Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Jane Chambers with assignment.

Today I'm taking you to the Central American country of Guatemala to ask if life's getting better

for the country's indigenous communities after huge political upheaval.

We've had to leave the truck a little way away and walk here because the roads are just too

difficult to get past with cars, so you have to walk to get here.

The truth is that the government always look after the rich.

Poor people like us who live in the countryside don't get much help.

Look at the tracks around here.

They are terrible and nothing gets done to fix them.

Project gets started, but they never finish them.

And so we continue to be poor.

And no one does anything to make things better for us.

I don't know if the president governing from the palace will help us.

That's Maria Lopez.

She's from an indigenous community called the Chottes

and lives in a tiny village called La Jolla,

five hours drive from the capital,

in the northeast of Guatemala. Before walking the last part to meet her, I travelled along bumpy, windy dirt track roads, high up into misty hills. People here live hand to mouth, from the corn, coffee and

beans they grow in the fields surrounding us.

Maria says she wants more support with health, as well as fixing the roads.

We need more health centers.

They're too far away from mothers who are looking after their children

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