Our blog in French is back on its feet

We are pleased to announce the revival of our blog in French and, at the same time, welcome Julia Steiner into the family of volunteers of our Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca. Julia has already been working hard on the translations and now the blog in French is on its feet once again.

We heartily thank Maryse Tétreault who, as a volunteer, started the blog and worked with dedication on the previous translations.

With Julia we debated the new nomination and in the end we decided on “La voie des bibliothèques rurales de Cajamarca”. Julia explained to us that "it is like ‘the way of the libraries of Cajamarca’. It is a play between ‘the road’ and ‘the spiritual path’, and with the sound (because the word "voice" in French is pronounced "voix" and has the same sound)”.

The resurrected La Voie des Bibliothèques Rurales de Cajamarca will continue at the following address: http://redbibliotecasfrances.blogspot.pe/

We would be very grateful if you could share it with your francophone friends.

Meeting up

We recently held the Encounter II - Encyclopedia Campesina Project 2016.

This event not only involves coming together to rescue knowledge and traditions – to later transform them into bibliographic material – but it is also a way to meet up and get to know each other closely, with the pretext of work.

It’s because we come from different and distant communities, and we all arrive keen to share our knowledge, our way of seeing the world and our aspirations for a more pleasant life based on what we are and what we want to continue being, as our brother Alfredo always tells us, who is our guide in this work.

These spaces allow us to learn from and with each other, and know that everything we bring to share will affirm our unity, as one community; when everything comes together like forming a book, a great lesson from the world and for the world.

Wonderings in Cajabamba

This August, with our English friends from Sarah’s Rural Library Fund, we visited a number of our libraries in the provinces of Cajamarca, San Marcos and Cajabamba.

We were with José Isabel Ayay Valdez, in the Quechua zone of Cilimpampa, sharing enthusiasm, wisdom and humour.

Later with Pascual Sánchez of Chuco, veteran coordinator of our libraries in his zone. He told us how his love of reading was inspired by his father and how he spent many long nights by the smoky gas lamp reading borrowed books. He laments the irony of how just when reading is made easier by the arrival of electricity, the book is abandoned for the TV. For this reason, he explains, the work of BR is important now more than ever; to continue our enrichment and to keep alive our ability to travel to new worlds each time we open a book cover.

We then visited the community of Pingo, in Cajabamba, which houses its library in the local primary school. The children, with their parents and teachers, shared with us illuminating theatrical presentations of stories that they collected from the elders of their community. We then had the honour to participate in a minga de trilla: the traditional art of separating the wheat stalks from the grains, celebrating with chicha (fermented drink made from maize).

The journey didn’t end there: we spent the night in the house of our brother Jacinto Aguilar Neyra and listened by moonlight to his memories as library coordinator during the bloody years when the country was rocked with the violence of the civil war. The generosity of books and the courage of the humble made it possible to keep going.

And we were the community of Corralpampa, whose library is also located in their primary school. We participated in an extraordinary sharing of stories, where the children gathered round us to relay what their elders had passed on to them. The magic of the Andean oral tradition, the passing of ancient wisdom from generation to generation, was felt by all as we saw and heard the words of our ancestors emerge from the mouths of the young.

Here, Sarah’s Rural Library Fund

We feel close to, despite being far from, people who accompany us. So it makes us doubly happy having them here in person and in our own home.

Until a few days ago Helen Heery, Rachel Hardy and Simon Wheatley - founders and members of Sarah's Rural Library Fund - were here with us to share in the wonderings, expectations, plans and projects of our network.

We were also fortunate to count on the presence of Kate Heery and Marian Carty.

At all times we felt their desire to join us on the path we are on, and they also made us aware that the work of our Network of Rural Libraries enriches their lives and their jobs.

With much zest and enthusiasm they visited the libraries of some communities in Cajamarca, San Marcos and Cajabamba. They also accompanied us at the meeting of the Encyclopedia Campesina and the meeting of the Community Programme.

How strong a connection we have felt with these brothers and sisters of ours!

For us, their visit is a huge boost to continue with what we have and to undertake new challenges.