Since my son was in high school, he said he wanted to be a teacher because he did not like any other career. He knew that it was difficult to study, but he said that when you have a longing for something, you always achieve it.
- Maximino Hernández
Carlos Lorenzo is the first of the five children of Maximino Hernández and Beatriz Muñoz. The Hernández Muñoz family are from Huajintepec, a town of 3,800 people on the easternmost edge of Guerrero, bordering Oaxaca. It is a beautiful part of the world: mango and tamarind plantations flank the roads and the pine-covered hills are filled with deer, jaguars and foxes. Becoming a rural teacher was a natural choice for Carlos: illiteracy is a problem in his community, and the name of the indigenous people he belongs to, the Amuzgo, means “place of libraries.” His father is a bricklayer who hoped that one day Carlos would become an engineer but has supported his son’s dream to become a rural teacher, ever since he decided on his vocation during his second year of high school.
Every Sunday, Carlos played in the local soccer league as a goalkeeper, always accompanied by his family. He has always been the last hope of his team to win a game in case everything fails in the offense or defense.
Carlos trained before, during, and after school to achieve the first part of his own goal: entering the teachers' college in Ayotzinapa. In the short months before his disappearance he made many friends and was given the nickname “El Frijolito" (The little bean) because he ate an entire plate full of beans, exhausted and hungry after a long day during testing week. Described by everyone as helpful and respectful, with no vices, he was the first person to stand up and volunteer to donate blood for an injured person in Tixtla.
The Hernández Muñoz family is waiting to embrace their oldest son, the embodiment of hope who has yet to realize the goal he has been training to achieve.
