|
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
NEWS FEATURE
In this section:
Ten Young Former Gangsters Start Businesses on
Guatemala Reality Show
Ten Young Former Gangsters Start Businesses on Guatemala
Reality Show
 |
|
“You hear about a lot of awful things that gangs
do, so it’s easy to dehumanize them. But when you
hear a life story, of someone who got in and out, it
has a whole new meaning for people.” —José
Garzon, USAID
USAID/Guatemala
|
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala—A less-than-typical,
five-episode reality show will air here in March: it will
follow the transformation of 10 former young gangsters into
small business owners.
Funded by USAID and private businesses, the reality gang
show dubbed Challenge 10: Peace for the Ex, will document
the life of the 10 former gangsters as they live together
for two weeks in the same house. They will be taught basic
skills in accounting, customer service, human resources, sales,
marketing, and motivation. At the end of the show, they will
establish a car wash and a shoe repair business.
“This is basically trying to promote the idea of rehabilitation
as an alternative to relying only upon repression or law enforcement
as a means,” said José Garzon, a democracy and
governance officer with USAID/Guatemala. “When you have
150,000 gang members in a country with only about 8,000 jail
spaces, you have to figure out how to deal with the rest.”
“A lot of gang members want to get out of gangs and
have left,” he added, “but they are hard to employ.”
The show participants had already abandoned gang life. Some
had joined evangelical churches, as under gang rules, religion
and death are the only legitimate ways to get out of gangs.
In the show, five of the participants will spend their time
washing cars in the parking lot of a housewares store in downtown
Guatemala City. The other five participants will set up and
run a small shoeshine and repair shop in an upscale office
building in a residential neighborhood.
Quite often, it is the lack of opportunities that motivates
young people to join gangs, Garzon said. “We have to
give them a chance,” he said, adding that the reality
show is doing just that.
“Many young people are able to give up gangs by joining
a church, but no one will give them jobs,” he added.
“They are just there with bibles in their hands.... The
lack of opportunities motivates them again as gangsters.”
USAID invested about $300,000 in this project through the
Global Development Alliance. USAID/Guatemala has put in another
$900,000 over time. The Guatemalan private sector and federal
government have supported the program, which is being carried
out by Creative Associates.
The project targets youth at risk, aiming to deter them
from becoming involved in gangs as well as rehabilitating
former gang members. It runs three youth houses, sponsored
by donors and the Guatemalan government, where former gangsters
can get nonformal education and receive counseling. The project
also worked with five crime prevention councils that organize
programs with schools and get youth at risk involved in sports.
“The idea [behind the show] is to put a human face
on the whole phenomenon because it hasn’t been done before,”
Garzon said. “You hear about a lot of awful things that
gangs do, so it’s easy to dehumanize them. But when you
hear a life story, of someone who got in and out, it has a
whole new meaning for people.”
 |
|
|
|
USAID in Guatemala works with youth, aiming to deter
them from becoming involved in gangs as well as rehabilitating
former gang members. A project runs three youth houses,
sponsored by the Guatemalan government, where former
gangsters get nonformal education and receive counseling.
It also works with five crime prevention councils and
schools that get youth at risk involved in sports and
hobbies such as chess.
USAID/Guatemala
|
Back to Top ^
|
RSS Feed for Recent HIV/AIDS WebSource Articles
