Launch of Primordial Shrines

This Thursday, August 22, we will be presenting the book “Primordial Sanctuaries - Rock Art in Cajamarca, Peru”, a work of many years carried out by our partner Alfredo Mires Ortiz.

The ceremony will be held at 7:00 p.m. (exact time), at our headquarters located at Avenida Peru No. 416.

Everyone is invited!

Commitment and volunteering

Sergio Díaz is a community member of Masintranca, in the Province of Chota, and is one of the veteran coordinators of the Network. Sergio does not cease his commitment and volunteering since he joined us.

Today Don Sergio has come in the company of Don Edilberto Rodrigo, to help us with the maintenance of the house.

This walk always appreciates the sizeable display of effort and affection.

Workshop in Cajabamba

In July we were in Cajabamba with teachers from educational institutions in a workshop that we called ‘Reading for others’. We talked about the proposal that the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca has and the reasons to promote reading from the Cajamarcan countryside.

It will always be part of our conception to ask what we read and for what, what are the spaces and places of reading; Review how we practice reading at school, at home, in communities and in families, also reflecting and looking for how not to fall into or remain in those apathetic or mechanical teaching practices, immersed in little enthusiasm and low mood.

The Network wants to extend and deepen reading: reading books, but also reading the wonders of our land, of our communities.

Reading is not a mere educational or curricular issue: reading, as we try to inspire it, is an “extraordinary human force” in which “the word is embodied”, in which the places of reading are multiple and diverse, campesino and planetary. 

Regarding Sayings and Writings

In recent days we shared with our friends the publication No.1 of the series ‘Sayings and writings’ of our Network. We have had pleasant answers. Thank you very much to all! Here we share one, by Didier Álvarez (Professor EIB, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia):

“Happy and moved I receive these "Sayings and writings"; it will be for my reason of deep joy to be able to continue receiving them because they are the voice of brothers and teachers: the men of the earth, the serene men, children of their beloved Mother. Fraternal greeting."

Readings

Today the Network extends to more than 500 communities, in the thirteen provinces of Cajamarca and in the area of Huamachuco, in the Department of La Libertad.

Coordinators and library families are points of contact and link with nearby communities. Our libraries are distributed in diverse geographical sectors, grouped by zones and sectors throughout the northern highlands of Peru.

This communion is beautiful, this walk together!

Message

I read with pleasure all the texts of Rural Libraries and they always "wake me up" from this chaotic and denatured maelstrom that is "living" in a capital like Lima.

Thanks for thinking of me! Give my life a pause, I reflect and although a little far away, it gives me the privilege and honour of feeling "a little" close to you.

I deeply share your thoughts, your feelings, your relationship with our Mother Earth and, above all, the love and dedication to protect ancestral knowledge, a force against the wind and tide of our day.

Of course I feel honoured to continue receiving your publications and to know about your activities.

Thank you for such generosity and love!

Sara Lopez Vegas

Volume 22!

Volume 22 of our Campesino Encyclopedia of Cajamarca came out!

“The why of the when - The signs of nature in the Cajamarcan tradition"

The goblin ...

One of the publications of the Network of Rural Libraries that I like the most is El duende del laberinto.

Gather short stories written by Alfredo Mires, none longer than half a page. Alfredo calls them core tales and yes, they touch the core, the nucleus and the heart.

Each page is illustrated with beautiful images of rock art from Cajamarca, adapted to the content of the book.

The stories accompany me in many moments, in many situations: to reflect, to laugh, to think, to encourage meetings, to read them to others or to read them myself, for children and adults, for the countryside and the city, to welcome the morning or say goodbye to the day.

I want to share here two of my favourite core stories. I hope you like them:

Bread

God told the bread:

"Multiply yourself!"

And the bread replied:

"First multiply the flour."

God multiplied the flour.

"Now multiply the yeast," said the bread.

God multiplied the yeast.

"Now multiply the man willing to share me," said the bread.

God began to cry.

The earth

"What is that dung doing in the infinite?" Asked the God of Order.

"It is my creation," said the God of Love. "I will call it "earth."

"Wait to see the people I'm going to put on it ..." thought the God of Madness.

A reader