“If you leave, no one will shoot you:” A grandmother’s plea in Honduras
“My grandmother wanted me to leave. She told me: ‘If you don’t join, the gang will shoot you. If you do join, the rival gang will shoot you—or the cops will shoot you. But if you leave, no one will shoot you’.”...
How Honduran street violence threatens children’s education
Intimidation by Honduras’ notorious mara gangs makes going to school so dangerous some parents keep their teenagers at home. Intimidation by street gangs in the violent areas of Honduran towns and cities is a fact of life for teenagers like Mariela*, 15, and her...
Defying screams and gunfire, South Sudanese family flees to safety
For four days, Milly Lagu listened to the terrifying sound of gunfire and watched flames rising from neighbouring villages. When soldiers took away her husband on the fifth day, the fear became too much to bear. Knowing the soldiers would soon return for her two...