USAID JAMAICA - Ruben, the violence interrupter
DP / EDITING: Thomas Cristofoletti
PRODUCTION: Kelly Ramundo / USAID and Jane Silcok / USAID
MUSIC: Ryan Huff
In May 2016, I had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica on assignment for USAID to tell the story of Ruben, a former notorious gangster from the infamous Canterbury neighborhood of Montego Bay.
Today he works as a violence interrupter – preventing shootings and homicides in his community through a program supported by the Government of Jamaica. “Kids look up to me,” he says. “Because first I was part of the problem, now I’m the solution.”