The
journey would take us to the province of Chota, in the north of
Cajamarca.
The
fog sometimes dim, sometimes dense; the different shades of greens
mixed with stones and mud; the brothered seeds; the humble and
cordial people with their hats, quipe and boots; the vivid
colors, as vivid as their inhabitants, as the earth, as the trees,
the rain, the wind, the plants. The expressive and wise Apus,
the guardian mountains of hope …
Early,
very early, we arrive at Nuevo Horizonte, in the village of Cutaxi.
After the green soup that Don Silverio, the librarian, offered us, we
set off on our way to the Communal Center, to the Congress of the
Rondas Campesinas of the province, to which Alfredo had been
invited to present about identity and peasant dignity.
The
roads continued, the mototaxis, the vans that picked us up and the
people who helped us to arrive at Masintranca: there the presence of
the noble and serene Dona, librarian and housewife; the beautiful and
smiling Nerly; the attentive and cordial Sergio. This ayllu
brings together the coordination of several libraries in the area,
the participation in the community program for the accompaniment of
people with projectable capacities, the rural library and the
contribution to communities with natural medicines to cure their
ailments.
At
night came the moment of the rescue of the living orality in the
community of Huayrasitana. In spite of the pouring rain and difficult
roads, we met with a large group of villagers, women, men, children
and young people to talk and hear about the differences and
relationships between aporcar and cutipar, the various
types of potato many of which are no longer cultivated; the
reflection on what is happening today, what the media shows which
pulls campesinos from their farms, their traditions, their
"contentment."
The
next morning, with Sergio's guidance, we set out for Nuevo Oriente.
There we met the wife and daughter of Oscar Burga, the family that
houses the library in their home. For Lucila, the importance of the
presence of the library in their lives, besides benefiting their
children with the studies, is that people come to visit her...
On
our way back, through the cold and at times warm lands of
Masintranca, we began the return to Cajamarca. Again the Apus
expressed themselves: the rain, the green, the plants, the people,
the peoples of Cajamarca.
Infinite
thanks!
Nathalia
Quintero