All Things Hidden: A Witness to Paradise Lost

In February 1977 at age 21, Lesley Miles arrived in Guatemala. She came to teach biodynamic organic gardening in a tiny village of Maya people. Without roads or electricity and over 175 inches of rain a year, the jungle was a formidable foe. But it wasn't the only one.

In the 100 square miles where the Proyecto Ixcán cooperative inhabitants lived, they were cut off from outside contact due to a Guatemalan military build-up. Over the next two years as Lesley helped create an agricultural cent...