By Sophie Birkett | Head of Operations, Charitable Trust
Dear Supporter,
Crime is at endemic levels throughout the city of Salvador, which is the capital of Bahia´s marijuana and cocaine trafficking industry. Gang violence in the favelas is also on the increase. Despite widespread publicity of these critical levels of violence, crime still attracts many adolescents who are drawn by the notion of an easy route to improving their financial status and feel there are few other options open to them.
To provide an anecdotal example of the lure of crime and gang culture for the city´s youth, in a discussion at our school about what the children wanted to do when they grew up, one 5 year old student told us that he wanted to be a thief, his justification being that ´a thief gets everything he wants and doesn’t have to work for it’. This same child had witnessed his own father, who was involved in the local drug trade, shot dead in front of him by the police just a month earlier.
We have had some great successes on this project but we rely entirely on your donations to continue our work. Here at Grandmother Clara´s Dream we firmly believe in education as a basic human right and the best route to offering the children of this troubled community the opportunity of a brighter future.
All the best
GVI Charitable Trust
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