Saving children from the gangs

The English language edition of the Al Jazeera television work broadcast this week a documentary about Barefoot Angels, an organization working to rescue kids at risk in the city of Santa Ana. The network's web page for its program People & Power describes the group:

[Eleven year old] Marlon, however, declares he "will not go with the gangs anymore" because of Barefoot Angels, an organization which works in Santa Ana, El Salvador's second-largest city, which attempts to help youths cope with violence and keep them out of gangs.

The team of seven professionals, headed by Lucy Guzman, includes social workers, psychologists and educators and for the last ten years has tried to provide a refuge for children from the fear of violence.

"What we do is try to make a circle of psychological attention, for those children who have to suffer a lot of violence," Guzman says, highlighting activities such as puppet-making, painting and drama.

Al Jazeera makes programs available on YouTube, so you can watch the program here:

Part 1



Part 2

In the past year, Al Jazeera's English network has broadcast more coverage of El Salvador than any US-based news network. Other programs include:

• Eye on El Salvador - Helping the poor - 27 Aug 07
• Eye on El Salvador - Commiting to Iraq - 28 Aug 07
• Eye on El Salvador - Sending money home - 29 Aug 07
• Eye on El Salvador - Terror Law - 30 Aug 07