Our next study tour to Nicaragua will
be June 14-22, 2003.
WCCN study tours of Nicaragua enable North American participants
to learn firsthand about the history, politics, culture and social
issues in Nicaragua. The best way for people to experience Nicaragua
is through personal interaction with Nicaraguans themselves. We
structure our tours to allow dialogue with Nicaraguans from a variety
of social sectors. After a tour ends, WCCN encourages participants
to share their experiences with others through presentations, articles,
and interviews in their communities. Study tours have also inspired
a number of constructive and mutually beneficial relationships between
the people of Nicaragua and the United States, including WCCN's
two longest-running projects, the Nicaraguan
Credit Alternatives Fund (NICA Fund) and the Women's
Empowerment Project.
WCCN sponsors two study tours of Nicaragua each year:
- Our economic issues tour, in January or February, visits
NICA Fund projects and focuses on Nicaraguan economic issues.
- Women's issues and the US-Nicaragua Women's Empowerment
Project provide the focus for our second annual tour in May or
June.
The tour fee is based on a sliding scale, $900-$1200 (depending
on what you can contribute) plus airfare to/from Managua . The fee
includes food, lodging, in-country transportation, language interpretation
services, and charges for planned group activities in Nicaragua
as well as pre-trip materials. The fee does not include the $5 tourist
visa charge, the $32 exit taxes paid at the airport in Managua (both
of these charges must be paid in US dollars), or transportation
expenses to and from Managua. WCCN staff are happy to discuss fundraising
possibilities with people interested in going, and there are sometimes
partial scholarships available to participants.
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Past delegation participant Judith Rasmussen visits with
sisters Fatima and Paulina, who survived the 1999 mud slides
at Posoltega.
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Women's issues delegations focus on the
work of the Nicaraguan Women's Movement, including the Network
of Women Against Violence, of which some staff members are
pictured here.
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