pressure to behave well in the absence of their husbands creates exaggerated restrictions for non-

migrant women.

 In analyzing the impact of remittances on local development, the role of women is central.

Conway and Cohen (1998:30) made the assumption that women were the primary dispensers of

remittances. Even though this may not be the case in this study, their questions of whether

money is used in productive or reproductive activities were vital to this research. Women, in

their capacities use their allowances to maintain the household and pay for food, clothing, and

firewood. The ability to purchase goods decreases women's workload immensely. In some cases,

women hoard their allowance money in order to invest in income-generating activities such as

milpa agriculture and small land purchases. These fixed-capital investments may not result in

profit, but they do increase nutrition and standard of living.

 The type of investment that will lead to the most significant change in the community is in

children's education. As "flexible human capital" (Conway and Cohen 1998), children, when

educated, will eventually lead progressive improvements in the community. Among the Maya,

the migrant generation never completed high school and many may not have attended any school

past the sixth grade. On the other hand, their children are attending school in unprecedented

numbers. My research assistant, Tatiana Paz Lemus, wrote her thesis based on her own research

investigating the education level of the youth of San Pedro Pinula. Her results illustrate the high

presence of Maya attendees at the junior high school in Pinula (See Table 6-1).

 While 99 out of 200 students are from the town of San Pedro Pinula, the other 94 are from

villages outside of town (7 did not respond). This means that almost 50 percent of junior high

students come from the villages occupied by Maya inhabitants. Fifty-two percent of the students

she surveyed reported that they are indigenous. The higher number of adolescents reporting their