Yesterday, we told you that students heading to high school in southern Toledo were bogged down in the mud and were forced to wait over an hour before being able to get to class. That's because the roads going in and out of villages such as Santa Ana, Conejo, and Crique Sarco have been neglected for almost two decades, so when it rains, the villagers are stuck with few options to get to the town.
And in Santa Ana in particular, school still isn't open because the teachers can't make it to the village. So kids who have been out of classes for two years still can't get back to face to face learning.
And after years of suffering in silence, the residents - who have chosen to remain anonymous so as to not be victimized - are pleading to the government to do something - and fast.
Voice of: Santa Ana Resident 1
"This has been going on for you could say 15, 20 years and I have witnessed that nothing has been done, governments change, both political parties, the same conditions exist so it's not new, however, I think that people are frustrated, they are disappointed and I think enough is enough. This is a basic need that any government should try to help."
"I have a child, he was excited to go to school yesterday and I think it's unfair, it's the reality, he was excited to go to school."
Voice of: Santa Ana Resident 2
"My son, my child, he can't go to school because the teachers aren't able to come for classes and it's very frustrating because we already miss all the years with COVID and then teachers went on strike and now we were looking forward to full time classes, getting prepared for it, after the long summer, and then now, the road conditions."
And one of the residents says that it's not just rains, but also the logging trucks that traverse the roads daily that have them in that state.
Voice of: Santa Ana Resident 2
"If you look at how many people, how many big companies, have these logging companies back here, they're the ones that are spoiling the roads every single rainy season. They know they're not supposed to be logging when rain comes because they mess up the roads and they still do it. I don't understand why they can't come together and demand that they contribute something back to these communities. You now how much logs come out of this place? Just now, I'm talking to you, one big truck pass with lumber. Whatever they fixed yesterday, they will damage. These are heavy equipment, these people have the resources, they can help the government, it's not only the government that needs, everybody needs to get involved, especially these private entities that have these kinds of resources."
And back in 2018, we did a similar story - only that time, it was the chairman pleading for help. Four years later, not much has changed.
Channel 7