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She still seeks "I have been watching what‘s been happening in Central America for five years now and I felt helplessâ€"â€"not knowing what to do or how to do it. Our purpose is for selfâ€"determination, human rights and solidarity," said Saunders, explaining her reasons for participating in the effort. Her trip was sponsored by local community organizations including Project Ploughshares, Kâ€"W Status of Women, Global Community Centre as well as other women‘s and church groups. Because she did not wish to leave her son for the full six weeks of the march, Saunders remained with the group for only three weeks. "It was really dynamic to see the group. They came from all over the world; the oldest marcher was 72, the youngest 18. There were businessmen, doctors, students and as many women as men,""‘ said Saunders. Her recollections of the march are vivid, at times frightening, sometimes amusing.. 1e The march‘s first major protest occurred at the American Howard Military Base in Panama. Denied entrance to the facility, march organizers decided to demonstrate by having each participant ask the senior officer if they could be admitted. _ ‘"*There were about 10 women near the end of the lines. A security guard came down and said they‘re getting bored, could you hurry through your questions. We decided to approach as a group, and as we did they tensed. You could see they were intimidated by us. One British woman in the group said, ‘we‘ve got a message for you‘ and we began to sing in unisonâ€"You can forbid us almost anything, but you cannot forbid us to think. You cannot forbid our tears to fall and you cannot shut our mouths when we sing. The press just pounced on us. I‘m really proud because we were able to get our message out to so many people," recallgd Sat_mder:s« Early in their Panama stay, the marchers heard rumors that they would not be permitted to enter Costa Rica. According to Saunders, this came as a surprise to all involved because Costa Rica was believed to be the most democratic of the Central American nations. The rumors became reality when they reached the Costa Chronicle student reporter Wendy McCreary got her first taste of alpine skiing Saturday at Chicopee. Aithough Wendy didn‘t win any awards for her balancing act in the beginners ski race, she, as well as all the other members of the media members present for Press Day, had a great time learning. FREE STYLE Rican border and they were denied entry. "The Panamanians were concerned for our livesâ€"â€"we kept hearing that the Costa Rica Libra, a rightâ€"wing _ _ organization, was protesting our march; that hundreds of taxi drivers were demonstrating at the border," said Saunders. "We were forced to stay in the Panamanian customs house overnight. We had t§ water, little foodâ€"people were tired, they were dirty and they were very frightened." gip~ After negotiations and much confusion the marchers were granted 72â€"hour visas and bussed to San Jose, Costa Rica, where they were attacked by groups of protestors. "It was midnight when we arrived in San Jose. We could see protestors lining the road, and as we were approachinig the hostel where we were staying, we were told to keep our heads down, to stay on the bus until told to get off, and then to run into the building. The tear gas bombs and rocks were flying past us. The police did nothing to stop the rioting. When we got into the hostel the Costa Rican march organizers were literally protecting us with their bodies._ Despite the fact they were to stay in the country three days, the marchers were ordered to leave their hostel by noon the next day, at which time they were ;(g,:‘i’z loaded onto busses and moved to the Nicaraguan r. “‘_'lâ€"fv;\bthing else we blew the lid off the idea that there‘s a democracy in Costa Rica," said Saunders. "In a democracy we would have been allowed to !mrch." According to Saunders, the march‘s weeks in Nicaragua were as bright as the day in Costa Rica was dark. In towns and cities like Rivas, Granada, Messiah and Managua, she said, the march was greeted by cheering crowds. In marked constrast to their previous experiences, they were able to travel freely through the country, speaking to whomever they wished. ‘"In each town thousands of people greeted usâ€"â€"standing fiveâ€"six deep in the streets. They fed us, found us places to sleep. They treated us like heroes, like stars. I felt guilty in a sense because they couldn‘t Mark Bryson photo (Continued from page 1) Melodee Martinuk Chronicle Staff For science students, Toronto‘s Ontarâ€" io Science Centre School is as close to paradise as can be imagined. |____ _ Ask Geoffrey Vanderkooy of Craigleith Drive, Waterloo, who was one of 25 selected to participate in the science school‘s fall semester programs. For Vanderkooy the experience was an "exâ€" citing‘ challenge which provided the opportunity to learn about