When asked, "Has there ever been a time in your life when you were involved in outside activities?" thirty percent of the women responded negatively. The seventy percent who said "yes" indicated that they were involved in a range of activities: darts, crafts, outdoor sports, swimming, walking, tennis, camping, dances, bingo, drinks with friends, parents' programs, and women's groups.

When we asked these women why they had stopped these activities, for the most part they indicated it was due to family responsibilities - caring for children or a disabled family member. Others said their outside involvement was an inconvenience to the family, it was too much of a hassle. Some women had stopped participating in outside activities due to lack of funds, work commitments, relocation, personal crisis, or medical problems.

Reflections - Mid April 1992

It's still the same thing: people are not answering their doors. The men are clearly stopping us from talking with women. When we do talk with the women, the issues are sounding very repetitive. We are seeing lots of patterns.

Sometimes Bella and Sandra visit alternate houses. In one instance the man and the woman were home and Bella asked if they knew anything about the Rabbittown Community Centre. The man answered, "Yes" and he said, "It's okay for you (the woman) to fill out the form." When Bella began talking about women he told her to get out. By mistake Sandra went to the same house and he answered the door. He said, "My wife is out and she's not filling out any goddamn forms about women!"

Sometimes the second visits payoff. A single mother explained that she couldn't talk to us before because of her boyfriend. He was abusive to her. We could talk to her now because her boyfriend was in jail. She is under a lot of stress right now because of her situation and she has had a death in the family. She would like to become involved with other women because, "It might help me from going insane."

One woman spoke freely about the courses she would like to take, and the restrictions she faced from her husband and her childcare responsibilities. Part way through the questionnaire her husband came home and the conversation became very strained. The woman said very little after his arrival.

When we asked, "Would you like to become involved in any of the programs but find it difficult?" many women said yes. They indicated that the main difficulties they faced were family obligations, finances, and poor health. Some women said they would need to be freed up from housework to become involved. One stated, "I put my children first." Several women would like to go back to school if they could afford it or if they could afford childcare. Others would like to be more active but their health makes it too difficult. They have difficulty walking, or breathing, or they have bad backs. Some said health conditions made too much of a burden to get ready to go out.