I found the National Human Development Report (NHDR) for 2007/2008 to be both consistent with what we have learned in class as well as inclusive of many aspects of development I was not aware of. It was comforting to see that every sector of development this report accounts for showed improvement in about the last thirty years. At the same time however, I could not ignore the fact that land issues continued to prevail as failing attempts to develop, as well as overall failures as a country to reach the improvement level desired and essential for human development. I thought the connection between human development and economic development was especially intriguing with regard to the “bi-directional” link. Although it may seem obvious, “the more freedom and human development people have, the more productive they become” which thereby stimulates economic development. I appreciated that the report included arguments such as this seeing as I find it to be absolutely true, but more importantly understated by economists especially. In this sense it seems as though the authors of this report would agree with Sen.

Of the areas focused on in this report I found education and health to be most important (this is obviously just my opinion). Although life expectancy has increased and educational funding has as well, both still need significant improvement. With an emerging working-age population that maintains a rate of 12.2% illiteracy and a population that still suffers from preventable diseases on a regular basis it seems almost inconsequential that improvements have been made. These two areas are also directly related to the economy since unhealthy, uneducated people are not going to be able to contribute nearly as much to the labor force as those who were the opposite. It seems as though it sometimes takes the most basic of improvements to build the foundation for monumental change.

Another interesting point was that the minimum wage in 2006 only covered 64% of the cost of the Vital Basic Basket (VBB) and furthermore, that half of the EP does not earn the minimum wage. Aside from this statistic being extremely disheartening and somewhat barbaric, I found it even more surprising that with rates like this such a small percentage of people participated in unions. However, on second thought it seemed rather characteristic (at least of the indigenous people) to oppose organized and communal resistance like a union would support.

Because of the current economic system Guatemalans are faced with, the migration pattern does not surprise me. However, I was a little caught off guard to learn that the father usually traveled alone to the United States (or wherever else) in seek of better economic opportunities. Although financially it makes sense, the Guatemalan commitment to family and loyalty to their country made me realize the horrible situation many Guatemalans must be faced with in order to take such extreme measures.

Finally, the section on media was both new and intriguing to me for many reasons. The report stated television as the primary way current news reaches Guatemalan citizens yet it also said that private interests still restrict freedom of expression. I would like to know more about this topic, especially with regard to how the news is portrayed, seeing as if the citizens are being misguided by biased information (which I assume to be true) the development of the nation is probably being suspended and prolonged.