Analysis - For the past five years, the GANGS project, a European Research Council-funded project led by Dennis Rodgers, has been studying global gang dynamics in a comparative perspective.
, has been studying global gang dynamics in a comparative perspective. When understood in a nuanced manner that goes beyond the usual stereotypes and Manichean representations, gangs and gangsters arguably constitutetells us about the life of Gaz, a former Sierra Leone an gang member who became a poet and then a farmer.
Earlier this morning we left Gaz's home in nearby Makeni, central Sierra Leone, a city of just over 85,000 residents, the fifth largest in the country. From the bustling town centre, we weaved through traffic and street traders on our motorbikes, leaving behind the heady scent of diesel and palm oil and a chorus of car horns. We walked the final stretch on foot, along a shady forest path, and waded through waist-deep streams.
Gaz moved to the capital, Freetown, where his gym-honed physique earned him respect from a local clique. Before long, he'd ascended to the lofty position of"Emperor" - the boss of"Giverdam Squad," his own feared street gang. They would hustle to make money. Sometimes they sold drugs, including"jamba" and, in later years,"kush", a cocktail of synthetic drugs that has becomeConfrontations with police and rivals were frequent.
My rough path is a cracked zoneCovered with death trapsI have been chased by hunger and thirstThreatening this precarious pathThat I have been walking so longI'm driving through with a tank filled with faithA Day I will finally quit my rough path. He planned to plant vegetables - yams, pepper, and so forth - and live off the land. If he could make it work, he believed other street youth might pull it off, too. It became anWhen he first discussed his idea, it seemed like a long shot. Moving from the streets to the fields. It's still a work in progress. The toil is hard, and the yields are small. But few could have expected him to get this far. And that's the thing about Gaz: once he sets his mind to something, he is relentless.
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