Adios Tattoos Project Offers Former Gang Members a More Normal Life

The Coordinadora's Adios Tattoos Project, launched in 2004, helps former gang members reintegrate into society by providing professional tattoo removal treatment. Mauricio, a project beneficiary and a young father of two, wants to provide a stable life for his family.

Name: Mauricio Age: 25 years old What kind of work do you do? I'm a carpenter.

Mauricio now works towards a more normal life

Are you married? Do you have children?

I'm married and my wife is 21 years old. We have two kids of ages 6 and 4.

When and why did you choose to participate in this project?

I chose to participate in this project because seven years ago I was involved with a street gang (Mara Salvatrucha). Back then I got some tattoos on my body. Now, that I am out of the gangs I want to start over again so that I can have a normal life. I don't want the cops to stop me and ask me if I belong to the gangs. This will also make it easier for people to trust me because they know that if someone is getting his tattoos removed then that means he has really changed.

Have there been any changes in your life as a result of participation in the tattoo removal project? How have these results benefited your family?

Now, I am much more positive about things; I feel more integrated in society because my tattoos are being removed. Now people say hello to me in the streets not because they fear me but because they are my friends. I have regained the trust of a lot of people who used to fear me. For instance, when someone needs a carpentry job done, when I give them an estimate I also ask them for an advance payment. People no longer hesitate in giving me this payment because they know that I am responsible and that I won't spend it on alcohol or drugs.

My family is more at ease because they know I'm not involved in anything bad. I have also given my word to my wife that I am changing completely and that I won't have anything to do with the gangs or drugs because I know that that trash is not good; I don't want it in my body. I want to fulfill my promise to my wife.

What are your plans for the future? How did the tattoo project shaped these?

I want to create a workshop to teach carpentry to young people. I have enjoyed commercial drawing and graphic design, and perhaps in the future I can study something related to design. The Coordinadora has offered us training classes in computer and carpentry skills. I have already enrolled in these because, in the future, I know they will be useful.

What is the significance of this project for your community?

Would you like to add any comments or share an experience about yourself or the project?

In 1995 I started becoming more active in a gang. I was 14 when this happened, and I was with the group for almost three years. In the group I became a leader since I formed a clique -- a smaller group within the gang that lives in another community. My group started with 25 people, and by the time I left it had grown to almost 50. I didn't participate in the clique's crimes, but I did organize them. I ended up in jail twice. I was an alcoholic and had to drink every day. I also did drugs for several months. While in the gang I fell in love with the woman who is now the mother of my two children. She did not belong to any gang, but I still fell in love with her. I convinced her to go out with me and participate in the gang for a little while. After a month of her involvement with the group, I decided to leave the gang so I could have a family with her. As leader of that clique, I allowed other members of the group to leave also if they wanted, as I knew it would be harder for them to depart under the leader who would replace me. So when I left the group others did as well. I left the gang seven years ago, and I have worked in carpentry shops since then.

I have two kids, one who is six years old and the other who is four. It is because of them and my wife that I want to succeed and provide them what I didn't have when I was young: a stable life. In my own family, made up of my parents and five brothers, of which I was the fourth, I remember some unpleasant times. My parents got separated when I was young, and my father was in jail for some time. When he came back home he physically abused my mom, to the point of separation. I moved from house to house with different families.

I remember that in my family I was always rejected by my brothers, as well as by my mom who preferred my other brothers. This rejection has led me to the point of wanting to ask my mom if as a baby I had been found in the mountains during the war, as she always showed a preference for my other four brothers. These situations led me to join the gangs -- for friendship -- because I couldn't find any in my family. But one time my gang mates left me without help against some rivals. So this situation, along with meeting the mother of my children, made me open my eyes and decide to leave the gang for good. I knew that being involved with the gang and drugs made my wife and my mother suffer because I spent all of my money on drugs and alcohol.

Now that I have changed and have children, I want to give them a stable life and all of the things I didn't have. I believe it is never too late to change or to start making progress. It is this belief that made me become involved with the tattoo project so that I can erase the footprints of my past as I have put it behind me, and now I am someone else.

The Tattoo Removal Treatment Center, which is adjacent to the Mangrove Cybercafe