Trip benefits from different views
Nicaragua affects
women in many ways
By Debbie Howlett
Of (he Emerald
Emerald editor Debbie Howlett recently returned from
an 11-day trip to Nicaragua. This is the second in a five part
series.
A group of women sat
near the Eastern Airlines'
ticket counter in the
Portland International Air
port. The crackle of excite
ment, set against a
backdrop of aprehension,
trailed the group.
Relaying conflicting
reports of a bombing at the
Managua, Nicaragua airport
only half-a-day earlier, the
women contemplated the
days events.
"I heard it was from the north.”
"The wires said it was from Costa Rica."
"My husband heard the same thing."
Secure in the carpeted confines of the Portland Air
port terminal, a few of the women debated whether the
trip was safe, and whether they felt comfortable going.
But when Flight 453 left the airport runway, on its way to
Miami with a connecting flight to Managua, all but one of
the women were aboard.
State Sen. Margie Hendriksen, D-Eugene, changed
plans at the last minute. Hendriksen, who because of an
impending special legislative session was scheduled for a
four day version of the trip, decided to insure her atten
dance at the special session.
"I don't think there's any assurance I can get back for
the session," Hendriksen said. "I'm concerned about (the
attack), but I'd go anyway, if we didn't have the session."
As Hendriksen watched from a terminal window, the
747 'Whisperliner' carried 15 women skyward, leaving a
vapor trail of apprehension and excitement.
EVERY MAKE, EVERY MODEL
The 15 women (and two men) who made the trip com
bined to fill nearly every possible cadre of occupation and
lifestyle. From a conservative realtor to a radical student,
university professors to a corporate vice-president,
farmers and nurses. These women's occupations defied
any common link.
The women were brought together through the
Eugene Council on Human Rights in Latin America as
Photo by DtUm Howlett
Gail Gill ponders the Nicaraguan flag — a flag that may represent a nation "becoming more and more like
the middle east."
days in a country embroiled in war.
Each women hoped to gain first-hand knowledge and
insight of Central America, and to learn as much as possi
ble about the situation in Nicaragua. Some women started
the trip with set ideas. Others were reserving an opinion
until after the trip.
But whether the women knew Nicaragua or not, each
found a way to broaden their knowledge. The way of fin
ding information was not always the same for the
members of the group.
One of the biggest questions the women struggled
with was truth, and who, if anyone, spoke the truth.
m- *
'They looked you straight in the
eyes when they talked to you.
You really got the feeling there
was a new spirit in Nicaragua/
— Colette Craig
Again the diversity of the group
showed through in the answers
they found.
Some of the women took
the Sandinistas at their word.
Some of the women inter
preted the Sandinista's as pro
viding a constant stream of pro
Sandinista viewpoints as an at
tempt — through saturation —
to blot out anything that wasn't
flattering. And others tried to
balance the pro-Sandinista
comments with an equal
amount of opposing comments
from whatever source they
could find — visiting jour
nalists, taxi drivers, even well
to-do Nicaraguans.
guests of the Nicaraguan Department of the Exterior and
AMNLAE, a Nicaraguan women's organization. AMNLAE
extended an official invitation for a delegation of Oregon
women to visit Nicaragua after two of the group's ex
ecutive directors visited the Oregon Legislature in June.
The diversity of the group was intentional, said Pat
Wasp, the trip’s organizer and an assistant to the director
of ECHRLA.
The council wanted to involve women from every
background in order to form the most representative
group possible. Wasp said.
Despite each woman's individuality, one common
thread each woman shared was an interest in Nicaragua
that was strong enough to motivate them to spend 11
THE SANDINISTA LINE
For Colette Craig, a University linguistics professor, the
Sandinista philosophy isn't propaganda, it's the truth.
''They looked you straight in the eyes when they talked
to you," Craig said. "You really got the feeling there was a
new spirit in Nicaragua."
Calling the anti-Sandinista contras "murderers, idiots"
Craig, a French citizen, was taken aback by a seemingly
American inclination to accept the contras and refuse the
Sandinistas.
"Some days it just irritates me, other days it depresses
me."
