A Long Way for an Interview

Classroom at San Antonio Aguas Calientes.
Interview with Edson
Interview with Zoila.

This was a two-interview morning. We were scheduled back at the school in San Antonio Aguas Calientes to pick up two interviews – one of Edson, the main special ed teacher, and the other off Zoila, one of the students who had participated in the presentation last week. We shot B-roll of the classroom, and then interviewed Edson outside of the classroom in front of the Transitions sign. He knows the students well – has visited the homes of all of his students, and knows the family situations well. Last week, he suggested that we focus on Zoila, an 18-year-old who has walked two kilometers each way to and from school for the last five years.

Indeed, we did follow Zoila to her home. Eight of us, accompanied by Edson, and carrying cameras, lights, and audio equipment, walked the two kilometers – uphill (and downhill) in both directions – to her home. There we were able to shoot some B-roll of the house and environs, including her sister Wendy’s backstrap weaving and the small field growing corn and other vegetables alongside the house. Some of us enjoyed communing with the five dogs, one rabbit, and one bird – pets, although the dogs probably serve a security function. We interviewed Zoila. Interviewer Lydia Bell did a masterful job of coaxing words out of a shy girl not used to talking in front of strangers or cameras. Then we were able to interview her sister, Wendy, who could talk more about Zoila’s history and the disability.

It was a treat to see the fertile countryside and to be guests in Zoila and Wendy’s home.