Guatemala: Is life getting any better?

The normal response for a foreigner wanting to get involved with Guatemala's many development challenges is to pick up a hammer and build something.   People who know me, know that I cannot be trusted to do anything remotely handy.  So I have had to settle for building spreadsheets instead - no judgements please!

Backing up, where the heck is Guatemala?

Things have been a bit quiet with Michele away, luxuriating in decadent Victoria.  I have had enough time on my hands to trawl through the databases of the World Bank, the IMF and the CIA World Factbook, with a view to answering some questions that I had.  For instance, as a glass half full kind of person, I was curious to know if life was actually getting any better in this country.

Conditions remain difficult in many ways:

Guatemala is still one of the most unequal countries on the planet

Family planning is slow to make headway in a traditional, impoverished country, like Guatemala.  The country's population has risen four fold in the last fifty years:

Thirty per cent of the population have to try and get by on US$2 a day:

The homicide rate is terrifying if you work as a journalist or bus driver, or if you live in Guatemala City.

 

However some things are actually improving:

Military spending has come down:

Inflation is down

Incomes are rising slowly - albeit from a very low level

Increased rates of literacy are testimony to improvements in the education system:

Similarly the dramatic decline in the rate of infant mortality speaks to a healthier population and better health care provision

Finally, fewer children are actually going hungry