Community leaders in Guatemala City are looking to entrepreneurship as a path out of gang life for their young citizens, and hope that a new reality TV show may create inspiration for this path.
From an AP story at Yahoo News:
This gang-plagued Central American nation has found a new twist on reality television, putting wayward youths in a house and filming as community leaders turn them into small business owners.On Friday, the 10 former gang members inaugurated the fruits of their efforts: a car wash and shoe repair shop. The producers of the show, scheduled to air for a week in March, hope it will serve as inspiration for other gang members looking for a way to turn their lives around.
And unlike the heartless and ruthless version of free enterprise featured on Donald Trump's The Apprentice, these aspiring reality TV entrepreneurs are founding their businesses with a strong moral foundation.
The gang members participating in the show already had abandoned gang life, some by joining an evangelical church. Under gang rules, religion and death are the only legitimate ways to get out of gangs.Sergio Gutierrez, who will be in charge of the car wash, knows that running a small business will be harder than the two-week taping period.
"Now that the (taping of) the show is over, is when the hard part will come," Gutierrez said. "We have to make the business work, but I know if we trust in God, He will help us."
(Thanks to Andy Tabar for passing this story along).
