Council of Elders

One of the main entities of the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca is the Council of Elders.

This body is formed, in principle, by the veterans and oldest members of our organization, understanding - obviously - that wisdom not only comes with the years, but also with experience and affection.

The Council of the Elders ensures the good treatment between us and respect for our conception and our principles; gives advice in difficult situations and supports when there are doubts about the crucial and ethical contents of our association. It advises - in a cultured and wise way - how we can solve critical problems or situations taking into account the teachings of our grandparents, in a coherent and consistent way.

For several years, the Council of Elders did not meet, since its members could not attend meetings and assemblies in Cajamarca - whether for personal, health or age reasons.

At the beginning of February, the Assembly renewed the Council of Elders, confirming as members Jacinto Aguilar (from the community of Carrizal, in Cajabamba) and José Isabel Ayay (from Chilimpampa, Cajamarca), and greeting as new members Antonio Vílchez (from San Isidro, San Marcos) and Marcos Florián (from Taya el Colal, Contumazá).

Thank you, grandparents and parents of ours: with the greatest respect.

Starting the rescue

Professor Sara Moreno Alberca, from the province of Jaén, attended the last Assembly of the Network. Sara is a teacher at the Pedagogical Higher Pedagogical Institute "Víctor Andrés Belaúnde" and, several years ago, is trying to link the formation of Social Sciences teachers with the tasks of Rural Libraries, both in the subject of reading and in the cultural framework .

For that, in 2018 a student internship was held at our headquarters in Cajamarca, where we tried, among others, to awaken interest in the collection and rescue of Andean culture.

It is difficult to learn to weave this intimate relationship so that our grandparents open their minds and hearts and tell us their stories and wisdom. For that, you want time, patience, love and practice. It is a long process that involves, above all, learning to listen to be able to understand the fantastic and powerful world of our ancestors.

The students of Jaén have started with this challenge and Sara Moreno, this time, brought us an album full of stories that they have rescued. Thank you for your trust and for this beautiful gift.

To mistake is human II

Several years ago we put on our blog a little note related to the change of names of the books: in a receipt, a proforma, a request, a report, etc., the names appear changed.

Some changes, as we said, are in anthology and therefore, we keep recording these alterations.

Here we share them again and with some new ones:

Real title	Changed title
Así en las flores como en el fuego	Así en las flores como el esfuerzo
Bailando amaneceremos	Bailando amaneceres
Bailando amaneceremos	Balando amaneceremos
Barro bendito	Barrio bendito
El color que no se olvida	El calor que no se olvida
Hermano cuy, hermana yuta	Hermano cuy, hermana yunta
Jesús el salvador	Jesús el salador
La bibliotecología y el mal ladrón	La bibliotecología y el más ladrón
La mala muerte y otros cuentos	La mala suerte y otros cuentos
La peña del cura y otros cuentos	La pena del cura y otros cuentos
La peña del cura y otros cuentos	La pequeña del cura y otros cuentos
Las comidas vivas	Las corridas vivas
Lo que cuento no es mi cuento	Lo que cuento no es mi cuenta
Los doce trabajos de Hércules	Los doce trabajos de Ercoles
Los seres del más acá	Los seres del más allá
Los siete consejos y otros cuentos	Los siete conejos y otros cuentos
Música, maestro	Música adentro
Redacción escolar	Reducción escolar
Serán dados los besos	Serán dados los versos
Tintes y tejidos	Tintes y quejidos
Trenzando sombras	Trenzando sobras
Trenzando sombras	Pensando sombras
Versitos y pechadas	Versitos y pechugas

Festival of Exchange and General Assembly

How beautiful the Exchange Party in the General Assembly of our Network!

Gathered were more than 60 people: women, men, youth and children, all volunteers, we took on the task of preparing and living this celebration of books, reading, and exchange.

Our librarians bring and carry the books to be rotated through the countryside of Cajamarca: they added to their bundles of books more that were destined to sustain reading circles in their communities.

Thanks to all the people that make this meeting possible; Thank you for continuing to encourage the journey of the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca, a human, educational, farming and Andean network.

Oscar Garay, present

At the beginning of May 2018, our brother Oscar Garay -who was a veteran member of the Network and at some point a General Coordinator-, died in an accident while participating in community work in Jerez (Province of Celendín), his land native.

In several Assemblies and mingas that we had here, at the base of the Network, Oscar attended in the company of his little son Fran.

Today, already a youth, Fran made the decision to continue the legacy of his father: in our recent General Assembly in February, Fran was present and confirmed his will.

The community embraced his decision: today he is the new Coordinator of Rural Libraries in Jerez.

Nothing stops the journey of those who live and dream.

Sharing what is ours

Ours is the community, ours is respect, ours is the land that our elders have left us; thus, they taught us wisdom and we must know how to honor them.

Each Assembly in the Network of Rural Libraries is an opportunity to learn in community, to value what is ours, to rescue the wisdom of our elders, and to thank our mother earth for the fruits that she lavishes on us. This time we not only enjoyed the books, but also the rich potatoes, corn, chochoca, rice, peas, yuccas, coffee, chocolate, bananas, tomatoes and other fruits, blessed and fresh, that our companions brought from Jaén, Cutervo, Chota, Hualgayoc, Celendín, Contumazá, San Marcos and Cajabamba.

Not only is it a common pot, it's a prodigious meal!

Welcome!

We would like to welcome our brothers and sisters as new network coordinators and librarians: Marleny Violeta Olivera, Olga Asunción Estela, Clara Flores, Flavio Herrera, Fran Garay, Jesus Fernandez, Miguel Cupertino Quiroz and Serapio Sánchez, who were ratified by the community gathered in our General Assembly.

This means that we affirm and expand in the provinces of Celendín, San Marcos, San Pablo, San Ignacio and Huamachuco (Department of La Libertad).

Happily the humblest are those who best agree with what the philosopher Cicero said more than two thousand years ago: "The supreme law is the good of the people."

Thank you for your voluntary and determined presence!

Minga in the Assembly

In many ways, a General Assembly of the Network is a festival, for the joy that is shared and the enthusiasm that is lavished, but - perhaps even more so - for its sense of celebration and homage.

It is a time to evaluate and plan, to train together, to rescue our traditions and to celebrate our all'pata paguikun (the offering to the earth, to the apus and the deceased).

But this time we also celebrated the coming together for 'minga' (working voluntarily in community): from five in the morning we were already cleaning the house, patching the walls, arranging the gardens, fixing the ceilings and looking after our spaces.

Large and small, women and men, alone and in groups, coming from all corners of the region, the rural librarians remind us of the value of the community. And the certainty that it is possible to grow together.

Nathalia with the Network

Just in time to prepare the books for the exchange, the Reader's Records, the calendars, posters and other materials for each library, our friend and volunteer Nathalia Quintero arrived from Colombia, to be integrated again for another time in the Central Team in Cajamarca.

Nathalia - besides being a volunteer and responsible for the Technical Secretariat of Rural Libraries - is doing her PhD on the Network. She has been accompanying us since 2017 at various times and is slowly organizing our Exchange Center.

Thank you, Nathalia, for your company, your support and your great friendship. Welcome, always!