More than 300 students participated in Scholas Citizenship in Panama, while university students and technicians from the Ministry of Public Security were trained to support social transformation processes in their communities.
In Panama, education, community engagement, and youth participation are becoming tools for preventing violence and gang activity. With the support of CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and next to the Ministry of Public Security (MINSEG), From Scholas Occurrentes we carried out two fundamental experiences of the second edition of the project “The phenomenon of gang activity in Panama: the importance of social and educational support for young people”: he Social Transformation Workshop and Scholas Citizenship.
Both initiatives shared the same purpose: to create spaces where young people could express their concerns, recognize the challenges of their communities, and build proposals to transform them.
The project, also developed in partnership with Ministry of Education (MEDUCA), Through its regional offices in San Miguelito and Panama City, it seeks to strengthen civic skills and socio-community participation as tools for preventing gang activity.
From September 14th to 19th, 33 young university students from the Catholic University Santa María La Antigua and the Technological University of Panama, together with technicians from the Directorate of Prevention and Citizen Security of MINSEG, participated in the Social Transformation Workshop.
For six days, the participants went through a training experience based on learning through practice, meeting with communities and developing proposals for social transformation.
As part of the process, they accompanied 155 boys and girls from three educational centers, Through the three languages of Scholas: art, play, and thought. These experiences allowed for the development of skills such as creativity, empathy, listening, and critical thinking, which are fundamental for strengthening bonds and coexistence.
Days later, from September 24 to October 2, a new edition of Scholas Citizenship in Panama, which brought together More than 300 students between the ages of 15 and 17, from 17 educational centers in San Miguelito and Panama East..
In parallel, 17 teachers received training in the Scholas methodology, with the aim of incorporating new educational tools that promote participation, dialogue and the prevention of violence in the classroom.
Based on their own experiences and the realities their communities face, the students identified a problem that particularly concerns them: “the rise in gang activity among youth and the decline in safety and awareness”.
During the process, they reflected on some of the causes associated with this reality, including the lack of opportunities, violence, insecurity, peer pressure, the need for belonging, and the scarcity of recreational, cultural, and sports spaces.
But the work was not limited to identifying the problems.
During the Immersion week, The young people conducted surveys, visited institutions, and spoke with various actors in their communities to delve deeper into the causes and consequences of gang activity.
One of the committees inquired about 390 people, incorporating new perspectives to understand the reality of their neighborhoods and to think of possible responses.
Based on this journey, the students developed five proposals for social transformation:
“One decision, another destiny”
“The true art of Panama”
“From the neighborhood to the business”
“Building a path to peace”
“Chiquibox”
These initiatives seek to strengthen family and community ties, create opportunities for young people, promote art and sport, and contribute to a more peaceful coexistence.
He October 2, At the Fernando Guardia Jaén Bilingual Comprehensive Training Center, located in Pacora, the students presented their proposals to authorities, representatives of institutions and project allies.
This meeting allowed us to share the results of the process and, especially, to recognize young people as protagonists in building responses to the challenges of their communities.
During the closure, Luis Zegarro, National Director of Prevention and Citizen Security at the Ministry of Public Security, He emphasized the importance of addressing the conditions that encourage gangs to recruit young people:
“The best response is not only to combat those who recruit, but also to close the loopholes that allow our young people to be recruited. […] Preventing recruitment is protecting the present and, above all, guaranteeing the future of our youth.”
She also stressed the need to strengthen coordination between institutions and noted that the recruitment of children and adolescents by criminal organizations is a shared challenge in Latin America.
In this regard, he highlighted the role of quality education that, in addition to transmitting knowledge, allows the development of social and human skills, strengthens bonds and expands opportunities so that each young person can build their own life project.
At Scholas we share this view, convinced that prevention also begins when young people find spaces to express themselves, feel heard and actively participate in their communities.
The Social Transformation Workshop and Scholas Citizenship are part of a broader proposal, powered by CAF and implemented by Scholas Occurrentes together with the Ministry of Public Security of Panama.
This initiative also includes the Childhood Rediscovery Workshops and the Socio-community practices, which seek to strengthen educational processes and generate new opportunities for participation and encounter.
Through these experiences, we continue to promote an education that recognizes the voice of young people, strengthens their ties with the community, and invites them to become involved in transforming their reality.
Because building a culture of encounter also means opening spaces for young people not only to identify the challenges of their communities, but also to be protagonists of the responses that can transform them.
