Peace in Juarez: Clarinetist Finds Refuge Amidst Mexico's Drug Wars Dominic Bracco II and Susana Seijas - Pulitzer Center
go to original June 16, 2013

Esteban Ruiseco is exactly the type of teenager Mexico's drug cartels prey upon. The 15-year-old Esteban comes from a broken home in Juárez - the epicenter of much of the drug-related violence in Mexico - and has dropped out of school twice. This Juárez youth could've easily been picking up a gun. Instead, Esteban picks up his clarinet and joins the Esperanza Azteca (Aztec Hope) Juárez Youth Orchestra.

"Before finding the orchestra, my life had no direction. I was stressed all the time. Watching the news on TV you'd see nothing but executed people. Why work if I was going to end up like that?" Esteban says.

Esteban is a Nini, slang for "ni estudian, ni trabajan" - those who neither work nor study. There are estimated 10 million Ninis across Mexico, but the largest concentration is in Juárez.

Pulitzer Center grantees Dominic Bracco II and Susana Seijas have spent years in Juarez, Mexico documenting these Los Ninis' stories.

This is part of Pulitzer Center-sponsored project "Los Ninis: Mexico's Lost Generation"

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