Health and the Environment

Last year, during the training of the Community Program for the accompaniment of children with projectable capacities, we had the opportunity to participate in an presentation by our brother Alfredo Mires on an extremely important topic: Health and the environment.

Alfredo supported the importance of the emotional, cultural and social roots in the health of each person and opened paths for us to live healthier and in a healthier environment.

We share with you some of the ideas worked on:

We have become accustomed to identifying health with medicine and hospitals, and we tend to forget that health and illness are fundamentally ecological and social phenomena.

Some 2,450 years ago, in his book "The Republic", the philosopher Plato said that "a city with many hospitals is mainly a poorly governed city."

That more hospitals are built does not mean that we are of better health. This is like believing that we are moving forward because large and comfortable cemeteries have been built.

It is necessary to understand the connections of what we do with the whole universe of experiences, processes and perspectives that concern and intersect between all people and cultures.

The break with nature (which could also be called 'the denaturalization of humans') occupies a subjective and objective level implicit in any ailment.

The vital anguish that a misfortune produces is an issue that affects the whole community.

The misfortunes also arise with the sociocultural and ecological changes that affect biodiversity, that is, when what we know and can digest is affected. Today, with the extension of the market economy, dietary habits are usually the most affected.

Health is linked to sensitivity. Our internal processes usually affect our external behaviour.

Humberto reads

I am Humberto Huamán Lara, from the Alto Perú community, Liuchucolpa, in the district of Bambamarca.

In the Network of Rural Libraries I have been a reader since I was a child, from a very young age, for a very long time and until today. I'm now forty-five years old.

Reading is for me a moment that provides us with a lot of learning, to learn to read, to go through a book, to share some experiences of what is happening in the books.

The Rural Libraries for me has been a school, as for many campesinos from different provinces of the department of Cajamarca. It has always been a joining. From there we have learned to defend ourselves: the people of power are not now able to take advantage of our humility.

The many experiences of our elders, all that they have lived before, the effort for the tradition that is being created and all that our Library speaks of, is what we are building together with all the communities.

Right now there is still a lot to see. We must not fall into the weakness that they want of us. People of power always want to discriminate against us. We are campesinos: in us there is no discouragement; we continue with our children and our elders, until today.

Re-vising

We have published more than 150 titles, always from, with and for the rural communities.

When you see a book, you do not always consider the enormous work that goes into having that jewel in your hands. As our books are produced in community, the first step is always to decide together the rescue and its realization. This involves walking and having meetings with many people with whom we record the testimonies or review the written accounts - also by the community members themselves - from the Rescue Notebooks. To never lose this treasure of information, we look for different ways to keep it: a whole process of the ATOC (our Archive of the Cajamarcan Oral Tradition). Then we must decide which of the texts or testimonies will be part of the book we want to publish. Then comes the transcriptions, the processing of the texts, the corrections ... We add the drawings and transfer them to an editable format. Each book is like a new child that is born and begins to talk.

Like that, it may sound very easy, but it is hours, days, months and years of painstaking work: we all help - as far as we can - the person responsible for this whole process. Especially in the revision of each book.

Revision is a delicate task, and it is not to imagine how many failures or little mistakes escape us. To read and re-read, to carefully look at every detail so that a clean and well presentable book comes out, is a challenge that we take very seriously in our Network.

This means that we take advantage of generous and skillful eyes to help us with each revision.

This January we had the enormous voluntary help of our dear friend Ana María Rojas Espinoza, from Santiago de Chile, who had come to spend some time with us.

With great dedication and care, Ana María re-vised one of the large books that is "on a tray", that is, soon to be published: The Cajamarcan Inventory of Rock Art (El Inventario Cajamarquino de Arte Rupestre).

Thank you, community members. Thank you, community. Thank you, Ana María.

Reading Circles

The reading circles that the coordinators and librarians carry out in their provinces, constitute one of those rich moments of encounter that inspires reading, learning and teaching in community. It is a meeting to read and encourage reflection and criticism of a book, a fragment, an article, a poster or other material that is selected according to the questions and concerns of the communities themselves. A group of three or four people already makes up a reading circle: they can be boys or girls, young people, adults, men, women or everyone together; It depends on each zone, on the appropriate time so as not to interfere in agricultural tasks, and on the spirit that each librarian, coordinator or community inspires. Finally, reading is what brings us together.

From Cajabamba, in Condorcucho our sister Laura Palacios and in the sector of Araqueda, animated by our coordinator Jacinto Aguilar, carry out their meetings with reading and the offering to the land. In Cajamarca, in the sector of Jesus, Marcial Rumay; Santos Rodríguez, from Cortegana, in Celendín; Donaida Guevara, from Masintranca, and Rigoberto Vásquez, from Chalamarca, in Chota. In Contumazá, Ramiro Yglesias does not stop organising several reading circles; in Cutervo, our brothers Camilo Quiroz, in La Congona sector; César Eladio Burga, in La Ramada; Jorge Carrasco, in the sector of San Juan, conducts reading circles with adults and children.

