A Canadian Woman’s Experience of Nicaragua

Aliya Haer *, NicaNotes, March 5, 2026
https://afgj.org/nicanotes-3-5-2026-one-canadian-womans-experience-of-nicaragua

Nicaragua is a remarkable country, one which I’ve become fiercely attached to over the last twelve years of coming here and not having a single bad experience. The reason why Nicaragua has captured my heart is that it has shown me a society that is kind, resilient and open. It has shown me that it is possible for a government – for people in power – to act primarily in the long-term interests of the poor versus pandering to the short-term interests of corporations and the wealthy. I’ve come to these conclusions not solely via the Nicaragua solidarity movement, but also through my own personal experiences reinforced by verifiable data and statistics.

My own experiences are those of bicycling up random dirt roads in rural areas to see where they lead and discovering that they lead to an ‘end-of-the-dirt-road’ domicile of someone very poor, who will look questioningly at me, and when I explain that I’m just out exploring and compliment them on their beautiful view, they’ll say “Que le vaya bien”, and I’ll continue on my way. I love hiking the coastline so I regularly wander off the tourist-beaten path, and I’ve discovered that in Nicaragua when I’m out on a trail and I encounter someone, I’ll say “Buenos Días” and they’ll say “Buenos Días” and I go along my merry way. There’s no need for me to be stand-offish or paranoid, or to assume that every person poorer than I am wants to rob me, or that every man I encounter in a lonely spot is depraved. I wouldn’t feel so confident or take such liberties in most other countries, but Nicaragua, from my experience, is an exceptionally healthy society, without much aggression or violence.

Taking public transit and shared taxis has been an excellent way of practising Spanish while getting to know people through conversations made waiting for the bus and on the bus. It’s also been a great way to observe the interactions of everyday people, and frankly, as physically arduous as taking the chicken bus can be, it’s great for my soul because it makes me like people, and affirms my belief that Nicaragua really is a special place. I’ve also accepted rides from by now, many, many strangers. They see you walking by the side of the road, or waiting for a bus that’s going to arrive packed and they offer you a ride without being asked, without accepting money, without creeping on you or asking for your number. That’s how nice Nicaraguans are. And of course, whenever I have a vehicle, I offer rides. Recently I picked up a diabetic older woman who was returning home after attending a free optometry clinic. It was her second visit, on the first, they tested her eyes, and on the second she received free prescription glasses and sunglasses, which she proudly showed me, adding that they were so kind they even gave her bus fare.

I now have a home on an acreage, in an eco-reserve, in southern Nicaragua. My home was built with a full Nicaraguan crew, and my own physical labour, which was very important to me to contribute, and I’m eternally grateful that the experience was a memorable and positive one. I live here, mostly alone, for half the year. I don’t have a caretaker; I don’t have bars on my windows. Some might say that that’s either very brave or very foolish of me. But it’s none of those things. Nicaragua isn’t a country of disgruntled malcontents; that’s why it’s safe. The reason why the desperation which drives people to violent crime isn’t common here, is that the majority are happy. And they’re happy because there’s hope; there’s progress; people feel cared for and listened to. Nicaragua has a real lesson to teach on how material wealth isn’t everything, on how inadequate a gauge for quality-of-life GDP really is. And it’s believable that Nicaraguans by some measures are the happiest society. The sense of community, duty and helpfulness I’ve observed correlates to reports that Nicaragua rates highly in civic involvement, disaster relief, safety, and self-sufficiency. I know for a fact that basic health care is recognized as a human right and denied not even to foreigners. My husband received free medical care for a throat infection; an expat friend with residency received life-saving anti-venom after the baby viper he picked up, bit him; and a Canadian acquaintance just got nine stitches in his leg – all free of charge.

I’m very happy here – just as are a whole slew of other independent women who’ve also moved here. I was initially acquainted with about 6-7 women like me, but it seems every week I meet more of them and now I’ve lost count! The word is spreading: Nicaragua is a great place for women! Women are powerful in Nicaragua. Women are involved and visible in all spheres of life. Motorbikes – a manly man’s ride in North America – in Nicaragua, I would say about a third of the riders are women. In North America there’s an issue with men feeling emasculated if they have to ride pillion behind a woman on a motorbike. Here in Nicaragua, you see it as a matter of every day life. The motorbike is the family car: she drops her husband off at work and then she’s going to run errands.

Nicaragua is light years ahead when it comes to body positivity. Women here wear what they want, and they do it with confidence. On VosTv I saw an episode where they interviewed women in public to ask if they’d ever been harassed and many women recounted stories of eve-teasing/cat-calling and how it had made them feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. A psychologist came on to speak on how debilitating such harassment can be to a person’s self-esteem. The telecasters advised the audience that sexual harassment was against the law, and that they should report the harasser to the police, giving the specific law to quote in the complaint. This is the ‘media control’ the FSLN receives so much flack for. On TN8, another one of the FSLN’s supposed ‘propaganda’ channels, they make regular announcements on new infrastructure developments, and very often the chief engineer/project manager explaining for example, how sewer treatment works, will be a smart, well-spoken woman, giving useful information, not talking down to the audience. Also on TN8, I’ve seen opportunities for viewers to call in and report infrastructure and safety issues in their neighbourhoods. And a lot of viewers participated!

