Twin town trio take a trip to Nicaragua (From The Oxford Times)

Twin town trio take a trip to Nicaragua

7:10am Monday 21st January 2013 in News By Freddie Whittaker, covering Politics and Kidlington. Call me on 01865 425498

A DELEGATION from Oxford is heading to Nicaragua next month to one of the city’s twin cities.

Three representatives are travelling to Leon, the Ltin American country’s second largest city, next month to learn more about the charitable work of the Oxford Leon Association and Trust.

Trust chairman Jan Marshall said it would her first visit, and she was looking forward to learning more about the projects helped by the organisation.

She said: “This will be my first time, so obviously I’m very excited. I got involved in the trust because I took part in a sponsored swim for them, and also I worked in Spain for a while, so I’m interested in the Hispanic world.

“We aim to visit projects we have funded in the past to see how they’re going. We also want to re-establish contact with local organisations out there.”

She said she also hoped to be able to watch a La Misa Campesina, a religious mass which is also performed once a year in Oxford.

Oxford has been twinned with the South American city since 1984. A historic university city, Leon is 50 miles from the capital, Managua.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America and most of the work of the trust focuses on raising funds for development projects in and around Leon.

The group works with organisations to fund small-scale projects, which in recent years have included a clean water installation, support for victims of domestic violence, a play area and toys for nurseries and a travelling library.

The delegation wants to re-establish links in Leon with the city council, local organisations and the universities and look for schemes which could be funded in the future. Vice-chairman and senior city councillor John Tanner will be leading the delegation, The members arepaying for the trip themselves.

He said: “We want to strengthen our links with local people so I’m brushing up on my Spanish.”

The third member of the party is Pete Fryer, Unison trade union branch secretary for Oxfordshire.

• To raise funds for the projects in Leon, a dinner will be held at Gino’s Spaghetti House in Gloucester Green tomorrow. Tickets cost £20.
• Anyone interested in joining the group should e-mail john. tanner@tanox.demon.co.uk

 

Leon facts

• Population: 5,727,707 (30.8 per cent aged 0 to 14, 64.6 per cent 15 to 64, 4.6 per cent 65+)
   
• Life expectancy at birth: 72.18 years
   
• Bordering countries: Costa Rica, Honduras
   
• Bordering seas: Caribbean, Pacific
   
• Languages: Spanish 97.5 per cent, Miskito 1.7 per cent, other 0.8 per cent
   
• Area: 130,370 sq km
   
• People living with HIV/Aids: 6,900
   
• Literacy rate of adult population (15+): 67.5 per cent
   
• Population below poverty line: 46.2 per cent
   
• Source: Central Intelligence Agency