One of my principles when travelling internationally – not official Salvation Army policy, though it has always been supported – is always to look for multiple possibilities for potential storytelling.

And so it came to pass that, en route to a conference elsewhere in Brazil, a 24-hour stopover in Rio could be factored in at pretty much nil extra cost. The benefit of this was that Rio would shortly be hosting the Olympics, and The Salvation Army was planning a significant range of activities in support.

But telling the story with less than a day available to gather the information was quite a task. Fortunately, I was helped massively by the leader of The Salvation Army in Greater Rio, Major Dan Ford. He and I had immediately clicked during our pre-visit phone calls and email exchanges, and he had a good understanding of what we wanted to achieve. He was also in a position to gain access to the various facilities and individuals that we felt would help tell the story, and very helpfully went above and beyond by acting as my guide and chauffeur for the day.

The favelas in Rio are numerous and notorious for their high levels of often violent crime. And, as is typical, The Salvation Army faces this head on. It operates three major full-time projects right in the heart of these communities (and several smaller scale ones), offering a range of support and particularly providing children a safe place to go before/after school. There is an extremely high likelihood that children will be drawn in to drugs cartels or gun/knife crime if not offered more meaningful activities. In The Salvation Army’s centres, the response to this was sport, dance, music, art, craft, help with homework, counselling, an almost unending list…

Even on my whistlestop visit (barely five minutes on Copacabana beach!), I did see some fearsome weapons on display. Major Dan on occasion suggested I should lower my camera to make it clear I wasn’t filming. Tensions were sometimes high. But I also met some of the most wonderful kids, with realistic hopes for their future and such gratitude for the relationships being nurtured with them. Not just ‘after-school club’, but a treasured investment in their lives.

You can read my piece for All the World magazine here: https://issuu.com/salvationarmyihq/docs/atw-january-march_2016-web/16