Gangs are estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince and fight over territory daily, with more than 2,400 people reported killed this year.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Woodberson Seïde held his stepsister’s hand as they walked through Haiti‘s capital on their way to an afterschool music program.

They avoided cars, motorcycles, and territory controlled by the gangs whose predation prompted this week’s U.N. Security Council vote for the deployment of a multinational armed force. Once he arrived at the school that hosts the program, 11-year-old Woodberson didn’t think much about how he sometimes eats once a day. His family sleeps on the floor of a church, something they’ve done since losing their home to gangs.

The boy was neatly dressed and ready to play drums. Across Port-au-Prince, hundreds of children like Woodberson are playing percussion, piano and bass guitar to drown out the violence and hunger around them.

“When I play drums, I feel proud,” Woodberson said.

Children sleep on the floor of a school turned into a shelter after they were forced to leave their homes in Cite Soleil due to clashes between armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 23, 2022. (Photo by Odelyn Joseph/AP, File)

To many, Haiti feels hopeless. Children are mostly kept indoors for safety. Their parents worry about gangs recruiting children as young as 8.

Woodberson and other young musicians in a U.S.-sponsored music program refuse to let circumstances dictate their future, helping both themselves and their parents.

“Seeing my son performing makes me very happy,” said Jean Williams Seïde, his father.

Source: Haitian students play drums and strum guitars to escape hunger and gang violence