Nicaragua through a Christchurch woman’s eyes

Press, 24 April 1986, Page 13

Nicaragua through a Christchurch woman’s eyes

by

MAVIS AIREY

Annette Whitefield had no intention of going to Nicaragua when she left New Zealand two years ago. She had in mind the usual sort of world tour. But travelling down through the United States to Mexico she kept running into “brigadistas,” members of international work brigades travelling to and from Nicaragua to take part in the cotton and coffee harvests, and reconstruction projects. Her interest grew as she travelled further south and her Spanish improved. Two months in Guatemala decided for her. “I got increasingly questioning, especially about the oppression of the Indians and a minority holding power and using the military and the police to enforce that power,” she says. “People talked about an alternative system in Nicaragua which seemed to be working. I wanted to find out more for myself what was going on.” She noticed the difference as soon as she crossed the border. “In Guatemala and El Salvador we seemed to be constantly stopped by military patrols and it was everybody out of the bus at gunpoint to line up and have their papers checked.

“In Nicaragua I felt I was being welcomed with open arms. Even though it is a country at war, you got the feeling the Government trusted the people and the people weren’t afraid of the military." She instances the acceptability of hitch-hiking, both for herself and for local people; something no-one would dream of doing in the neighbouring countries. “All forms of transport were very scarce in Nicaragua. Military convoys were the most common transport on the roads, and people would regularly hitch lifts with them, carrying sacks of grain to and from market.” Not that everything went smoothly for her. An occupational therapist, she approached the Ministry of Health in Managua and was discouraged from working. With hindsight, she appreciates she went about it the wrong way. “I went in as an individual, without the backing of any organisation, and my Spanish was not good. I didn’t pursue it.” By word of mouth through the

Europeans and Americans she met she heard of a project needing voluntary workers at a school in the country north of Managua. The project — building a dining room for a technical college — had been started by a group of Americans who had come for a fixed period expecting to complete it. For various reasons they had not been able to. "It seemed quite common with aid projects in Nicaragua — as it probably is in other developing countries. It’s not always the aid agency’s fauit, it’s often the Government, and a lack of coordination," Annette says. Luckily, the group had left behind their concrete mixer and power tools, and the new volunteers found a reasonable supply of local materials. During the time she was in Nicaragua she noticed a change in the aid groups’ attitudes. “Instead of a group just coming in, doing a job, and leaving, they were trying to involve more Nicaraguans in the projects, so that they would feel part of

them, and use them.” At the school, Annette found herself in an ad-hoc group of individuals, among them, for-, tunately, one or two who had the necessary carpentry and electrical skills to make sure the job was done properly. She found herself labouring — "a good learning experience.” Her time at the school coincided with the trade embargo, and she was interested by the Nicaraguans’ reactions. “It appeared to be the preliminary to an invasion. The people at the school had a real fear of American invasion.” She finds it hard to understand .the reasoning behind the embargo. “It has limited Nicaragua’s choices and its contact with the outside world rather than influencing it in a capitalist way. You could say it forces Nicaragua to turn to socialist trading partners.” At the same time, she was impressed by the Nicaraguans’ ability to distinguish between American policy and American people. “They welcomed foreigners, and encouraged them to get involved and to talk. I-was overwhelmed by it.” After finishing at the school

she moved to the city of Esteli, where she had heard there was a good Spanish teacher. There she lived with a Nicaraguan family and worked on a horticultural co-operative run by local people. The Government has been giving a lot of encouragement to the setting up of these small cooperatives, issuing land in return for a percentage of crops for the Government food programme, and supplying advisers. “The lack of practical skills is quite an issue. Especially the males who were involved in the revolution haven’t had the opportunity to get that sort of training. On my co-operative, one person had some training in agricultural technology, another some practical experience in farming, but the other five none at all.” She was interested by the cooperatives as alternative methods of organisation. “There is such a diversity in Nicaragua, some working, some not. I was able to take from that and make parallels with my own country.” Esteli is strategically important, situated on the main road north from Managua, with an air base and military barracks, one of the last places to be liberated during the revolution. There was

a major attack on the city while she was living there. She was amazed at how quickly the people organised themselves. "We were in a restaurant when the alert went out. The place was cleared in five minutes and everyone knew what they were doing. When a call

went out for volunteers all the men on the co-operative downed tools and offered their services.” What about the women? “I’m sure the women were involved as well, but I didn’t see any,” Annette admits. “There are significant numbers of women in the army, in combat too,” she insists. While in Esteli she was also able to further her interest in women’s issues. Her Spanish tutor was a member of the women’s movement, A.M.E.A.E. “I was especially interested after seeing the oppression of women and the distinction of roles and rights in other countries in Central America. It’s so much more obvious than in New Zealand. “In Nicaragua, the legislation is possibly even more radical than ours. I’m not saying that women’s rights have been solved. The ‘machismo’ is still rampant; attitudes will obviously take a long time to change. But there is improved awareness of women’s issues, partly because of the women involved in the revolution. “Legislation ensures that men take responsibility for children born in or out of wedlock, and the abortion issue is now being considered — that’s amazing

when you consider that Nicaragua is still basically a Catholic country.” She found her time in Nicaragua a period of great personal growth. “It’s such as amazing example of what a developing country can do. It’s developed its own form of democracy — I think it’s exaggerating to call it socialism looking at the amount of private enterprise there is.” But after a year in Latin America, she felt a strong need to come back to New Zealand and work in her own culture again. The trip has politicised her. “Everything is political: you can’t separate life and political consciousness.” She has now enrolled at the University of Canterbury to study political science. Since returning, she has also become a firm supporter of the “Nicaragua Must Survive” campaign, which has launched a public appeal to fund a container load of supplies such as school equipment, drugs, and tools. The campaign is being launched in Christchurch today with a Nicaraguan coffee tasting in Cathedral Square. In the evening there will be a “pena,” a Nicaraguan dance, at the W.E.A.