But for the communities that live there, life is anything but rich. Eking out a bare existence from tiny plots of corn and beans, the people must make do without many of the basics that others would take for granted: electricity, potable water, basic health services and schools.

As recently as 1997, very few of the 350 children in the village of Pahuacal, the largest community in this Tzutuhil-speaking region, attended more than three years of primary school. The students attended class in dirt-floor shacks that could accommodate only a handful of children at a time.

Pedro Pacay Quivoc dreamed of giving each of his seven children an education. In particular, he was determined that his daughters would get the same schooling as his sons, although rural families here and throughout Latin America typically give preference to their sons when they must decide who is to remain in school.

But with the nearest school three Km. away, Pacay had to face a major obstacle to realizing his ambitions for his children. He and his neighbors would have to find a way to get a school built in their community, a major challenge given their isolation, poverty and lack of fluency in Spanish.

Pacay set off to Guatemala City to knock on doors in government offices and nongovernmental agencies. But the doors remained closed. Between the frustrations of dealing with the bureaucracies and the expenses of traveling, Pacay and his neighbors began to lose hope.

Meanwhile, Pacay continued to tend his plots of corn and beans, occasionally traveling to Lake Atitlán to supplement his income by working in the large houses built there by people from the capital. On one occasion, the IDB's representative in Guatemala, Waleska Pastor, was visiting some friends in one of these houses, and there she met Pacay. She advised him to take one more trip to the capital, this time to visit the IDB-financed Social Investment Fund that is managed by the government. The purpose of the fund, she told him, is to finance community projects that are carried out with the help of the local people.

Things moved quickly. The community provided masons to build the schoolhouse, the Ministry of Education hired teachers, and the Communications Ministry built an access road.

Last year, Pastor was one of the guests at the inauguration of Pahuacal's new school, which was already equipped with desks, blackboards, lights and recreation areas.

Encouraged by their success, Pacay and his neighbors have set a new goal for themselves: a health center that will bring basic services to their community.