In Bambamarca, Hualgayoc, our librarians Lino Gálvez in the sector of Ahijadero; Antero Vásquez, in Pújupe; Víctor Carranza, in the Chala sector. For the sector of San Isidro, in San Marcos, Antonio Vilchez performs monthly reading circles and always with the offering to the land. And, in Huamachuco, in the province of La Libertad, Rocío Altamirano encourages shared reading with children, with people who have migrated from different provinces and with people who cannot read: in this case, children are the teachers. In this way, also, reading is encouraged with children who have not yet learned to read but are listening readers, another way of reading in the countryside,

Many of the books used in the reading circles are from the Los nuestros collection, editions that reflect the Andean traditions and memory of the Cajamarcan campesinos, and which continues to be the commitment of our Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca. The books written by our brother and co-founder of the Network, Alfredo Mires Ortiz, are also read often, such as "Resuellos", "El hombre que curaba", "El Duende del Laberinto", among many others.

The rural librarians encourage and enthusiastically give to these meetings on reading, to remember that we are not alone, that we are still here, and that the communities of Cajamarca are still alive through their stories, through their immense wisdom.

2018 Calendar

We gladly bring you the 2018 Calendar of the Network, in JPG or PDF version. Or printed, if the cost by mail is not very high! Don't hesitate to write to us.

Thanks to the minga

In the month of November, prior to the completion of the General Assembly of the Network, we needed to prepare 6000 fascicles of tales from the Campesino Library Collection, series "and Other Tales."

For this we summoned a minga (voluntary and communitarian work) and then we were able to count on the invaluable presence of some friends of the network: in minga, they supported the review, preparation and organization of this important material of reading, learning, and oral memory, as well as the opportunity for families to gather together and, of course, they supported the rural librarians in almost the entire Cajamarca region.

Thanks a lot!

Meeting of the Encyclopedia and Assembly of the Network

Here I am because I have come

And because I have come I am

So that the future shines

We have to fight for today.

Come to the flower which is my table

Come to beautify those who doubt

Come fly if necessary

Come to cheer those who sweat.

Celebrating reading in Jaén

The teacher Sara Moreno Alberca sent us this pleasant news from the Province of Jaén:

“The Open Library of the Pedagogical Superior Institute Víctor Andrés Belaunde began operating in the year 2016 through the Social Sciences speciality, following the experience of the Network of Rural Libraries, thanks to the initial donation of twenty five books with stories of the Cajamarcan culture, whose readings were incorporated into the development of curricular areas.

This year the gesture has been continued together with colleague Eduardo Cajandilay, of the speciality of Communication.

The librarian is student Laura Quiliche Gómez, who integrates into the speciality of Social Sciences. And I undertake the coordination.

The Network of Rural Libraries has made a second instalment of books, with which we feel privileged and very grateful.

The library works in the speciality classroom, has a bookshelf and books are borrowed out to home.”

How you encourage us, telling us of your journey!

Many more, more together, stronger!

Valuing

In mid-November, the monitoring, evaluation and planning meeting of the Community Programme took place.

Almost all of the coordinators came together on this important date. We were also able to count on the assistance of a mother and a girl with projectable capacities.

Stopping to reflect on the progress and difficulties of our work and our organization is very important to us. It is a great joy to realize that we always find more achievements than difficulties and that we never surrender; someone always gives us an alternative, a light to continue and improve.

After much recounting, revising and debating, as the last exercise of evaluation each one of us noted in a paper shaped like a drop of water – essential for life and very significant in the Cajamarcan context – the best thing that has happened to us in this year's work.

And so, together, we create our tree of hope.

Journeying

In recent months we have made several trips to the countryside under the banner of the work of the Community Programme. First we went to San Marcos, then to Chota and on our last outing we went to Bambamarca.

It is always a joy to meet the children; they always greet us with a smile and a hug: to see their joy and their advances encourages and motivates us.

The interest of the families and the effort to help their children reach their potential is a huge stimulus for us; as are the shared moments during the therapy sessions we do or the conversations as we share the table.

Here are some experiences that we have lived during these last outings:

* We gave a training course on basal stimulation at the San Marcos Special Education Centre. There we met a child with infantile cerebral palsy and his mother. The mother was enthused by the attention of our coordinator Silvia Pajares and they are now looking forward to continuing with this attention. This persevering interest also shows the value of what we do.

* In Chota we were impressed by so many children with whom our coordinator Sergio Diaz is working since the beginning of the year. All of these children – newly incorporated into the program – have multiple disabilities. It is a great challenge for Sergio especially because, until now, he catered to children with less difficulties. When we asked him about it, he said:

– Yes, it's true, it's harder to work with these kids, but it also gives me a lot more realization.

We really salute this attitude and this commitment.

* In Bambamarca we found our friend José Isaí, who was born with just one complete leg. With the help of our coordinator Nanci Huamán, in the same community they found a carpenter and a gentleman with a lot of knowledge in orthopedic devices: together they made a prosthesis for Joseph Isaí.

* Belvin Franco is attended by our coordinator Humberto Huamán. In just one year, this child with severe cerebral palsy learned to walk. The joy and satisfaction of the family – and of us, obviously – was immense to see him walk.

And so, walking, journeying, we learn and grow together.