One on One

UNO a UNO is a short documentary film that tells the true story of a community in rural Puerto Rico and its effort to eradicate a 43.9% student dropout rate in one of its main public middle school. The students have attended the Antonio Badillo Hernandez School since early childhood with the dream to graduate and receive their diploma. Instead family drama and social decay has led them to fall behind in their academics and potentially drop out of school at an unacceptable early age. As school dropouts these youngsters would be at a much higher likelihood of living in poverty or becoming delinquents and a burden for decades to come. This is precisely when community leader, Mrs. Nilda Prieto (mother of three), decided to form a program where these under served children have mentors, altruistic people who give of their time, energy and kindness, to guide their paths to educational and moral improvement. Volunteers come from all community sectors - public, private and non-governmental organizations (NGO). Their commitment is reflected in intellectual support and motivational encouragement to help the participating students reach their goal: promotion to another grade by graduating from middle school. But reality strikes when differences between mentors and students put the mentoring program at risk. The great majority of these children come from dysfunctional families, in many occasions from single parent household, living in extremely poor conditions. The lack of interest from their siblings and parents and their social background curtail their desire to strive in all aspects of their life. The story hits a stop when mentors face a great dilemma as their initial plan to help the students fails.