‘ a a4 Castlegar News febrvory 26. 1906 PLAZA CLEANERS Now Offers You... i : | H FE ii i He B.C. CARPENTER TEACHES SKILLS located.at FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 i | | tf if Lt H [i ! 0 2 0 ” OFF ALL DRYCLEANING * Including Drapes Offer in Effect until Sat., Mar. | Sato PLAZA CLEANERS Castleaird Plaza 365-5145 Bentlax Fast Cash Refunds For people who want their money now! BenTax gives you your tax refund money now. At new. lower rates. And our experts often find ways to reduce your taxes. So you get bigger refunds, faster. (7\BenTax A Division of Beneficial Canada Inc. 1694 - 2nd Ave., Trail (Across from Sateway & Liquor Store) 368-3333 or your Beneficial Canada Office IN NICA A By SIMON BIRCH Staff Writer The attractive young woman doesn't look anything like the stereotypical image of a rough-hewn carpenter, least of all like one who spent eight months in a war-torn Latin American country teaching carpentry skills to the local peasants. But Vancouver's Chryse Gibson is one of two B.C. carpenters who travelled to Nicaragua in February 1985 to work as a volunteer in the Tools for Peace carpentry training school. The school is located in Esteli, 135 kilometres north of the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. Gibson returned to Nicaragua for a month recently to check on the progress of the school and she was in Castlegar last weekend to talk about her work at the invitation of the Castlegar Tools for Peace committee. “Everything is going fine,” she said in an interview with the Castlegar News. “The training is upping the standard of living for the peasants.” Gibson, a member of the Vancouver local of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, explained that the carpentry training school is the result of three years’ work between the B.C. provincial council of carpenters and the Sandinista Workers’ General, the Nicaraguan equivalent of the Canadian Labor Council. She, along with Leo Eutsler of Local 1251 (New Westminster) of the carpenters’ union, went to Nicaragua with $30,000 worth of tools donated by B.C. carpenters. Five boxes of tools were donated by Castlegar area carpenters, Gibson said. The school is located in one of two areas designated as “priority regions” by the Nicaraguan government because of the war, she said. LEARNING THE TRADE . . . Nicoraguans learn woodworking skills at the Tools for Peace carpen- try school in Esteli (above). Chryse Gibson (right) was one of two B.C. carpenters who volunteered their services to teach at the school “People in the far north have been constantly harassed because of the war. The people are moving further south so that they can be more secure. “These people are literally rebuilding communities.” However, until the B.C. carpenters arrived, the Nicaraguan villagers knew nothing about carpentry, she said. “They are peasants who had worked with machetes Your first class ticket Council through retirement No matter what your retirement plans, Mutual Life of Canada’s RRSP may have just the features you're looking for. It offers: . * Competitive interest rates * Awide choice of investment and savings Opportunities * No charges or fees on interest accounts * All income options available at retirement * Flexible tax deductible contributions Calli today to find out how you can retire in style. awards grant By CasNews Staff Castlegar council Tuesday awarded the Castlegar and District Community Services f ¢ Society a $3,000 grant, with JACK PARKIN $1,500 to be paid immediately 365-6664 and the balance on July 2. “They're needing the fund. ing,” explained Ald. Albert Calderbank, chairman of the administration and finance committee. : Cowan Office Supplies Ltd. Phone today and save on everyday office needs. CALL 365-6161 Cowan Office Supplies Ltd. Now Located In Castlegar 623 Columbia Ave. Come in and see us for all Your Office Needs ¢ Complete Line of Stationary ¢ School Supplies Smith Corona TYPEWRITERS $4 Q Starting at ses waen> 9 Word Processors Desks, File Cabinets & Chairs Canon & Texas Instruments Calculators Drafting Supplies ¢ Free Delivery — West Kootenay Call 365-6161 Cowan Office t\\y Supplies Ltd. 623 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. 