Venezuelan Yorsibeth Teran scans the pitch as players yell at her to whistle while locals look on and have some coffees.

She is one of 20 young people from a violence-affected neighborhood in Caracas who have been trained to be basketball referees by a local NGO.

“I want to make my parents proud and the kids in the neighborhood should look up to me as a role model, knowing that they don’t have to be thieves, they can be referees or players,” says the 18-year-old. old said AFP.

The NGO Caracas Mi Convive has trained dozens of young people in the impoverished neighborhood of El Cementerio in refereeing, baking, confectionery, hairdressing and graphic arts.

In El Cementerio, famous for its vast cemetery, the freshly painted basketball court’s entrance reads, “We play for a world with more love and less violence.”

It adds, “Let your faith outweigh your fear.”

In July 2021, residents of El Cementerio and adjacent areas were paralyzed with fear when 2,500 police officers launched an operation that resulted in two days of gunfights with local criminals.

“I had a terrible experience during the clashes between gangs and the police,” Teran said.

Four police officers and 22 locals died during the operation.

Since then, Teran has trained as a baker, but she has also learned to referee basketball games.

Venezuela has one of the highest rates of violence in the world, with 11,000 violent deaths in 2021, according to the local Observatory on Violence.

It has the seventh highest homicide rate in the world at nearly 41 per 100,000 people.

To get to the basketball court, people must use a passageway known as the “Corridor of Death” because it is used by gangs.

“A lot of people are afraid to go down this path because you never know when there might be a clash,” said Saray Figueredo, who became an activist after the death of her older brother, a gang member.

“You could lose your life because of a stray bullet,” she added.

Figueredo is trying to change the image of a crime-ridden neighborhood with extreme poverty.

According to a report by the Andres Bello Catholic University, more than three quarters of the population in Venezuela live in extreme poverty.

“We want people to see the other side of the coin, the side where young people are productive,” Figueredo said.

It’s a Saturday and basketball coach Miguel Ruiz is shooting a basket during a game where his 26 students are acting as umpires and umpires.

You will learn the rules of the International Basketball Federation, official signals, timekeeping and game management.

Some of the students got into trouble for using drugs or carrying guns.

“We’re trying to get them out of this situation and into the basketball world,” Ruiz said.

However, there is another threat around the corner as new criminal groups attempt to infiltrate the territory vacated by the “Neutralized” in 2021.

“The insecurity has increased, we live in fear, now they are stealing and many things are happening,” said one student, who did not give a name.

“Before, they didn’t steal because it wasn’t allowed (by the gangs). It wasn’t a better life, but it was quieter.”