B.C./Nicaragua

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Island twins bringing gift of water

By DAN KEETON

When Mayne Island resident Ron Pither
heads down to Nicaragua’s Ometepe Island
next month, he'll be bearing the precious
gift of fresh water.

Thanks to the effort of three Gulf
Islands, Ometepe’s 28,000 residents can
look forward to an uncontaminated drink
Straight from the pump, and bid good-bye
to Lake Nicaragua’s polluted waters.

The gift of money and materials from
Gulf Islanders is a result of a twinning pro-
ject that began last year with a visit to the
islands by Nicaragua’s ambassador to Can-
ada last January.

Omtepe Island, 267 square kilometres in
size, lies in Nicaragua’s huge inland lake
and is a safe haven from the ravages’ of a
U.S. backed counter-revolutionary war
against the Central American nation’s citi-
zens.

The down side of living on Ometepe is
that it is losing the means of keeping its
residents supplied with fresh water. Pumps
which had been drawing water from deep
bore wells have broken down. Residents
have been forced to drink Lake Nicaragua’s
polluted water, which has caused gastro-
enteristis and increased the infant mortality
rate.

Pither was instrumental in starting the
twinning project between the southern Gulf
Islands — chiefly Mayne, Galiano and
Saltspring—and Ometepe, following a visit
he made to Nicaragua last year on a filming
expedition.

“We're the firstcommunity in Canada to
twin with a Nicaraguan community,”
Pither said.

Following Ambassador Sergio Lacayo’s
visit last January, the Ometepe Island-
Southern Gulf Islands Friendship Society
has been founded, and residents have raised
$12,500 for pumps, piping and a boat
engine to service their sister island.

That money has been matched by Save
the Children Fund B.C., and Pither is hop-
ing to acquire a matching grant from
CIDA, a federal government agency. The
aim is to replace one of the three pumps that
service Ometepe’s two major centres, and
extend water services to three other com-
munities,

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Holiday Greetings and Solidarity

Farmworkers Union

Pither said $75,000 is needed to complete
the project, carried out through Nicaragua’s
National Water Authority and CARE
International. Much of the materials,
including plastic piping, will be purchased
from neighbouring Costa Rica.

Pither, a Mayne Island farmer, distrib-
uted medical supplies donated by south
Gulf Islanders during his 1987 visit.

While there Pither discovered that Ome-
tepe was twinned with Bainbridge Island,
part of the San Juan Islands in Washington
state. (The Gulf Islands society now works
with Bainbridge in sending aid to their
southern partner.)

Upon returning, he arranged for the visit
in January 1988 of Lacayo. NDP MP Jim
Manly (Cowichan-Malahat-The Islands)
was among those who hosted the ambassa-
dor at a reception on Saltspring Island.

Following the visit and the presentation
of several “items of goodwill” to Lacayo,
the non-governmental twinning project was
established, said Pither.

Several fundraising efforts contributed to
raising the $12,500, including a recent
“Beggars Banquet” with sold-out attend-
ance. Among the participants was local

in 1989.

Continue the fight
against free trade

Canadian

TT

14 e Pacific Tnbune, December 19, 1988

Sarwan Boal (President), executive, and staff
#1, 4725 Kingsway, Burnaby, B.C. V5H 2C3

United Fishermen and
Allied Workers’ Union
LOCAL 4, LADNER

SS Tt

HUQUOEEREUUUEEUOEREOUEOEOOUUUROOOUEOOOUUEOAUUAAOUOOEOUDUEUODUGEOUEROOOUOUOUEOOOOEEOOOUEOOOUOOOUUEOQOUEOOAUOOOOOTEOUOLOOGOUTEOOOUUOUOOUOOOOUEERE:

Season's Sreetinns

to our friends
in the labour and progressive movements

The Concepcion volcano on Nicaragua’s Omtepe Island, twinned with Saltspring, Galiano and Mayne Islands in B.C.

Socred MLA Terry Huberts.

“The community spirit was high. People
were really up. They could sense that the aid
was going to an island with similar prob-
lems” such as’ water shortages, Pither
related.

While water pumps help solve Ometepe’s
problems, there is still the question of a
shortage of diesel fuel to run the machines,
thanks to the U.S. embargo. Under investi-

gation is the possibility of a “gravity feed”
system from the lakes on the sides of the
island’s two volcanoes, Concepcion and
Maderas.

Additional friendship projects envisioned
include an art exchange between Gulf
Island and Ometepe students, supplying 4
boat engine and a hospital generator. The
list of potential projects “is almost limit
less,” Pither said.

Best wishes for
the holiday season
to all our friends

Vancouver Shoreworkers
Local 2

United Fishermen &
Allied Workers Union |

__ ae

agent

| Season's

from

Marine Workers

and Boilermakers

Industrial Union,
Local #7

Ne

Season’s Greetings and |
Best Wishes for the New Year to all
our friends in the labour movement.

INTERNATIONAL

LONGSHOREMENS
& WAREHOUSEMEN'S
UNION (3 ese3'3 0"

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