Elisa Larvego

The road leading to Candelaria (USA) is a dead-end road. This small town is located in the Chihuahuan desert, on the north bank of the Rio Grande. The nearest town is San Antonio del Bravo, on the other side of the river, in Mexico. On weekdays, Candelaria is a small community of one hundred inhabitants, with about sixty children and their mothers. Since Candelaria's school has closed, the kids do a daily three hours bus ride to go to Presidio (USA). Most of the fathers and husbands live on the south bank of the Rio Grande, in San Antonio. During the week-ends, Candelaria is deserted as the families gather on the Mexican side. To be able to cross the border legally, the inhabitants are forced to a five-hour drive to reach their neighboring town, located just two kilometers away.