Slums are neighborhoods where thousands of people live in abject poverty, separated by only tin walls. Young people who grow up surrounded by the oppressive helplessness of open sewage, scarce resources and little education face dramatic temptation to attempt to escape by choosing to make money through crime or illicit drug trade. Boy With a Ball's work has solved this problem by developing relational teams who walk into these communities to help youth walk into their dreams.
Poverty creates a fertile recruiting ground for illicit drug use, drug trafficking and drug-related crime in any neighborhood, in any country. Costa Rican squatter's settlements or precarios represent breeding grounds for drug use and criminal activity. Costa Rica has over 300 of these precarios in which more than 35,000 families live, almost all of them existing below the poverty line. The majority living in precarios are immigrant families from Nicaragua inhabiting small tin shacks.
Boy With a Ball works to better cities by reaching young people and equipping them to be leaders capable of transforming their communities. Team members and volunteers work in the economically disadvantaged Triangulo Solidario and Los Cuadros communities in San Jose and come together in different outreach methods that build relationships with every resident. Teams then provide developmental groups or mentoring to young people and their families who are facing moments of opportunity or crisis.
As community members are identified as facing similar situations, supportive small groups are formed which meet in community homes. Often, these groups include mothers' groups, children's group, tutoring centers, job skills training, ESL groups and leaders' group. As these teams and volunteers pour out continual outreach that build on each other, the community is powerfully developed. Join us and become a part of the Boy With A Ball movement. Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders.
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