Dozens and perhaps hundreds of people taking part in the “Quisqueya Learns with you” literacy program currently under way in many areas of the country can now stop signing documents with an “X” and no longer have to hide when it is time to read or write something. In the far southwest of the country, in places like Elias Pina, San Juan de la Maguana, and Bani and Azua, most of the students are over 40 and some are as old as 83, and they are the ones who arrive early and are the most attentive and enthusiastic. There are 13,822 illiterate people in Elias Pina, where 99 literacy centers are planned. There are already 26 active centers in Comendador, serving 1,300 students. Similar numbers in proportion to the provincial populations occur in San Juan and Azua and Bani. Reporters from Listin Diario traveled to the area and visited several of these sites. In Comendador, one of the facilitators said that none of her students could identify the vowels and now they can read them and sign their names. One of them is Jesus Encarnacion, who sweeps the floors at the mayor’s office in Comendador. He showed off his newfound talent to the reporters, writing and pronouncing Ma, Me, Mi, Mo, Mu. He said: “The teacher opened my mind.” The stories are simple, but profoundly moving: an 18-year old single mother who wants to become a nurse, a 48-year old man who could sign with only his initials, and a deaf-mute who is 59.