[Film leader] [Static] [Film leader] [Tone] [Film leader] [Gentle music] [Narrator:] Two Roads. [Dos Caminos] This is the story of twogirls from a rural town in Central America wholeft that town together to seek a new life. It is the story of a timewhen they reached a crossroads and of the two roads theytook from that point. It is the story ofConsuelo and Yolanda. And now, it is Yolanda's story. [Yolanda voiceover:]The green hills and the corn fields arethe scenes of my childhood. Coming back is like coming home. But so much has happenedbetween then and now that it's like comingback from a far country. [Transit bus pulls into the village] After the city, the villageseems so quiet and simple. I can remember whenlife in such a village seemed too dull to be endured. But I have come herewillingly because I think the heart of my countryis here, and I belong here. [Music] [Bus stops and people exit] [Yolanda exits the bus] [Music] [Luggage is handed to her] [Music] [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:]The clinic I was seeking was only a short distance away. I was eager to begin anew job and a new life. [Music] [Yolanda carries her luggage] That girl, shecould be Consuelo. Two girls on the way to the citywith everything before them. Oh, I remember. I remember. [Upbeat music] [Flashback to younger days] [Yolanda and Consuelo riding bus] [Yolanda:] It was all so exciting,so different and new. We were lucky, certainly. Our parents hadagreed to give us this chance, although theyreally could not afford it, to go to the capital to school. Perhaps we had argued sostrongly and so successfully because we argued together, aswe had always done everything together. I was going to bean auxiliary nurse-- part of a new program-- maybe someday a real nurse. Consuelo was goingto be a secretary-- maybe someday a businesswoman. The city held the keyto everything for us. [Upbeat music] [Walking through the city] From the start, our luck held. We borrowed an apartmentfor a while from my cousins while they were traveling,and we settled in quickly. For me, it was not ashard as I had expected to become a city person. It was easy to becomeaccustomed to little luxuries. For Consuelo, it wasas though all her life had been preparationto come to the capital and be a real city girl. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Well,we'd see how it worked out. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Science instructor:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] When I waschosen for the auxiliary nurse course program from ourvillage, I had no idea how much I would need to learn. But I loved it all. With Consuelo, it wasdifferent, I think. [Science instructor:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda in the apartment] [Consuelo enters] [Consuelo:] Yolanda! [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:]The new haircut produced our first real argumentbecause I liked it better the way it was,softer and simpler, and Consuelo taunted mefor being old fashioned. She had picked a newrole for herself, something out ofmagazines and television-- and was determined to play it. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:]She was like a child who wanted to becomean adult overnight without taking time to grow up. [Consuelo:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Sheloved the shops and the chance to look chic and cool likethe girls in the magazines. I blame myself because I saw allthe early signs of Consuelo's foolishness and did notreact to them [Playful music] because she had always beento me-- sweet, and funny, and full of life. [Adventurous music] [Girls outside cafe,approached by admirers] She loved going to the cornercafe near our apartment just for a lark-- for a soda and to look atthe streets and the people. Maybe we'll see somebodynew today, she'd say. [Girls and admirersexchange glances] Our mothers wouldhave been horrified. But of course, the world haschanged since they were young, in many ways. [Interposing voicesspeaking Spanish] [Menu blows off table, man retrieves] [Introductions andgreetings exchanged] [Yolanda voiceover:]Meeting Juan Carlos that day was an accident,only an accident. [Juan Carlos:] [Speaking Spanish] [Consuelo:] No. [Juan Carlos:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] I thinkthat nothing in Consuelo's life had prepared her for anexperience like Juan Carlos. He was so graceful, so easy,as though nothing in life could ever really bea problem for him. The cinema actors aresometimes that way, shiny-smooth, likesomething made of glass. I remembered thevillage boys who used to try to attractConsuelo's attention. They were like adifferent species. [Juan Carlos andConsuelo talking] [Narrator:] If theConsuelos of this world were all armed withknowledge of themselves, and their minds, and bodies,they would be less vulnerable. Unhappily, unlessthey have been exposed to careful and honest educationabout their own sexuality, they know almost nothing. They take theiremotional guidelines from television,cinema, and magazines. And in time, even the bestof their childhood guidelines diminish in strengthand authority. They enter the aliencountry of romantic love defenseless, fragile,and confused. [Yolanda:] Consuelo. [Yolanda voiceover:]Consuelo's evenings at home with me became rarer and rarer. I asked her about her progressin school, but she put me off. In truth, she was nota serious student. She hated the drudgeryof study and could not agree with me that she neededto study every night in order to complete her courses. I worried that if she failed,all the money her parents had spent would be wasted,and she could not possibly get the kind of job she wanted. But she saw her playtimeencounters with Juan Carlos as a real and importantexperience of life. She said, and probably believed,it's a door opening for me. [Yolanda in classroom] One part of ournursing training was the study of human sexuality. I thought I knewa little about it, but I was surprised tofind I knew almost nothing. And it was a shock tofind out how many things I thought I knew were myths. [Nursing instructor:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Forexample, the professor told us any time after a womanis fully developed-- that is, has startedher menstrual period-- any act of intercoursecan result in a pregnancy. [Nursing instructor:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Howoften I have heard girls say, you can't get pregnantthe first time. But, in fact, you can,the professor said. Any girl who is fullydeveloped can become pregnant as a result of any intercourse. I was anxious to sharesome of this new knowledge with Consuelo. