The lives of three female teachers in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, their love lives, their interaction with the poor surroundings, their family problems. Three teachers in this drama attempt to carry on the enterprise of educating their students amid gangs, a hostile and violent environment, and the rape of one poor girl who is afraid to name her attacker. Often the teachers themselves are in danger. Crowded suburban Sao Paolo offers the children living there too many challenges for them to make their schoolwork very important to them.