himself while feeding his scientific curiosity. "It‘s an entirely different atmoâ€" sphere," said Vanderkooy. ‘"Students are encouraged to explore things they are interested in, to take on larger projects that may last the entire term, to work both independently and as part of a large group, and to do your best because you enjoy it, not strictly for marks. The Science School, which accepts 25 students from across Ontario for each semester in the school year, grants normal grade 13 credits in biology, chemistry, physics, algebra, and English through Don Mills collegiate. However, stressed Vanderkooy, that‘s about the only normal thing there is about this school. For example, he says that because enrolment is limited to 25 students, there is a close and informal atmosphere in which to work, and friendships are quickly established. "Most students are relatively high acaâ€" demically, and we‘re all really interested in scienceâ€"a big part of the experience is meeting a lot of new people," he said. Vanderkooy is boarding in Mississauga during the school term, and he says the only thing he will not miss about the school is the four hours spent each day commuting to and from school. _ Science Centre School enlightening challenge _ As well, students have virtually all of the Science Centre‘s facilities at their disposal for use in their projects. _ _ Since joining the school, Vanderkooy has done everything from making films, his first effort, A Day in the Life of Ingrid‘s Feet, was designed to highlight one of the centre‘s displays by following the feel as they travelled to and from the display, to researching color photograâ€" phy and studying the effects of electricity on plays. Other students are trying to get pictures of their own chromosomes, making holograms and designing ozonaâ€" tors, a machine which makes ozone out of normal air. Waterloo student attended WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1986 â€"â€" PAGE 3 afford to do what they were doing." The International March for Peace is now stalled at the Nicaraguan/Honduras border where participants still await word of where they will be travelling next. The group has shrunk in size to less than 200, as many, :ike Saunders have returned home to resume their ives. Saunders has tried to keep in touch with the marchâ€"â€"she religiously checks the newspapers and other media for word of further developments. Latest information is that the marchers have given up on being allowed into Honduras and are now awaiting â€" word of whether they will be permitted into El Salvador. According to Saunders the El Salvadoran government has denied entry, although a small group of marchers has made it into the country. Now that she‘s home again, Saunders plans to tell the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo community of her experience in Central America by writing articles for different local publications and addressing those groups which sponsored her. As well, Saunders returned from Nicaragua with a personal projectâ€"â€"to raise $5,000 which will be spend to build a health clinic in that Managuan barrio where she spent Christmas eve. "‘I‘ve adopted this barrio. I‘ve said 1 would help build that clinic for them. It‘s only $5,000. So little money here," said Saunders who, before leaving Nicaraguan donated her last $100 to the clinic fund. _ Saunders believes the value of this march was that it exposed Canadians and the people of other nations to the situation in Central America and the plight of the residents of these countries.." We showed that many of the countries aren‘t as free as we read in the US propaganda. All we hear is that the communists are in Nicaragua and that Nicaragua is the troubled country in Central American. We found that Nicaragua was the freest country. They were not afraid. The others were not free enough to allow a peace march in. They viewed us as a threat to their government,"" she concluded. The only mandatory course at . the school is its english program, which focuses on the different forms of comâ€" munication and how to use them most effectively. ‘"One of the purposes of the Science Centre is to combine communiâ€" cations and scienceâ€"that‘s why they want to show scienceâ€"oriented students how to talk to the people. What‘s the use of having a scientist in a lab who is only able to talk scientese, and can‘t commuâ€" nicate his ideas to anyone else," said Vanderkooy. As part of this program, Vanderkooy and his schoolmates have had to make short movies, perform songs, dance and mime routines in public and write contributions for magazines, journals and newspapers. _ _ "It‘s meant a lot of hours and a lot of work, but I‘ve learned a lot," said Vanderkooy, whose term at the school concludes at the end of this month. He will finish the school year at Bluevale collegiate, and is aiming towards a career, which, naturally enough, is "*scienceâ€"oriented." Geoffrey Vanderkooy