Thank you

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children

- Kahlil Gibran

December 2016 - January 2017

With brotherly hugs

The Earth recounts

Our friend, Daniel Canosa, an Argentine librarian and member of El Orejiverde -Indigenous peoples' publication-, has prepared a note on the conference that our brother Alfredo Mires Ortiz gave in Medellín on the occasion of the launch of the Citizen Reading, Writing and Orality Plan 2016- 2020:

http://www.elorejiverde.com/el-don-de-la-palabra/2129-lo-que-la-tierra-cuenta

The full text of the conference can also be accessed through the link.

Thank you, Daniel, for accompanying with such generosity and affection these journeys.

Community and territory

In preparation for the Assembly of the Network, we had the Encounter of the Encyclopedia Campesina, a meeting in which the team of coordinators (villagers, teachers, students, all volunteers) presented the cultural rescues made in the field, according to the topics we decided to investigate together.

We have almost reached the end of the compilation of our own words and their meanings, which has taken us so many years. And we take up the theme of Community and Territory, in the eagerness to recognize our own conceptual roots regarding these significant issues.

And we still have a long way to go!

We continue on the journey

In mid-December we had our General Assembly of the Network, a culmination of our organization to meet, evaluate, plan and encourage the spirit to continue walking.

New challenges arise: in a context of "very low reading" in the country and with a very high growth of shamelessness and corruption (especially among those who are paid to be at the service of the nation) communities continue in their search and effort not to succumb.

Many communities in the area of ​​the province of Celendín are requesting to have their rural library ... And from Pión - one day by bus and another on foot - came Don Jesus Quispe, who is even receiving chemotherapy treatment, animated to retake the libraries in his sector. Some of the participants had lost their crops and others had been greatly affected by the wildfires in the area ... but here they were.

Librarians, coordinators, readers and even the granddaughter of one of the villagers, participated in the Assembly, animating and encouraging us to continue on the journey.

How it intensifies this will and how it guides this journey!

Cajamarca with snow

In these weeks it came around to me to travel north to visit children with projectable abilities from the Community Program.

In Cajamarca in these months we have been going through a very hard time, with a lot of drought, fires and an extreme lack of water. Many, many seeds and crops have already been lost and many people no longer know how to fill their pots and stomachs. This is a very worrying situation for all of us.

Although it is now beginning to rain, many now have no seeds or have to buy again, getting into debt and not knowing if they will actually have crops that will allow them to repay this debt.

For my part then, I was prepared to find fields with maize dying, trees burned by frost, animals thin because of lack of water and grass. I had also heard from the people of the Jalca (the high altitude) that hail was falling and it was freezing and I imagined the fields with hail grains or frost ice in the early hours. But what I saw was actually snow.

Having been born and lived in cold German lands, it caused me a confusion of feelings. I felt a lot of nostalgia, but also chills imagining the people here and their animals without warm houses or stables, without clothes that keep you warm, without being able to move to warm up your body - thinking of some of the children of the Community Program -, without sufficient food or firewood to prepare a hot drink. And without a government that provides and supports in these situations.

It will be cause to get together more, to learn more and prepare better ... because no one knows what is coming.

Rita Mocker

Community Program Manager

Our way

In mid-November, the Community Program held its annual meeting of monitoring, evaluation and planning.

For many years this review process was accompanied by "specialist" members proposed by the entity that supports the work of the Community Program, but since this year it is again up to us to carry out this evaluation.

We worked hard and intensely during this meeting, but felt a very fraternal atmosphere. There was a lot of sincerity and openness to recognize our failures, a lot of willingness to improve and keep growing, a lot of closeness to support others, much affection to give even more in the work with children with projectable abilities, a lot of criticism and much desire to correct our mistakes.

The possibility of looking at each other with our own eyes, in our own way, also opened the doors to us to be more sincere and authentic. Thank you to all participants for this wonderful experience.

Assembly

Are you in agreement?

That they should not stain the skies

That they should not poison the river

That they should not dirty the soil.

Tender lúcuma of the valley

Golden wheat field

Gladiolus of the ravine

Come and sing with me.

Original in Spanish:

¿Están ustedes de acuerdo?

