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For Latin American Youth, Big Ambitions Meet Familiar Obstacles

By Brendan O'Boyle

Experts, policymakers and young people gathered in Lima for AQ's launch event on challenges and opportunities facing youth in the region today.

Sabrina, 19, steps off the stage and walks confidently into the crowd. Her blue braids sway back and forth as she moves through the audience and performs spoken-word poetry about her life in Rio de Janeiro’s Complexo de Alemão favela.

“Though I love poetry and rhythm, I still dream of being the first university graduate in my family,” she recites.

“Against traffic I go, through the neighborhoods of my favela, fighting society’s injustices. Through art, we resist, we insist, we exist.”

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