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Women talking to women on Oxfam tour "take 15 Canadian women. two trucks driving on unpaved roads in the sparsely populated mountain ranges of Nicaragua and you have the beginnings of an experience. _ In March 1989, 15 women of various trees and backgrounds made the first all» women's Canadian Agricultural Study [our sponsored by Oxfam Canada. The object of‘the tour was to meet with the n omen of Nicaragua to exchange views and to learn first hand how they were dealing with the problems of a country dtvastated by war and economic de- pression. But first a little background. Geography 0f the five Central America countries, E' Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, ('tiutemala and Nicaragua, the latter is [!::: largest. It is 139,000 square miles, I! :1 it is the least densely populated at tryiroximately 3,500,000. A high moun- t. u range extends from north to south o- iding the country. The only route u ‘055 the mountains is a combination l‘ road and boat. or by flying. Spanish l the language of the country although \ ile English is spoken along the l' ~tern coastal region. the capital city is Managua. It is ~ ‘12!in in the west where about 80 per i [II of the population live. The main i ‘y in the east is Bluefields which was . tiost entirely obliterated in the most I' sent hurricane, along with the fishing l :et and dozens of bridges and roads, l ‘ilitiCS Since the 1930’s with the exception of : zhorttime in the ‘60s, the country had Men ruled by a member of the Somoza l Inily. In 1979, Anastasia Garcia was wenhrown because of dissatisfaction r ill] the Somoza regime â€"â€" poor handling w finances and actions of the elite National Guard. Political unrest fol- lowed. After 18 months of civil war, the 'mmoza dictatorship crumbled. The trend: Sandinista de Liberacion Naâ€" tional (FSLN), with the support of the People won the struggle, forcing the 11-31. Government backed Somoza into exi e. in 1981, former members of the National Guard, (known as Contras) "Peraring from camps in Honduras and the mountains of Nicaragua began a Margaret Munro counter revolution against the Sandinista government. The Contras are supported by funds from the us. Government. and have been joined by mercenaries and sympathizers. The war escalated and regular raids were carried out. Whole villages were either occupied or destroyed by the Contras. Particularly vulnerable were remote farms on the Honduras border, Main targets were schools, Consequently many young people died and young men and boys were kidnapped. ( These were the peasants who farmed the land â€" the backbone of the export economy of the country.) Women as well as children had to take up arms in defense of farms and corru'nunities. Many were left maimed with little medical aid available. The country is economically in a very weak position. Sixty per cent of the budget is being used for defense. The inflation rate is one of the highest in the world. The future does not look very bright as many are leaving, but the people left have hope and are willing io work and sacrifice for a better tomorrow. When our group arrival in the t'nunlr, the war had been (Utilng down Vlcirn- tar), assistance [it the C untras lrlvri'i the US. had been reduced strict- disagree ment in the \Uppttt‘l was intros-sing. However. the (‘unirns were still her assing the Farmers by disrupting or sabotaging their eqmpuieni. haunting and planting. Without production there is no money which in turn LlCl‘liItrdll/c‘the people. We arrived the do} before Women's Day and had the priwlege ol attending the celebrations. The patâ€"tin”) rooted building held about 700 “(men til-in had travelled many hours [ll be them iTrui elling in rural areas is by foot or hUrsc. urriiinucu' rm page M A typical Slf‘t‘t’f iii Nit'tirtigiiti. The iriade of transportation for the umm'n on [he Imir um rim pickelt‘fl H'm'lx. H & C October. November 1939 7