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Farm Women’s Network meets in November By Carolyn Murray As Canadian farm women continue to gain recognition for their essential role as partners in agriculture. they too are recognizing the need to network with other farm women to develop and enhance their professionalism. Farm women will be offered opportunities for this growth at the Fifth National Farm Women‘s Conference, hosted by the Ontario Farm Women’s Network, to be held November 21-23. 1991. in Lonâ€" don. Ontario. Conference organizers have chosen the theme "Sharing Our Vision” in response to requests from governments and other institutions for farm women's ideas and suggestions for the shaping of future agricultural policies. High calibre speakers will inform. entertain and challenge participants with a vartety of relevant topics. including personal potential. family abuse. and theltrnpact of "Growing Together" poltc1es on farm families and farrn women as professionals. Several prominent Cabinet Miniv sters. including the Honourable Bill McKnight. Minister of Agriculture. have been invited to address the con- ference. Workshops and discussion groups will also allow for sharing conâ€" cerns and potential solutions to agricul- tural issues. "Sharing Our Vision" could be a family event. Child care will be avail- able for conference participants. Various fann tours have been arranged forspouses»hefore.duringartdafterthe conference. These are challenging times for fartn families who are coping with fast paced economic and political change. The conference will address these challen- ges. giving farm women purpose through knowledge and understanding and strength through unity. Any Canadian farm woman is invited to attend the Conference. However. registrations are limited and must be received by October 1. 1991. For more information. please contact your Provincial Co-ordinator of the Canadian Farm Women's Network or Betty Seminiuk. RR 4. Thamesford. Ontario. NOM 2M0. (519)285-2640. Carolyn Murray, along with Connie Hrmtje. Chair the Pith/fr Relations Citru- mt'llee far the National Farm Wnntcn'r Conference. International Scholarship awarded to Bolivian By Geraldine Campbell After many phone calls and fax com- munications, the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario decided to sponsor Betty Vargaâ€"Rodriquez from La Paz. Bolivia. to attend the second Windbreaks and Agroforestry Sym- posium held at the Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology. The FWIO was glad to pay the airfare and registration fee for Betty to attend this June conference. The money came from the FWIO International Scholar- ship Fund. This $2500 scholarship is used to bring women from Third World countries to Canada for training. In the past. this training has focused on nutri- tion and health. But given the FWIO theme for the 19905 - "Women and the Environment" - it was fitting to sponsor Emil to participate in this Symposium. She was selected by the FWIO Scholar- Ship Committee from several names submitted. Betty is a Landscape Architect working for the city of La Paz in Bolivia. Betty received her University education in Bolivia. and then took post-graduate courses at Rice College in Idaho. Most children in Bolivia. however. go to school for a few years between the ages of six and eleven. They leave be» cause they are needed to help out on the farm. As teenagers. many leave the countryside to seek jobs in the cities. But they get only low paying jobs. if they get one at all. And so. the cycle of illiteracy and poverty continues. Two-thirds of Bolivia‘s seven milâ€" lion people work in agriculture; air though 15% of the gross national product is derived from this sector. By our standards, their farming methods are antiquated - men and oxen still work the small holdings and women still sow the com crop by hand. Betty is grateful to the FWlO for the opportunity to increase her knowledge about erosion and envrronmental protection. She came away from the Symposium with new ideas (such as the use of twin rows for planting windbreaks and shelterbeltsl. and is sure she can use these ideas wisely in Bolivia. A July edition of Farm & Country quoted Betty: "To protect our ecosystem. what we need most is knowledge. That is why i wanted so much to come." Betty sees that an organization like the Women's Institute could have a great deal of influence on the rural women of Bolivia. and ultimately on the country as a whole. Community education is the key to improving rural lifein Bolivia andthatissomethingthat the W1 does so well! Geraldine Campbell Public Relations Officer. F W10 H&C July,August.Septembcr I'~J9| 9