We divide the world into heroes and villains. Good and bad.
That’s what our movies, our media, even our politicians do. But I’ve learned something over decades of work as a peacebuilder. A simple truth, proving itself over and over.
No one—literally no one—is beyond redemption.
Everyone in Zinder, Niger’s second biggest city, knows Paho. He was the city’s most feared gangster. Niger is a tough place for young people to find their way. There is extremely limited access to education and healthcare and even fewer solid opportunities to secure a job and build a career.
With so few options, thousands of young people in Niger find themselves, like Paho, joining gangs in search of power, money, even survival.
“When we wanted money,” Paho explains, “We would use machetes, knives, batons, and scare people into giving it to us.”
Despite the violence, disruption, and abuse caused by these young people, our team in Niger knew another reality–when you treat perpetrators as people, they will change!
My colleague Kadiatou and his team reached out to Paho and other influential gangsters in Zinder. They offered them a platform to voice their frustrations, which turned into an opportunity to join trainings and workshops for local youth.
Paho transformed. He discovered other ways to make a living and gain respect within his community. Most importantly, he found that we would recognize his human dignity and that he could do the same for others.
Paho now makes a living as a moto-taxi driver. He continues to lead young people—but in a new way. Instead of sending them off to commit robberies or attack their neighbors, he’s showing them how to get a driver’s license, where to learn a trade, how to start a business.
“I launched my own business, and it’s going well,” explains one former gang member who started a gas station. “I can assist my family and my relatives.”
Eventually, under Paho’s leadership, many of Zinder’s gangs transformed themselves into a federation of youth associations, officially recognized by the government.
Today, when street fights break out, local authorities call Paho and the members of the federation to solve the problem peacefully. When public services struggle to meet day-to-day needs, they call Paho to mediate a solution. And just last month, when a young woman urgently needed a blood transfusion, they called Paho to find a donor.
He did. She survived.
Paho transformed from Zinder’s terror to its champion.
Together, we can help thousands of young people on a similar journey from perpetrator to peacebuilder.
Will you help?
You may be thinking, “It’s great that Paho changed his ways, but he must be the exception.”
Let me tell you: he’s not.
Search’s work has triggered similar patterns of change in the Congo, where soldiers who used rape as a weapon of war became staunch human rights protectors; in Indonesia, where violent extremists have turned into advocates against radicalization; and in countless other places where we work.
Our approach is tried, tested, adapted and it works!
We’re not done in Zinder or in so many places where Search is partnering with local leaders like Paho to build safer, healthier, and more just communities.
Can we count on your continued support?
You helped change Paho’s life. Make a gift and help change another.
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With great hope and gratitude,
Shamil Idriss
CEO
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