Que no se manchen los cielos

que no se envenene el río

que no se ensucien los suelos.

Lúcuma tierna del valle

campo dorado de trigo

gladiolo de la quebrada

vengan y canten conmigo

Alfredo Mires, "Resuellos"

With the Librarianship and Archival Studies students of the UdeA

Since some time ago, the students of librarianship and archival studies, from the University of Antioquia, gathered in a Research Seminary, wanted to ask about the rural world; many observed their peasant roots or those of their parents; others, tired of the emptiness of meaning in the urban life of Medellin, aspired to know the wisdom of that forgotten or invisible oracle of nature.

So we started to build workshops, social cartographies, readings of rural texts: then we turned our eyes to Cajamarca, to Máxima Acuña, to the campesinos: women, men, children, young people; to their Network of Rural Libraries and with them to Alfredo Mires Ortiz, the man who carries and enlivens the voice of the villagers of Cajamarca, to those whom we want to know and from whom we want to learn.

We began to cherish a dream: to be closer to Cajamarca and its Rural Librarians. And part of this dream was fulfilled because the students could be with Alfredo on 28th November 2016, in the University of Antioquia.

He has taught us, he has shown us how, who and why they carry out the work of the Network of Rural Libraries; the work of gathering the oral tradition of their communities; the reading, the books and their role in the Cajamarca context; the solidarity and communal work that guides their human principles.

For Alfredo an embrace of gratitude for reconnecting us, through the voices of the campesinos of Cajamarca, with the cosmos: as he says "Of all with everything, between all, for everything".

An immense embrace for the Cajamarcan villagers!

Medellín: Citizen plan of reading, writing and orality

Medellín, Colombia, took its time to reformulate its Reading Plan: it consisted of almost two years of consultations in a joint effort between academia, the citizen population and the Secretariat of Citizen Culture. Two research groups from the University of Antioquia accompanied this process.

Today, Medellín has an excellent citizenplan ofreading, writing and orality 2016 - 2020, aimed at making a city of readers, through actions that promote books and encourage reading among citizens.

"Participating in the evaluation and formulation of this Citizen Plan has left us with the conviction that through reading, writing and speaking it is possible for citizens to build a culture of progress, equity and peace," expressed the director of the Research Group on Didactics Investigation and New Technologies, Doris Ramírez.

The delivery to the community of the new Plan took place during these days and, for that purpose, the Mayor's Office of Medellín held two events: a conference on reading, writing and orality by our brother Alfredo Mires Ortiz, on Monday 28th, and the Presentation of the Plan, on Tuesday 29th.

Information about this exemplary process can be found at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMnvNSo3Mg8 

They continue to sprout...

The edited edition of our Series "... and other stories", from the Biblioteca Campesina Collection, continues its course ...

It is going slowly, but surely. And hopefully soon we will have the 20 fascicles printed and on their journey.

César Eladio: The willingness to walk

I come from the community of Yunchaco, in the district of Cujillo, province of Cutervo.My name is Cesar Eladio Burga Bustamante.

Reading for me means to learn more, to know many other things that we do not know. Thus, in my view, through books many things are known even if other sites are not seen. It also has a meaning that we share with others. Think of this: we read a book and the others listen, and from there we learn many things, we learn to defend our rights, rights due to the citizens. And such.

I have been participating for ten years already with Rural Libraries, but for me there has been a big change. Many things have been fixed. In collecting what had already been forgotten of the elders, at least the stories, we have recovered ourselves. And we have learned to reclaim also the duties of the authorities.

In order to continue improving the conditions in our Rural Libraries, it would be good to have more reading circles and increase visits, so that we can meet up with our rural brothers. Apart from that also having the time or disposing of our time, going out to our communities, being willing to walk.

Finally the rain has returned!

Friends,
although they may beat you,
never lose faith;
even if dirty days may come,
never lose faith,
even though I myself beg you on my knees,
do not believe me
love life
keep the dew
for the flowers
do not suffer the rogue nights that will come!

Be happy, 
I beg you,
Come out of the shady rooms,
Be happy so that I do not die
Slaughter the sadness,
Sing in front of the sea.