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] ButConsuelo always was in a hurry and concentratingonly on making herself beautiful for Juan Carlos. I'd love to hear about it,she said, but some other time. I'm running a little late. I very much needed to knowwhether she and Juan Carlos were serious, and she would onlytell me how wonderful he was. But are you reallyseriously involved? I asked her. She hesitated, but said, yes. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:]I was sorry to pry, but was by now truly concerned. You need to thinkabout these things to protect yourselfif you are really involved with Juan Carlos. Don't count on thiswonderful fellow to take care of everything. And at this she was angry. [Consuelo:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Yolanda,don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. But I wasn't sosure that she could. [Dancing music] [Discoteca, nightclub] [Disco music, lightshows and dancing] [Juan Carlos andConsuelo dancing] [Yolanda, in bed awake,checks alarm clock] [Faint disco music] In time, I began to realizethat we were no longer walking along the same road. She had moved too faraway from me to reach. And I was not strong enoughto be wise for both of us. [Yolanda turns out bed lamp] [Music] [Juan Carlos and Consuelo walking on beach] [Surf with sun rising] [Consuelo and Yolandawalking outdoors] And then one day, Consuelomet me with the news I suppose I hadfeared all along. [Walking in a park] It is such an old,old story, one wonders that it stillhappens with all we have learned aboutpreparation and prevention. After all the good reasons-- physical, spiritualpractical-- why it should not happen like this. [Stop to sit at a table] I asked her once more,are you absolutely sure you're pregnant? [Consuelo:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Yes,the doctor says that I am. Oh, Yolanda whatam I going to do? What indeed? What could I tell her,except, of course, one thing-- she must tell Juan Carlos. But that, she feared to do. I told her what is surely true-- the responsibility is with twopersons, not just with her. She had to tell him, and soon. She had been so sure shecould take care of herself. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] It was myturn to be strong and stern, no matter how I pitied her,because she and Juan Carlos-- both of them--would have to face the reality of the situationand reach a decision. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Consuelo:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] And shesaid, I'll try to talk to him. And I said, not try,you must talk to him, unless you're afraid to. [Consuelo and Yolandawalking in park] There was nothingfor it but that she should tell Juan Carlos-- appeal to him. Of course, they shouldand probably could marry, but would they? Was she ready tostop, right now, to become a wife and mother? Perhaps more importantly, washe ready to become a husband and father? In five years perhaps, but now? [Narrator:] The sexualityof the very young is a condition asold as humankind. It is something inside nature'smysterious plan for all of us. It is a sad anduniversal corollary that sexuality growsmore quickly than wisdom, more quickly than even a simpleinstinct for self-preservation. [Juan Carlos andConsuelo talking] So when at lastConsuelo met Juan Carlos with the agonized admissionthat she was indeed pregnant, she was greeted with acruel but common question. Are you sure it's mine? he asked. Of course, it's yours. You were the only one. [Juan Carlos:] [Speaking Spanish] [Narrator:] What now? Well, of course Consuelothought they could get married. Married? No. No way. As might have been predicted,the personal scenario Juan Carlos hasdeveloped for his life does not call formarriage so soon, certainly not to a pretty,foolish village girl. Juan Carlos may notbe ready for marriage, but this is notunfamiliar territory. He knows someone who canhandle these matters. He will telephone her. So in the end, shewas left alone, as young girls have been leftalone in such circumstances all over the world,all through time. Actually, what are her options? She could bear the baby andtake it back to her village. She could add thecare of a child to the burdens of her parents. They had already sacrificedto give her training, which would fit her to take a job, andshe had neglected her training for parties and dancing. Of course her parents wouldtake her in with her child, but what kind of life could shegive that child without skills or money? And yet, thealternative, the solution proposed by Juan Carlos,seemed too terrible. Why had she said to herself,it won't happen to me. Why does any young girl in lovesay, it won't happen to me. [Music] [Consuelo makes her way into a shadowy building.] [Somber music] [Consuelo walks down a hallway, up a flight of steps, and knocks on an unlabeled office door] [Knocking] [Door opens] [Door squeaks] [Door closes] [Music] [Music fades out] [Yolanda voiceover:]When I returned home the following day, I foundConsuelo in bed terribly ill. Consuelo, what is it? And she told methe dreadful news. She had had an abortion. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Thathad been Juan Carlos' response to her appeal. She was feverish, delirious, some sudden infection. Who knew what? [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] Igot her to the hospital, but she lived less than a day. And I never heard herlaughing voice again. [Somber music] And now, here I amback in my village, a long way alongthat other road. [Villagers board the busYolanda got off of] I will help the health centernurse and work toward the job myself. [Picks up luggage] And there will neverbe a day when I do not wonder if I couldhave changed anything if I had known two yearsago what I know today. [Music] [Yolanda walks down street] [Young girl sweeping] [Yolanda stops tocounsel the young girl] I was not much older thanthe little servant girl when I first decidedto become a nurse. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Clinic worker:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Clinic worker:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [They enter the clinic] [Clinic worker:][Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Yolanda voiceover:] She didnot quite accept me at first. Perhaps, because I still hadnot changed my city clothes and city ways. But she would helpme to come home to this small worldof the village. [Yolanda:] [Speaking Spanish] [Music] [Yolanda sets upher clinic office] [Yolanda voiceover:]This will be my life now. The names on thesecards will be my people. Perhaps another Consuelo willcome to me someday and give me a chance to help her beforeit is too late to tell her, don't try to grow up too soon. If you fall in love,be very sure you are ready to take care of ababy and make a home for it before you begin that baby. Don't try to livelife all at once. There will be years ahead. [Music] [Photograph ofConsuelo and Yolanda] [Fade to black] [Credits] [Tail leader]