Bariela is a low, swampy land, 19 km away on a dirt track from the main provincial highway. Most of the families are farmers, growing corn, cassava, millet and some rice. Many of them also fish in the nearby Luala river, a tributary of the Zambezi. Most of them barely succeed in feeding themselves all year. They are far from markets and don’t make much at all from crop sales. During Mozambique’s civil war the government could not protect isolated areas like Bariela, and the people all fled. When the war ended 15 years ago they started coming back, but found everything–roads, schools, clinics, wells–destroyed. Bariela school is made of sticks, mud and thatch. It has no water or electricity. Everyone in Bariela must carry their water in pails on their heads from the Luala river, 3 miles away. The nearest well is almost 7 miles away. Students in Bariela walk long distances to school on paths through the bush. Often in the rainy season these paths are flooded, or mud. They work in their family fields to help grow crops, and try to produce a surplus to sell to pay for school books and fees. Without electricity they must get up at dawn to study by sunlight. To persist in such conditions takes strong hope.