For Teresa and Inocente Barrera, the American dream is close to a reality. They moved to Colonia El Jay in 1985 and raised a family while riding out the colonia’s roughest times. "Originally, there was no water, no phones, no street," says Teresa. "Just dirt. When it rained, the cars would get stuck. There was one water faucet for the whole colonia. So I and other housewives from El Jay would go together to the county commissioners. 'If you pave the roads, then the school buses will come,” we said. They said, 'You'll have to wait.' We kept having the meetings and seeing the commissioners. We would call, write letters. We got potable water in 1987, and in 1994 they finally fixed the streets." The Barreras have been married for 46 years, and they have eight children. Two of them are teachers and one owns a construction business. Their four sons, Silvestre, Ramiro, Fidencio, and Antonio, have their own houses (shown below) within sight of their mother and father's. Antonio, a tractor salesman, followed his parents' example. "It took me five years to build the house," he says. "A lot of people, when they get the tax refund, they buy cars or take vacations. We put it into the house and looked for sales on materials. When we first came here with Dad, it was still hard living here. This life teaches you discipline. It wasn't a difficult life, because we appreciate what we have. It helps to have people who don't ask for things but work for what they have. A family makes a big difference. You have to think about your family."