Be a Man is teaching young men how to shatter stereotypes.
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At 15, Dragan Kisin was beating kids up, drinking, and getting in all sorts of trouble. His father had left home to avoid gambling debts, and his mother was in despair. Then Dragan joined the Be a Man club in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Banja Luka. He is now a community leader and non-violence advocate.
Be a Man is part of CARE International’s Young Men Initiative in the Balkans.
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A delicate balance of Muslims, Serbs and Croats, Bosnia was torn apart as federal Yugoslavia dissolved. Up to 100,000 people were killed in the 1992-1995 war and an estimated 35,000 women were raped.
Recognizing that the widespread sexual violence perpetrated in the war had given rise to a culture of violence and bullying among youth, the Be a Man club brings young men and women together to fight stereotypes and become role models for their peers.
Be a Man is part of CARE International’s Young Men Initiative in the Balkans. The program, aimed at boys between 13 and 19, was set up to promote gender equality and non-violent relationships in a region still struggling with the legacy of war.
Their partner in Banja Luka, Perpetuum Mobile: Institute for Youth and Community Development has been working with young people in the community for the past ten years.
This short documentary tells the story of Dragan and how the program changed his life.
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Video/Photo YouTube/Thomson Reuters Foundation
I meant to say that the USA does not have a program.
Well, if we want to reach the boys, then we adopted the curriculum that Holland has for it boys in terms of helping them develop their emotions considering the fact that the USA does have such a program.
Many of us tend to concentrate on first world issues, focusing on such as the USA and the UK, but this eye-opener represents the real crisis with our boys through-out the world, the real abuse that women in the unfortunate countries face and deal with. To me it is, and always be, at the center of this, fatherhood and male mentoring. The chasm size hole apparent in Dragan’s soul when he talked of this father abandoning him speaks volumes in that regard. If we can begin, or continue to reach these boys, to develop them, to create a new generation… Read more »