A few years ago, a trans-woman was murdered in Managua. The coverage on TN8 contained the heartfelt eulogies of the victims’ friends, family and neighbours, they spoke of what a giving and talented person she was, and what touched me most, it was asserted that though many may not have agreed with the victim’s life choices, only God has the right to judge. This principle, that only God has the right to judge seems to be central to Nicaraguan society and I believe contributes majorly to an open and tolerant society.

By no stretch of the imagination would I describe Nicaraguans as ‘oppressed’ or ‘repressed’, or living under an ‘authoritarian regime’. Because first off, the police and military don’t have a huge presence. It’s not the norm to see armed men patrolling streets and neighbourhoods. Neither is it a case of neighbours spying on each other and reporting dissenters because that would make for a very stilted vibe, which isn’t the case here. Instead, at 7am on a Sunday it’s common to see young Nicaraguans still awake from partying the night before. I asked my friend who lives in the village if she hears any drunken fighting, and she answered that it’s not fighting but the loud music and raucous laughter that keep her up.

The tranquility and safety in Nicaragua are genuine and not a product of a fearful population. I don’t find that Nicaraguans are afraid to discuss politics. And I also find that most Nicaraguans I speak to – even if they have their minor complaints against the government, as does everyone in a democracy – agree that the FSLN is the best option, that the government is doing a good job (Nicaraguans are very proud of their new highways!). It’s widely acknowledged that there has never been any real political opposition because the FSLN serve the will of the majority. So how do you improve on that? Also, most Nicaraguans are aware of the situation in neighbouring central American nations and feel lucky not to have those same problems of unemployment, growing wealth inequality and crime to name a few.

Of course, I do encounter Nicaraguans hateful towards the FSLN and my opinion is that they fall into one of three camps: 1) Nicaraguans who speak English, and complain about the FSLN as a way to pander to what they think foreigners expect and want to hear, so as to garner sympathy and extract more money from them. 2) Nicaraguans who do not belong to an economically vulnerable segment of the population and have a ‘dog eat dog’ worldview, that is, the poor be damned. These people want a capital city with modern skyscrapers; they want the entire length of San Juan del Sur beach to be covered by luxury establishments instead of catering to Nicaraguan families who camp out during public holidays; in short, they want glamour. 3) Nicaraguans who are naive, lack perspective and are misdirecting their anger and frustration. Just as everywhere in the world you’ll find people who blame their difficulties on minorities, women, Jews, contrails, alien invasion conspiracies and what have you. Here I encounter deluded people who believe that the FSLN is keeping Nicaragua down, and if they only yielded to US demands, like a magical solution (and contrary to evidence) suddenly there would be more business and employment opportunities and the future would be rosy.

One has only to visit Nicaragua to see how ludicrous the negative media claims are. Despite living on an acreage with no neighbours, I can still hear hymn singing from the nearby village at least twice a week! It’s very common to be walking by a house in the evening and see people congregated in the yard singing religious hymns. Yet the media would have me believe that bibles are banned here.

The way the differently abled are treated here has also touched my heart. My contractor has a mute on his crew (and one of his apprentices is a woman of 20). In León I’ve witnessed major renovations to a colonial building with an entire crew of mute and deaf workers. There were a foreman & workers, men and women, all smartly dressed in uniforms, communicating in sign language. What struck me is the self-esteem that was clearly apparent in each and every worker, the pride in being a contributing participant in society. I’ve yet to ever see such an example in Canada, or in fact, anywhere else in the world.

In order to open a bank account here, I had to follow a rigorous process to prove the clean source of my funds, I had to show six months of pay stubs and detailed statements from all my bank accounts. Yes, the Nicaraguan government is in need of foreign investment and funds but they don’t want dirty money.

Even though, by and large, I would describe Nicaraguans as happy and fun-loving, there’s always room for improvement. Poverty still exists, not everyone in the population is having their needs met, and though it’s easy to survive here, getting ahead is a whole different matter. These shortcomings however, are not due to a lack of political will or inaction on the part of the FSLN, and neither can these shortcomings be solved by neoliberal policies. Rather these shortcomings exist due to the sabotage of the Sandinista Revolution perpetrated by the United States and their enablers, through the persistent dissemination of false information, sanctions and other forms of bullying. This vilification of the FSLN is of course a huge injustice to Nicaragua but also to the rest of the world because now more than ever humanity needs to be uplifted by this good example. I hope more people with ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’ – that is, people who speak Spanish and who know the obstacles Nicaragua faces so they can appreciate the advancements made – come here, and speak the truth that they witness.

* Aliya Haer is a fifty-year-old woman with an academic background in human-environmental relationships. She works for a self-governing First Nation in British Columbia, Canada, and lives half the year in Nicaragua.