Louisa Reynolds /

Pz

P

10

A sign of the village’s growing prosperity was the fact that 
some peasants had started to hire farm hands that came 
from Las Cruces and worked from Monday to Friday on the 
corn harvest and other agricultural chores.

Dos Erres had no electricity, sewage system or health clinic, 
and at first, it had no water supply either, which meant that 
the settlers were forced to walk for ten kilometers, all the way 
to Las Cruces, in order to fill as many containers as they 
could carry and then begin an arduous journey back to their 
village. This changed, however, in 1978, when Federico built 
the Ruano well, which soon became a popular meeting point 
for the villagers, who arrived early in the morning and lined 
up to fill their buckets.

A year later, with the hope of finding a second water source, 
Saúl’s father had started to dig a 21 meter well, but his efforts 
were unsuccesful. 

II

Lesbia Tesucún looked so frightened and tired after her long 
journey from Flores, that she seemed more liked a terrified 
little girl who had lost her way in the mountains rather than 
the first school teacher sent by the Ministry of Education to 
the new village of Dos Erres. 

She arrived in June 1980, on the back of a tractor that 
belonged to Gamaliel, the only farmer in the village who 
owned a vehicle, nervously clutching a small suitcase in which 
she carried a hammock, a few items of clothing and books. 
She was accompanied by her anxious mother, who worried