Project Launch:

“Pandillas de Paz” (Gangs of Peace), supported with a $147 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program in 2010, provided children with effective conflict resolution skills for school-related issues and challenges and more general life challenges. The "gang" of 16 children participated in workshops that addressed themes such as identifying power, the rights and responsibilities of children, gender issues, violence against children, and violence at school and how to resolve it. Sessions involved a dynamic activity or art project and a period of self-reflection. This project was particularly appropriate for the community of San Pablo de León Cortés, where there is a high incidence of domestic violence and, according to a survey done of the children in the school, self-acknowledged inability to effectively resolve conflicts among peers.