudly everything they’ve accomplished in the past year.
Photo Credit: Darren Ornitz
And after their presentation, they asked us to say a few words. So we revealed that years back when visitors would come to Casco Viejo, we’d warn them:
“We’d say here is a map of our neighborhood: do not wander up into this area because it is controlled by a gang called Ciudad de Dios and you will…get…robbed.”
(Of course, we had plenty of visitors who didn’t heed our warning and of course, they got robbed.)
The 5 Members Of Fortaleza Tours
But today, we explained, when visitors arrive to Casco Viejo, we tell them something slightly different upon arrival:
“Today we say, before you leave Casco Viejo you MUST wander up into this area and take a tour with the former gang leaders of Ciudad de Dios. It is simply the most awe-inspiring tour experience that is offered in Panama City. ( | | NPR) ”
This is when we pulled out our ace in the hole: 50 copies of a map supplied by the chief of police showing neighborhood crime in the past 15 months (we have outlined the Ciudad de Dios area in red ink):
Click To Download This Map For Your Refrigerator
Every person in the alley (including our graduates themselves) was amazed to see that the former Ciudad de Dios area had NOT ONE robbery, assault, nor domestic violence dispute since we began our intervention in January 2014.
In the words of Father Greg Boyle of Homeboys Inc in Los Angeles, “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.”
“A map like this,” one graduate, Jaffet added, “is something that we are most proud of.”
Photo Credit: Darren Ornitz
Fortaleza Tours is only one of the six businesses that have graduated from Esperanza (we have a handyman company, a creole restaurant, a seafood distribution service, a recording studio, and a messenger/delivery service.)
And with the help of a sustainable urban development team from MIT’s Sloan School, we have now designed an innovative impact investment fund (see our latest businesses here) that will provide seed capital to our new entrepreneurs as well as a full support network to see that each one has the opportunity to achieve results like Fortaleza.
We look forward to supplying more great results!