365-6161 and axes — they'd never used a tape or a framing square,” she said. Gibson and Eutsler, along with a staff of twe Nicaraguans and two aides taught a three-month course in basic carpentry. They had 30 students in two courses. As a result of the training course, Gibson said, the Nicaraguans are producing doors for resettlement projects and beds for the general community. “They can produce a bed for 10,000 cordoba (about $13) as opposed to $30 in private shops.” In addition to manufacturing, the knowledge of carpentry learned at the school is spreading throughout the communities, she said. “Students return to their settlements and teach what they learned to others in the community.” Gibson, however, modestly downplays her and Eutsler’s accomplishments in Nicaragua, saying they are “only the tip of the iceberg.” “Leo and I reaped the benefits from other peoples’ hard work.” The tools donated through the Tools for Peace project have been a particular benefit to Nicaragua, she said, primarily because the price of tools manufactured in North America has skyrocketed as a result of the U.S.’s embargo on trade with Nicaragua. “A No. 4 Stanley plane that costs $24 here would cost down there approximately 50,000 cordoba ($71),” Gibson said. Since a typical Nicaraguan carpenter makes about 14,500 cordoba per month, it would take three months’ wages to buy one plane, she said. Because of the high cost and scarcity of tools, she said, the $30,000 worth of tools donated to Nicaragua had the effect of a $3 million donation. Gibson, originally from the U.S., said she got interested in the training school through an ad in the carpenters’ newspaper asking for two volunteers. Since she had worked only nine months during the previous two years, she said she decided to apply. Gibson will be returning to Nicaragua this spring as a CUSO cooperant. She will be working out of a specially fitted van and passing on her carpentry skills to villagers in many small centres throughout the country. Her work will continue to be supported in part by the B.C. Carpenters’ Union which has agreed to provide her with tools and some funding. “The B.C. Council of Carpenters has made a commitment to make it an on-going project,” Gibson said. agreement | “BUCK-PASSER ADS” By CasNews Staff The City of Castlegar and Areas I and J have signed a mutual aid agreement. The agreement covers the Robson, Pass Creek, Tarrys 3 and Castlegar volunteer fire departments. “We finally have got it all put together and everyone has agreed to co-operate,” said Ald. Carl Henne, chair- man of the protective ser. vices committee. The agreement calls for the formation of an eight. member mutual aid commit. tee appointed by the Castle. gar and District Fire Chiefs’ Association. Each fire department will be represented on the com- mittee by two members. Ct] x SPECIAL ON "MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE" ADS Offer expires of |! 0.m. on Friday. March 28, 1986 BRING OR MAIL US $1 AND WE'LL RUN YOUR 10-WORD AD FOR $1.00 for 1 TIME. $2.00 GETS YOU A 10-WORD AD FOR 3 INSERTIONS | Clean up your basement, yard, garage or attic and earn additional The agreement was estab- cash. Sell that extra lawnmower, wheelbarrow, those garden tools or perhaps lished to provide fire protec tion in the event of 4 major those odd-pieces of furniture and sports equipment, or that old car fire or more than one fire $1.00 = Ploce| $1.00 one $1.00 word | $1.00 in}$1.00 each | $1.00 that requires addi fire fighting equipment or man : $7.00 power than any single fire $1.00 $1.15 $1.30 department can provide. p RT) [ G ARTERCARD $1.90 a $2.20 $2.80 $3.10 3.70 ¥ $4.00 RENT-A-BOBCAT (With Operator) *KeedGrovel™ Clip agd mail to Action Ads “Box 3007, CASTLEGAR. B.C. vin ae oF deliver to Please check the clossification requested. Postal Code Cost for One insertion $ X number of insertions od is to run (aultiply by 2 tor 3x) TOTAL COST §. 197 Columbia Ave., Castlegar NON-COMMERCIAL ONLY. CASH WITH AD ONLY. NO TELEPHONE CALLS. Sprite Regular or Diet 1 litre Sesame White Bread Wide Loaf ¢ Skylark 675 g Sliced Loat Hawaiion . Pineapple Each 1 Hawaiian Meduim Size Papayas hil 2 ef skF Kleenex Facial Tissue Lucerne Ice Cream 2 Litre carton $948 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ADVERTISED SPECIALS THIS WEEK IN EFFECT UNTIL SUNDAY, 5 P.M. Laundry Detergent Tide or Oxydol Tide Regular or Unscented or Oxydol Detergent. 2.4 kg. box Crusty Rolls «13° Daffodils Bunches of 5 Party Pita White or Whole Wheet. 24's/pkg. 10a.m. to7 p.m. Potatoes Gem No. 2 Grade (6.8 kg.) 15 Ib. bag $7 69 Bear Claws or Butterhorns 2:99° Cheese Sticks ¢ SAFEWAY CANADA SAFEWAY LIMITE ©