The young men of Cite Soleil slum who participate in gang life are actually in many ways good young men. But they are men who are desperately poor and who have little – if any – self-esteem, convinced that they have little value or worth. There is as much as an 80% unemployment rate in Site Solei. There are very few opportunities for them. The majority of them have little or no education. Many of them are humiliated and embarrassed when they are asked to sign their name.
They have not received much love in their short lifetime.
Fr. Tom in over his head with Project Dismas participantsHands Together has been working in the Site Solei slum since the fall of 1996. In the first early years, we received a great deal of advice to simply ignore the young gang members because any association with these young men would permanently tarnish the reputation of Hands Together.
We were told that they were crazed and very dangerous. There was a very popular documentary called The Ghosts of Site Solei that portrayed them as evil and dangerous gangsters. Their leader Tupac was portrayed as a psychopath who was intent on simply causing violence.
But slowly the staff of Hands Together began to see another side of them. These young "gangsters" would be seen helping the elderly, organizing soccer games for young boys and with a great deal of joy and enthusiasm distributing packages of food to the needy in their communities.