Give me your hand, my friends.
I love the skinny earth
Which followed me hobbling to exile.
I only know how to sing, but I love you;
Also the aurora is built with songs!

A great wind rises.
There is too much pain.
A great wind rises.
I have seen strange rivers burning.

Manuel Scorza (original in Spanish)

“Bocas del tiempo” (Mouths of Time) in Chinese

In 2003, Eduardo Galeano finished writing his book "Bocas del tiempo" and asked us to illustrate it with the ancient Cajamarca iconography that our brother Alfredo Mires has been collecting and publishing. And so this beautiful book produced that was later translated into several languages.

From these comings and goings of words and connections, Mengye Han - a Chinese translator - made contact with Alfredo some years ago. And so that extraordinary bustle of stories and voices like only Eduardo could say, popped up last year.

Generous Mengye sent us the book, which is like a tribute to Eduardo, as she says: "Who will be loved by us forever!".

Thank you, Mengye.

The day of Here We Are

The mestizo chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega says that when Francisco Pizarro and the priest Valverde asked the Inca Atahualpa to submit, "He was saddened (because they asked him for ...) things so rough, and he groaned: "Atac!”, which means, "Oh, pain," and with that he meant the great pain that he felt.

No wonder: that distressed feeling anticipated the massacre that would unfold a few minutes later.

Ten thousand of us, including children, were assassinated at dusk on 16th November, 1532. In what school, university, or public entity does a single minute of silence be made today for them?

Despite the pains, "Here we are", and from that permanence we honor our grandparents and we celebrate never having succumbed.

We do not fall into the uninformed traps of proclaiming "the meeting" of two worlds, "where it all began", "day of the race" and other such nonsense.

Because the conquest has not ended this pain has continued.

Night of Sun

Last year Antonio Basanta carried out a solidarity exhibition based on the Basanta-Martin collection of more than three thousand figures, which means more than two hundred sets of cribs, with the name "Night of Light".

For this year, Antonio and his people, with the support of our brother Kepa Osoro, return in solidarity with a renewed exhibition: "Night of Sun".

The exhibition will take place at the Reader's House in Madrid, Spain, and will remain open between 18th of November and 8th of January.

A short version of the film "Books and Clouds" will be shown and publications of our Network will be presented, as well as large panels that will explain their project in which they have been working with a dedication which can only boost this extraordinary fraternal spirit.

From here, our congratulations and gratitude together for Antonio and all who accompany him in this initiative.

We remember Ñaupa

The Community Program for the accompaniment of children with projectable capacities is conceived as a Community Based Rehabilitation program.

It means that we do not have a place for the care of these children, Nor staff on the payroll or  expensive equipment or infrastructure for rehabilitation.

Voluntary coordinators are drivers or multipliers of our proposal; The responsibility for the therapy, rehabilitation, integration, inclusion and improvement of the Juanitos - as we affectionately call children with disabilities - is always in the hands of the family and the community.

The main task of our coordinators is to visit the Juanitos in their homes, define - together with the family - the steps to follow and teach the family the exercises so that the children can find an improvement to their situation.

At the outset, this process is slow and very difficult, as families expect our coordinators - as in all other health and rehabilitation facilities - to take full charge of the therapies. It takes an average of one year until families understand and assume their leading role in this joint effort.

In the meantime, our coordinators have to ingeniously work to show the family that something can be achieved. One of the new attempts of the Community Program is to put a poster in each house with three very specific tasks for the family for a year.

For this, Alfredo Mires -creator of the Ñaupas- helped us with a great and inspiring design. Thank you, Alfredo. We are sure that the wonderful company of the Ñaupas will help the families and children of the Community Program a lot.

Palomo and Salem

Two powerful guardians have joined the family at the headquarters of our Network: Palomo and Salem.

We found Palomo badly wounded and thrown out into the street; we had to call the doctor to help us heal him and he even ended up with a piece of tail amputated.

And Salem migrated from the coast, he almost got altitude sickness, but ended up acclimatizing to the rigors of the cold mountain.

Now they are making the house their own, but there is no mouse that appears within kilometers given the presence of these beasts.

Welcome, brothers!