"I went with the feeling the United States shouldn't
support the contras," said Joan Acker, head of the Univer
sity's new center for the study of women in society. "I was
Nicaraguan slide show presented
Members of the Oregon women's delegation that
visited Nicaragua this month will speak and show slides to
day and Thursday in Room 214 of the EMU from noon to
1:30 p.m.
The information sessions are being organized by
University professors Collette Craig, linguistics, and Joan
Acker, sociology and women's studies.
The sessions will begin with a quick historical overview of
Nicaragua, a portrait of the delegation and an itinerary of
the trip itself, Craig, says.
Then different women will speak to different topics
within their respective areas of expertise. Craig will discuss
the Sandimsta ideology as a melding of Christianity and
revolution. Acker will (on Thursday) discuss the participa
tion of women in Sandimsta society and government and
Pam Wooded, a nurse at McKenzie-Willamette Memorial
Hospital, will speak on health care
11
Other possible topics include Nicaraguan civil defense,
the Contras, the Nicaraguan economy, and North America's
stake in Central America.
Additional members of the delegation include Eugene
realtors Bonnie Baker and Jean Tate; Gail Gill, a legislative
aide to Rep. |im Weaver; Oregon Daily Emerald editor Deb
bie Howlett and Extension Service Representative Carol
Culler of Oregon State University.
The delegation represents "diverse sectors of society,"
Craig says, so that each member can plug into diverse infor
mation networks. For instance, Bonnie Baker will be speak
ing to business groups like the rotary club, and Woodell will
address a local nurse's association.
Also today. Acker talks at 12:30 p.m. on KLCC's "Blue
Plate Special," and Sharori Posner will interview Gill and
Tate on KEZI at 11:30 a.m.
very impressed (with the Sandinistas), their sincerity came
through very clearly. They're concerned that we should
understand them, but without being pushy or demanding.
"They have a dream and a hope for their own society,
not on the model of the U.S.," Acker said.
The "gentleness" of the Nicaraguan people was one
of the things that both Craig and Acker expressed suprise
at.
"The small details of how people interacted" were
subtle clues to the Nicaraguan's gentleness, Craig said.
THE UNITED STATES NON-LINE
Anthony Quantin, the U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua
looked strangely out of place in the crowded Managua
airport. In the muggy Nicaraguan heat, Quantin's dark
blue blazer and natty striped neck tie seemed to belong
in another world. Standing in line at the customs counter
with the group of women from Oregon, Quantin freely
offered his opinions about Nicaragua and U.S. policies.
It was a very unlikely place to hear the U.S. "line."
When asked for a short interview "on the record,"
Quantin declined saying that there were already too many
spokespersons for Central American policy.
If the constant stream of Sandinista propaganda had
cast doubt about the objectivity of the tour, the chance
for U.S. response, and the hesitancy of Quantin, may only
have served to make the Sandinista "line" more credible.
"I have a hard time believing there are saints in any
government. It was fortunate to have a chance to talk
with (Quantin) because it's a different perspective," said
Gail Gill, who heads U.S. Rep. Jim Weaver's Eugene of
fice. "He impressed me in a negative way. Pointed ques
tions made him visibly uncomfortable."
Gill, whose special intrest lies in international politics,
was unconvinced that Quantin was more than a "yes"
man for the Reagan Administration.
"It became apparent to me that he has no real power
in determining policy," Gill said. "I would think the am
bassador would have the ability to set the tone.
"You have to feel for the man," she added. "If I had
to explain decisions I didn't agree with and thought were
silly, I probably wouldn't do a good job either."
SPREADING THE WORD
The biggest question left for most of the women was
one of "What do I do now?"
For a lot of the women it is all they can do to keep up
with the requests from ail over for slide shows, lectures,
and media interviews. But some of the women were
motivated beyond that.
"I'm pretty confident at some level we had some gut
reactions," said Craig, who plans to lecture, make small
group presentations and interact with people on a "one
to one basis."
"I sometimes have been marginally active in the
Democratic Party," Acker said, "I intend to become more
involved, especially in this election year."
ASUO Pres. Mary Hotchkiss also was one of the ones
motivated to get more than superficially involved.
"One to one interactions will never stop," Hotchkiss
said. "It's one thing to speak theoretically, it's another to
say I saw this and this and this, and this is what we can
do."
But perhaps Acker said it best, for the women, and
for others.
"A lot of us need to get off our butts and do
something."