American Finds New Purpose in Nicaragua

Three years ago, Lisa Rosenthal was an aerobics instructor in Tarzana. Today Rosenthal, 30, is a farm-union worker in Nicaragua.

The Van Nuys High graduate is one of hundreds of Americans who have chosen to live and work in the Central American country. The Nicaragua Network, a Washington-based umbrella organization that represents more than 250 groups helping Nicaragua, estimates 800 to 1,000 Americans have made a long-term commitment to work there.

Rosenthal first visited Nicaragua with a group of artists three years ago. She left behind dance students and a successful aerobics studio, The Limber Yard in Tarzana, for what was to be simply a two-week trip.

Her purpose was to see what life was like in Nicaragua since the 1979 revolution. Rosenthal’s interest in the country had been sparked by political science classes she had taken at Valley College.

Charismatic Leader

The catalyst for her dramatic transition from aerobics instructor to union worker was a charismatic leader named Daniel Nunez.

Nunez, Rosenthal said, had been a successful farmer during the years of the Somoza regime, before the revolution. He fought with the guerrillas and, after the revolution, gave all his land to the peasants. Today he leads the union of the Nicaraguan farmers, cattle and coffee growers (UNAG), an organization with 130,000 members.

“He was a mesmerizing speaker,” she said, sitting on the cool patio of a comfortable, upper-middle-class home she shares with other “internationalists” (as the Nicaraguans call the many foreigners who have come to rebuild their country). “And suddenly I decided that I had to get him to the U.S. to speak to our farmers. I had absolutely no idea how to do it.”

Returning home at the end of the two-week trip, Rosenthal began working on her project. In March, 1984, she brought Nunez to America. She set up speaking engagements from California’s Central Valley to the nation’s East Coast, and Nunez spoke to U.S. farmers about the existence of private enterprise in Nicaragua and cooperative farming efforts there. Nunez hoped such a visit would encourage farmer exchanges.

Pleased with his reception and Rosenthal’s organizational skills, Nunez invited her to return to Nicaragua and work in the international relations section of UNAG for a salary that is, according to her, less than $100 a month.

“I came back in May, 1984, with two suitcases,” said Rosenthal. “I wore high-heeled shoes because Daniel had warned me about dressing too much like a hippie. I still spoke no Spanish. It was a very difficult time.”

She went directly to Matagalpa, a small town in the war zone and the heart of Nicaragua’s major agricultural region. “Nothing was ready. I had to really struggle.”

During the six months she spent in Matagalpa, Rosenthal hitchhiked “with pigs and chickens, lived in a small room the size of a cot and shared a bedroom with nine men.” She finally learned Spanish and honed her farming skills. “I can even drive a tractor,” she said.

Worlds Apart

The life style is very different in Nicaragua than the one she was used to. Rosenthal said she must stand in line for food and do without water when the water supply is turned off in Managua two days each week. But she hasn’t given up her California-casual clothes or thoughtfully applied makeup.

In fact, when Rosenthal’s parents send care packages from their Sherman Oaks home, “My father sends me books and classical music tapes and my mother sends makeup,” she says.

Bernie Rosenthal, a court reporter, and his wife Marcia visited their daughter in Nicaragua in 1985. “We are always concerned for her safety,” said Marcia, “but also very proud. More so since our trip there.”

Back in Managua, Rosenthal went to work arranging for delegations of Nicaraguan farmers to visit the United States. She arranged for a delegation of farmers who had met Nunez on his U.S. trip to visit Nicaragua. These farmers had lost their farms, or were on the verge of losing them.

“These displaced farmers have had a hard time being united, and here they see how Nicaraguan farmers can be strong with one voice,” she said. “The Nicaraguan farmers are learning about U.S. farming methods. When they are allowed to farm, U.S. farmers are the best in the world.”

Joint Farming Project

Rosenthal is now working on a project in which 20,000 acres of Nicaraguan farmland owned by the union will leased for free to displaced U.S. and Canadian farmers who will work the land cooperatively with Nicaraguan farmers. U.S. and Canadian farmers will share in decision-making about the land as well as the profits.

“We’re starting with a pilot project, a dairy farm on 1,200 acres of land. Five U.S. farm families and five Nicaraguan families will work it together. We are now interviewing U.S. farmers, and there is no shortage of applicants.”

A San Francisco-based nonprofit organization called United for Nicaraguan Agricultural Growth is assisting the union in this project. A coordinator for the group said they are getting inquiries from Virginia, Kentucky and Arizona, for example, where farmers “who have lost their land want to keep on farming and are willing to move to Nicaragua to do it.”

At least $1.7 million in services has been provided to Nicaragua by private U.S. citizens since the 1979 revolution, according to organizations that offer such aid. This type of humanitarian assistance is not opposed by the U.S. government, in spite of President Reagan’s having declared the Sandinista government a threat to U.S. security.

“With all the hardships, I always felt this was the right thing to do,” Rosenthal said in a sure, quiet voice.

No Car Now

Commitment has made a great change in her life style. Gone is the snappy sports car she drove in the United States. Although she could ask her parents for a car to use in Managua, she said she prefers to make her own way. She takes the bus, gets rides from friends.

“We have one car for our section, and sometimes we sit for hours waiting for a car to get out and see someone.” She has lived in 14 places since coming to Managua, “a room here, a room there.”

She returns to the United States several times a year arranging exchanges for the union, and always tries to include a night at home.

“When I first came back, I used to get so freaked out with my friends because they didn’t understand what I was talking about. Now I’m less demanding of them.

“I’ve let go of the L.A. life style and become immersed here, and that makes it easier to go back. The abundance of that life style threw me at first. I don’t accept it, but now I understand it.” Rosenthal is at home in her adopted country.

“I find myself much more comfortable in this society. People are more loving, more free. When you go to a party, everyone sings, talks about poetry. Nicaraguans are incredibly open people.”

Although her new life has distanced her from her old Valley cohorts, she has found a new camaraderie with other Americans. “Through this work, I’ve fallen in love with the U.S. farmer. The values that the rest of America has lost are still there, with them. It’s the character and humility of those farmers that I’ve learned to love.”