Improvising as he went along, Alberto presented the gang member with two options. "One, you go back to the police. Two, you work for three months, for nothing. Choose." The young perp was at Santa Teresa's office at seven Monday morning. When Alberto asked if he knew four or five others who'd be interested in a work/training program, 22 showed up - the entire gang.

Roughly 115 gang members are currently participants or graduates of the program, which has grown to include agricultural labor, education in values, psychological counseling, community service, and rugby training. After three months, graduates can opt for paid employment; the brothers­ themselves have hired four graduates as Santa Teresa marketing trainees. Or graduates can further their education in Cafe Alcatraz's coffee-growing program or the Taller del Constructar Popular, a builders' workshop where the young gang members - many of whom were formerly employed as professional hit men - learn complex computer architecture programs and remarkably intricate woodworking.

Touring El Consejo's barrio with Alberto these days is actually somewhat frustrating: So many residents stop him for chats and high-fives, it takes half an hour to walk half a block. There's a prolonged consultation, for instance, at a drug house that's being remodeled into a day care center. But it's also inspiring. When several gang members are asked how they feel about the project and themselves, one very serious 20-year-old breaks into a rap song he wrote detailing the disapproval with which people reacted to him before, and the admiration after. "He's called Patapiche, Smelly Feet," grins Alberto. "He was the most feared gang leader in the region."

"At first we thought it was a trap to kill us all," says Jose, a young guy in a red stocking hat. "Then we realized it was because they wanted us to change; they were giving us an opportunity."