Raising awarness

One of the concerns of the Community Program - for the accompaniment of children with projectable capacities - of the Network is to promote that children with disabilities can attend schools.

This - fundamentally - is because we believe in the need to have spaces of socialization for these children, places outside the house where they can also feel at ease.

Despite the fact that for many years now, and through the Inclusion Law, the schooling of children with disabilities must be guaranteed, the conditions in schools and colleges for these children are not always favorable.

There is a lot of rejection, both from other students and parents and from some teachers. To help reduce this gap, the Community Program coordinators carry out awareness-raising activities in different educational institutions.

To accompany and strengthen this training process, recently - and as an internal edition - we have produced a brochure that brings together concepts and dynamics on this subject, aiming to promote better treatment for people with projectable capacities.

This material is already in circulation, ready to be provided when requested.

Christmas Carols with Sarah

Congratulations to our friends at Sarah's Rural Library Fund and a sincere thank you for their continued efforts of solidarity.

Sarah's Rural Library Fund has been chosen as the benefactor of 'The Big Christmas Wind Orchestra and Choir' event, which will take place in the city of London on 18th December.

Musicians of all ages and abilities will come together for 3 hours to play Christmas Carols during Spitalfields Christmas Market at Bishop's Square. A great way to generate some Christmas Spirit and raise awareness of our efforts.

In the spirit of the song and the embrace, we are and will be there with you.

At the "Ricardo Palma" Book Fair

Mr. José Carlos Alvariño, Director of National Fairs of the Peruvian Chamber of Books, contacted us to invite us to participate in the Ricardo Palma Book Fair.

Our Central Coordination Committee accepted the invitation and authorized our brother and sister Alfredo Mires (co-founder and Executive Advisor of the Network) and Nanci Huamán (Rural Librarian of the community of Liuchucolpa) to travel on behalf of our organization.

The Fair was held from 21^st of October to 6^th of November, in the city of Lima. It is one of the oldest book fairs in America that has become a valuable space for national and international involvement in cultural and bibliographic work.

Aside from the talk about our Network of Rural Libraries, which took place on the night of 29^th of October, our friends participated in interviews and developed a series of contacts.

Here are a couple of respective links:

http://larepublica.pe/impresa/domingo/816748-los-libros-de-mi-tierra

https://www.facebook.com/feriaricardopalma/videos/1070532739739372/

Both Nanci and Alfredo have emphasized the hospitality and appreciation with which they were welcomed by the organizers of the Fair, as well as by the dear friends with whom they met in Lima.

Reading beneath the hat

A few weeks ago we opened three rural libraries in the Celendín area: the first in the Bellavista sector where a teacher, worried about the long hours that many children spend on the streets with nothing to do or waiting their turn for extra classes at school, decided that it would be good to take advantage of those circumstances to encourage reading among children. Mrs. Magalli Limay, librarian, very enthusiastically told us that she will have the library in her house; she, in addition, will take the books to the square known as "El sombrero", a few meters from the school, where she will hold reading circles with children from the sector every afternoon .

The other library is located in the Rosario Bajo area, where we inaugurated with an offering to the land and shared some delicious sweetbread and coffee prepared by the librarian herself. Ms. Consuelo Livaque said that this is a great opportunity for all her neighbors, big and small, to get to know our culture better and to enrich ourselves reading the books of the Network.

Mrs. Zoila Castañeda has been appointed as librarian of the Huasmin sector, where once again our books begin to walk along with the villagers of that sector.

Lynda Sullivan, a friend and volunteer of the Network, encouraged the communities and we accompany every effort.

To these resolute fellow librarians, we welcome you.

Thank you, Ana María

Carla Buscaglia is a friend of the Network for several years and, aside from speading the word about our efforts, on several occasions sought books to send to us.

In this way, Mrs. Ana María Soldi Castellano, cousin of Carla Buscaglia and passionate reader, heard about us.

And being delicate, Ana Maria expressed her willingness to send us some of her books. She passed away on 17th February 2015. Her children followed that breathed wish to continue living through the readings.

Her books are already with us and her desire will be reflected in these community readings.

In her memory: Thank you.

