Tackling Venezuelan crime

Less than ten years ago, the small town of El Consejo in the Venezualan state of Aragua, was living in fear. Armed gangs were fighting each other to the death and engaging in kidnappings, rape and murder. Nowadays, the village is known across the country as an example for how sport can change society for the better. The sport we are talking about isn't normally that popular in Venezuela: it's rugby.

Alberto Vollmer, a locally-based rum-maker with German roots, is responsible for most of what has happened here. On his farm Santa Teresa, children from around the country are learning to reduce their aggression with sport. For Vollmer, humility, respect and team spirit are all important parts of the sport of rugby.

He founded the "Alcatraz Rugby Club" in 2003. Since then, the club has gained some 2000 playing members: children, youths and adults. The players aren't just from poor areas anymore. But it's still there that this special type of social work is having the greatest effect.

Ten years ago in El Consejo, 115 people per 100,000 were victims of violence each year. Now, it's 25 people per 100,000. Alberto Vollmer hopes that soon this number will reach zero.

Farm work instead of jail

The start of Vollmer's rugby project all began, strangely enough, with a robbery. One night, José Gregorio Arrieta Montilla and his gang members broke into Santa Teresa farm, and the young man was arrested by the police. A shocked Vollmer was just able to prevent the police from hanging José for his crime, a punishment that was previously often handed out by police.

Vollmer offered José an opportunity instead: rather than 10 years in jail, he should work on his farm. Shortly thereafter the police asked Vollmer whether he might be able to take in other criminals. Shortly thereafter the two formerly feuding gangs were working together on the Santa Teresa farm, side by side. On the rugby field the two groups learned to channel their negative energy into sport and before long the Alcatraz Rugby Club was born. The rival gang members became team mates and, in some cases, even friends.

"That it actually worked, is still something that I find surprising," says Vollmer. "But it makes me proud too."

Alberto, a tall man with lively blue eyes and a strong handshake, has been playing rugby for 30 years. "Every person can change themselves," he adds. "You just have to believe in them and help them set their potential free."

Vollmer says he's invested somewhere between three and five million euros ($4.02 million - $6.7 million) in his sports project. The former criminals in the Alcatraz Rugby Club team now act as role models for many in the violence-riddled country.

José Gregorio Arrieta Montilla, who is now club captain, has turned his life around, for example. He works as an IT specialist and is now the proud father of three sons. His past now seems like a nightmare, when he talks about it he says.

"The youngsters looked up to me back then and they copied the stuff that I used to do: robberies, shootings, everything," he explains. "I was able to use this influence positively though too, thank God."

"To be honest, without this team I probably would have been in jail or dead by now."

His two eldest sons, José Angel and Wilkinson, are also in the club's junior ranks. They don't have any problem with their father as coach, they say. "We're proud to be part of the team."

Sport teaches values

The values that the club teaches are written on wooden boards around the Santa Teresa farm. "Humility" is the most important message, but also statements like "We play fair – and to win" are dotted around the hacienda.

The 35 players in the club's first team are on placards across the country, advertizing the team and also Vollmer's increasingly popular brand of rum.

But it's not just the men that are gettting involved. The sport is also becoming popular with women in the region too. The Alcatraz Rugby Club now has a number of women's teams. Atalia Hereria is captain of "Alcatraz RC Feminino" and she's convinced of the importance of rugby in her life.

"If I wasn't playing, I wouldn't be complete," she says. "This is like a second family for me. My teammates are my friends and my sisters."

Low relapse rate

Still, there was a lot of doubt about the project at the start, says Alberto Vollmer. "The people thought it was strange that we were supporting former criminals. But letting them go onto the streets would have been worse."

Players seldom relapse back into crime after joining the rugby club, says Vollmer, as he tells of one story that still affects him today.

"There was this young player with a lot of potential, who came new into the team," he says. "Then he went back to the streets and shot another young man."

The youth involved eventually surrendered to the police, after Vollmer got involved. But these sorts of incidents haven't dampened Vollmer's enthusiasm. He's convinced of the value of sport. These days he negotiates with various Venezualan ministries and anti-drug offices, in order to get state assistance for his club. So far, Vollmer hasn't been able to get any money though.

No matter what happens, in the next few years Vollmer will continue to invest further in his team and the infrastructure of Venezuelan rugby too, he says.

"We have made a good start," he adds. "But there is still a long way to go."