myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Latitudinarian Lobster) (11/04/85)
Helping Nicaragua - What You Can Do Eighth of an eight part series. The best single way that you can begin to help Nicaragua is to better inform yourself. The best way to do this is to travel there for yourself as I did - unfortunately, this will probably entail shel- ling out about $1000 for a two-week trip. It's best for several rea- sons to try to go through the auspices of a solidarity group or an organized tour - your passage through customs will be speeded, you'll have fellow explorers with which to share and compare experiences, and you'll have knowledgeable people around who will know what events are happening when, etc. If you are not able to visit the country, for whatever reason, there is a lot you can do in the US to learn about the country - talk to friends who have gone, attend lectures and meetings on Nicaragua, and read. A good place to start reading is the May/June 1985 issue of the NACLA Report on the Americas, titled ``Sandinista Foreign Policy'' (but which also covers history and the economy). It is available for $3.75 from the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), 151 West 19th St., New York, NY 10011. Two full-expense tours that you can take are advertised in The Nation and The Guardian. The first has tours from $590 to $825 - con- tact Tropical Tours, 141 East 44th St., Suite 409TN, New York, NY 10017, (800) 421-5040. The second has a $940 tour in January - for information, contact Guardian Tour, c/o Marazul Tours, 250 W. 57th St., Suite 1311, New York, NY 10107, (800) 223-5334. There are also two schools where you can go to study Spanish and the revolution, one in Esteli' and another in Managua. Both offer family living, community work, meetings with politicos, and four hours of classes daily. Call or write NICA, Box 1409, Cambridge, MA 02238, (617) 497-7142, or Casa Nicaraguense de Espan~ol, 70 Greenwich Ave., No. 559, New York, NY 10011, (212) 777-1197. Following is a list and descriptions of solidarity organizations which you can join and aid. I apologize for not being able to list everybody's favorite organization - there are many out there doing good work of which I am ignorant, or was not able to include. WCCN (Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua) is the major organization dealing with the Sister-State relationship between Wisconsin and Nicaragua. The chairman of the Advisory Board is Gover- nor Anthony Earl. WCCN publishes an excellent monthly newsletter - suggested membership donations are $20, $10 for students. WCCN, P.O. Box 1534, Madison, WI 53701. Medical Aid to Central America is the local group which is coor- dinating supply of medical equipment and supplies to Nicaragua and other countries. They recently were the sponsoring organization for a national conference of medical aid groups which took place here in Madison. Medical Aid to Central America, 731 State St., Madison, WI 53715. The National Network in Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People (NNSNP) is one of the strongest national organizations working on Nicaragua. They also publish the excellent ``Nicaragua Handbook - Tips for Travellers''. NNSNP, 2025 I (Eye) St., N.W., Washington, DC 20006. CALA (Community Action on Latin America) is another local peace group which focuses on educational efforts within the US to inform people about the continuing US interventions in Central America, including Nicaragua, and working to forge opposition to intervention- ist policies. CALA, 731 State St., Madison, WI 53715. Witness for Peace is a national organization of people interested in promoting peace in war-torn Central America, and in saving lives of non-combatants. They sponsor trips to Nicaragua where the primary emphasis is on self-education; some protection of Nicaraguan civilians through the presence of US citizens is a side benefit of Witness for Peace visits to war zones. Witness for Peace, 212 North Dickinson, Madison, WI 53703. The Pledge of Resistance is a nationwide effort to organize oppo- sition to the Reagan administration's destructive policies toward Cen- tral America, particularly Nicaragua. The Pledge is a network for communication and action oriented toward peace in Central America, using a phone hotline for information exchange. The Pledge of Resis- tance, 1504 Madison St., Madison, WI 53711. The Nicaragua Computer Brigade is a local organization working to provide The Voice of Nicaragua radio station with a computer and a connection to an international, news-oriented computer network. The target delivery date is Christmas, 1985, and the total estimated cost will be $5,000. Nicaragua Computer Brigade, 1053 Williamson St., Madison, WI 53703, 255-0850. Last but not least is the organization which sponsored my trip to Nicaragua, tecNICA, the Technical Support Project to Nicaragua. Since December of 1983, 145 volunteers like me have gone to Nicaragua, volunteers with a wide variety of technical skills. While much of tecNICA's work focuses on computer technology, there is actually alot of other technical aid that is more important. For instance, tecNICA has sponsored seismologists, civil engineers, and maintenance people. While some volunteers are placed directly in teaching situations at a university, the more typical situation involves a combination of work and teaching in an active government ministry, institute, or corpora- tion. While I don't at all want to denigrate the fine tours and organizations mentioned above, I think that working with tecNICA is one of the best ways to learn about Nicaragua, as you are actually working, and working in Managua, very much the center of activity in the nation. For more information, please contact tecNICA, 110 Brook- side Dr., Berkeley, CA 94705, (415) 654-7768.