Among elves and shadows

A few nights ago our house was filled with lights, elves and shadows with the presentation of the book "El duende del laberinto" (The elf of the labyrinth), by our brother Alfredo Mires.

Organized as a Tinku (encounter), it began with a gathering and discussion about the work, with the participation of the author and interventions by professors Daniel Saenz and Marcial Abanto.

The interlude was an extraordinary staging of some stories from the book in shadow theater, under the direction of Lupe Sevillano Canals, from the artistic project LuArtica from Spain, along with Rumi and Mara Mires and Rita Mocker, members of the Network.

It was very pleasing to count on the contributions of the participants, thanks to which we shared at the end a rich and generous joijona (long blanket spread on the ground with the contributions of all and for all).

Lupe also sent us this kind comment:

"Taking part in the presentation of "El duende del laberinto" by Alfredo, has been a very pleasant experience. His stories speak softly in our ear so as to reverberate strongly within us.

I have to thank Rumi, Mara and Rita, who have helped me to make the stories in the book fly, giving free rein to the imagination, the body and, above all, hope.

I am conscious of the magical realism of living with the stories, their author and the family of Rural Libraries.

I measure wealth by the value of these meetings."

In Colombia

The Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Information and Strategic Communication Network of the Agricultural Sector - AGRONET and the Agricultural Documentary Information Network of Colombia - RIDAC, held the Third Congress of Information in the Agricultural Sector "Big data, dissemination and appropriation of knowledge", which took place on 29th and 30^th of September 2016 at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota.

Our brother Alfredo Mires was invited to give a lecture at this event, and then also to the academic conference that was held at the University of La Salle, in the framework of the Institutional Chair "Sewing peacetime", from 1st to 4^th of October, both in Bogota and Yopal - the headquarters of the Utopia Project.

Alfredo presented "Wisdoms and breaths: Culture and agriculture in the experience of the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca"; Here are some excerpts:

"Planting is not a productive function, it is not a mere economic occupation nor a tormenting job: it is a breeder's treat, a vitalizing celebration, a regenerating festival.

It is an implicit risk in the modern concept of resources: reducing the value of the different visions of the universe and objectifying nature can justify the sacrifice of the land on behalf of the dividends. And it is not only reductionism which implies an objectivist vision of the world: it's attitudes and profiles, it defines pedagogies and establishes public policy.

Some time ago I read a graffiti that said: "We see the big guys like that because we see them on our knees". Some years after starting the process of formation of Rural Libraries, we realized that it was not only about providing books, as if their language and content were neutral. By accessing books in the countryside, we automatically consented to the vision that those books reflected. Because basically it is not just about having books and reading, but how this reading could be consistent with the culture and environment to which it adheres.

If the endogenous wisdom is not recognized, the mechanical transfer of foreign content finishes by overruling it. The lack of equivalence of knowledge shows who holds the key to the safe. It results pusillanimous that in many libraries you can find complete encyclopedias of ancient and distant Greek civilization, but not a single brochure on our own portentous and latent culture.

This remembrance is not intended to be a fun evocative concession, a maudlin yearning for our origins or a nostalgic look at bygone times. Honoring the legacy of our grandparents enhances dignity and strengthens the steps we take. We are convinced that at the roots of community culture prevail as frank prophecy the statements that allow the construction of a future of peace, without hunger and with respect.

Otherwise it would mean continuing to inhale the colonizing psalmody with which history is written. Or to be left without living memories, without the dictionary engraved with our survival."

"That the experience is not lost"

Elizabeth Olano Díaz is a teacher and member of the Communications Team at "Sacred Heart" Educative Institute, in Jaen. After participating in our Network's Co-Libris Project, Elizabeth was integrated as a volunteer in the Encyclopedia Campesina Project. Here we share a charming testimony from her:

"Reading is a very important process that allows the reader to put themselves in contact with the author; it is a process in which both interact and share ideas, feelings, attitudes and distinct experiences. It is to find yourself, it is an open door to another world, to new worlds and new cultures. And as a process of interaction, it also enables enrichment, to improve as a person and to know how to get to know others.

