Land and Development

Chapter 7 of Tecpán Guatemala discussed the importance of land to the Maya people, a theme that has been reiterated in many of our readings. It seems to me that the nontraditional crop boom in the 1970’s would mark a change in Maya perspective of land and its value. To change to nontraditional crops, which were immediately exported, demonstrated an economically motivated change. The Maya were only receiving money for their produce now instead of growing produce that they could sell and eat. With the advent of nontraditional crops, Maya land no longer directly provided nourishment. Whether the Maya realized this or not, I think it signifies an important change in their viewpoint of their land. The produce of their land is feeding people in the US instead of the people in their community. The introduction of nontraditional crops has benefited and improved life in many ways, but it has also furthered change in how land is viewed.

The reading about Xinxuc reminded me of our discussion last week. I think it reflects well the question that we asked: Where does one start in developing a community?

In Xinxuc there are severe health problems, a lack of primary education, and economic hardships. All of these issues are interconnected. For example, it is difficult for children to attend school because their parents can’t afford the materials and also can’t spare the labor time that the children perform. In Xinxuc there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer of where to start. But I think it should begin with trying to better the health of the community. Alcohol-related disease is very prevalent in Xinxuc. This signifies to me that the community not only has health problems, but also depressed about their situation. Alcohol-related illnesses are different from problems like malnutrition because they can easily be avoided. Maybe by improving people’s health they will be less likely to abuse alcohol because they feel better about their situation and prospects.

The prolific amount of churches in Xinxuc and the idea of fate seemed like a coping strategy that was developed to make facing dire conditions a little more bearable. Maybe if the health of the community began to improve they would be more open to building schools instead of churches. When one has such a hard and impoverished life it must be impossible to look beyond the day-to-day survival. Investing in schools and education only comes with the ability to look ahead into the future. Giving the people back their health would allow them to have this foresight. I think only then would they realize that with education comes increasing economic benefits and the opportunity to escape the vicious cycle of oppression.