August Town scoring goals with restorative justice

Residents of August Town are attempting to repair their community that has been torn apart by violence using football, and according to one organiser, the strategy is working.

“The community is more open; people are more trusting of each other. You can go from one point to the other point. Nobody nah look back; it’s a great initiative,” Keith Henry, a member of the August Town Peace Builders Association, told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

The competition, which was launched in December last year, features 16 teams from the various factions in the community, and a team from the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The matches are held every weekend in Jungle 12, a notoriously volatile area in the community, and will conclude in April.

An important aspect of the competition is the restorative justice component, where players are mandated to participate in sensitisation training and host weekly meetings focusing on better ways to resolve conflicts.

“There are three central pillows on which August Town rests – sports, entertainment and religion,” argued Kenneth Wilson, a restorative justice officer in the community.

He noted that violence was emerging as a subculture.

“We choose football because football has the attention of the males, who possess the energy to make or break the communities,” he told The Gleaner.

The initiative is spearheaded by the Sizzla Youth Foundation in collaboration with the St Andrew Central Police Division, August Town Peace Builders Association, August Town Restorative Justice Centre, and the August Town Community Development Committee.

Wilson said that the programme is designed to last up to October and will next see the staging of a four-a-side football competition, a summer championship, and integration games with neighbouring universities and colleges.

The wider effort will also see netball, domino, road race, cricket and DJ competitions unfolding.

NOT AN EASY ROAD

Since the start of the competition, August Town has had only one shooting on Bryce Hill Road, which happened three weeks ago.

Two men were shot in that incident and the police seized two firearms and several rounds of ammunition.

“Things are not going to be just smooth. There [are] going to be bumps in the road so when those bumps come, they will test our resolve, but we have to put things in place now to ensure that when those bumps come, the community has the resolve to overcome them, and they don’t disrupt what is happening,” Wilson reasoned.

In 2016, August Town experienced an entire year without recording any murders. A subsequent study by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute highlighted the role that the community’s anti-violence efforts played in that achievement, but it contended that efforts generally do not have long-lasting effects, nor were they sustained; hence the results were short-lived.

According to Wilson, things are different this time around, as the zone of special operation (ZOSO) declared in the community three years ago has been aiding in sustaining these initiatives.

“When you have high-crime communities, you have to have a parallel security apparatus that will give you the opportunity to ensure that your social programmes can take root. What has been plaguing us over the years is the constant start and stop. Programmes come, but they stop because of violence. The ZOSO now gives the community an opportunity to develop a long-term strategy,” he said.

AIM TO BRING PEACE

Declaring that the tournament has been “working wonders”, Senior Superintendent Marlon Nesbeth, head of the St Andrew Central Police Division, saluted its role in maintaining the peace in the community.

“Communities that would have conflict are on the field playing together. We’re trying to bring a difference for them to appreciate how they can better cooperate and work with each other,” he said.

But Nesbeth is particularly impressed with the impact that the restorative justice aspect of the programme has had.

“We had one major incident that I was told of by one of my inspectors, where opposing factions, because of a bad tackle, it brought about some anxious moments and one of the youngsters from one of the teams came forward and say, ‘No, no. We can’t do that. Remember what we were taught in restorative justice. We have to find some better ways to resolve our differences’,” he said.

Meanwhile, 60-year-old Clive Ellis, a resident of Jungle 12 in the community, said he enjoyed watching the matches every weekend and is hoping the peace created by the tournament will last.

“Long time wi nuh see crowd like this. Long time mi nuh see all certain people, so mi a enjoy see people from Vietnam, River and Hermitage ... ,” he told The Gleaner. “War nuh nice. It part people, mek people deh a part – all family apart.”

Jason Taylor of Goldsmith Villa concurred.

“Everybody gather back and it kind ease di war ... . Since the competition, everything crime-free,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com