Thus the contribution of the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca is very important. In my case it has helped a lot because it has allowed me to get in touch with new people, share new experiences and get to know my own community. Perhaps, because I live in town, I can now learn more about the people from rural areas, all the baggage, the range of experiences that are very rich, and I knew them somewhat because of my mother – as she is from the countryside also, her origin is the countryside - I have got to know many things and this has allowed me to relive what I knew as a child. I have relived it, little by little. Yes, it has helped me a lot.

My challenge is where I work: that the students manage to collect all this wealth, to put themselves in contact especially with the wealth that the people from the countryside have, with their origins: that they do not lose their history, that they do not lose these customs, these experiences. That they manage to collect and transmit to others. And that they value all of this".

Tinku for the Elf

No one can say that tales

must only be written after knowing

their laws. First, there are no such laws;

at most one can speak of points of view,

of certain constants that give structure

to that genre that refuses to be pigenholed ...

The contemporary story is proposed

as an infallible machine destined

to fulfill its narrative mission with

the maximum economy of means...

The novel always wins on points,

while the story must win by knockout.

Julio Cortázar

We have Tinku (an encounter) this Tuesday 18th, at 7 pm, at the headquarters of our network (Av. Peru No. 416).

There will be a literary gathering for the release of "El duende del laberinto y otros cuentos medulares" (The elf of the laberinth and other core stories), the recent book by our brother Alfredo Mires, edited by the Network.

The LuArtica project from Spain will make a theatrical representation of some of the stories and, at the end of the launch, we will share our joijona (the traditional table of the Cajamarcan countryside placed on the earth).

Spread the word. You are invited!

Go raibh maith agat (thank you)

One stage of my time as volunteer with Bibliotecas Rurales is coming to an end. For the last 8 months I have been living in the communal house and volunteering as part of the Proyecto Enciclopedia Campesina team. On Monday I begin my journey home to Ireland.

I go with joy and sadness. Joy to have be given the opportunity to share this time with so many beautiful people, sadness because I have to leave them. I have learnt so much during my time here, probably I haven't processed yet a fraction of what my senses eagerly soaked up.

It was an honour to be able to accompany Alfredo on his journeys across the region visiting the libraries and learning about and in this culture that is beautiful, rich, wise and deep. The librarians and the people from the countryside opened their homes and their hearts to us, sharing their table filled with the fruits of their hard, honest labour. They also shared the treasure they house within them: the ancient wisdom of our ancestors passed down through the ages.

The Earth has been teaching us ever since we have had the capacity to understand her, and before. But the lessons are long and we weren't around for the beginning, so we need to listen to the echo that comes down the line of voices through time. 

In my country, and in most of the 'West', these voices have been smothered by concrete and greed. The community was stretched until it burst. We have now isolated ourselves both in space and time. And we're lost.

Here in the Cajamarcan Andes I have been given back my hope. Here the Earth is still heard and the ancestors still speak. People still rejoice at the coming of the rain, they still savour the smell of wet earth, they still invite their neighbour to share their bread.

It is true that concrete and greed can be found here too, creeping in through the back door, wanting to take up prime position in the living room. But the persistance of the indigenous-campesino people to continue living in dignity and beauty is astounding and inspiring.

The essence of Bibliotecas Rurales is this dignity, this beauty. It is like a child crossing the battlefield singing a song about a rainbow, because it's also her garden.

I have received many lessons from Alfredo; his humility, his love for the Earth and the life that lives on her, his writing that speaks to the heart. From Rita - generosity, immense kindness, the joy that looking after the most needy brings (and how to make delicious almond butter).

Thanks also to Lola, Karina and Rosita for the warm welcome and inclusion. To Rumi and Mara for their friendship.

Thank you to all the members of the Bibliotecas Rurales family, spanning the region of Cajamarca. Thank you for the essential work you do, and the love with which you do it.

Lynda Sullivan

Launch of “La espalda del clima” (“The back of the climate”)

Invitation

The Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca and 

the Group of Formation and Intervention for Sustainable Development 

invite you to the book presentation:

THE BACK OF THE CLIMATE

The campesino vision of climate change and community permanence

Wednesday 21st of September, 7.00pm.

Centre of the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca,

Av. Peru No. 416.

We are grateful for your punctual attendance.