The journey of the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca
I was fortunate to live in Zaña for a few years. And in that fortune the blessing of forming close friendships with those who –from the Latin American church–, had committed their lives to this continent of hope.
A lot of jail was threatened, much liberation demanded, much dictatorship imposed, many dreams cultivated, a lot of silence raged, much protest emerged, a lot of despair indulged the night, and much faith welcomed the dawn.
It was the '70s and I was little more than a kid with the fuzz of my beard barely peeking out. And that time was a seedbed of readings, reflections, celebrations, songs, meetings and walks with other young people, a little younger: Gerardo Prince, Mabel St. Louis, Pancho Murphy, Wendy Cotter and many others whose dreaming kept them awake.
That seed sowing multiplied the bonds, the correspondence and the unions. The community to which we aspired was lived and interwoven at the same time. That is how I met Fr. John Medcalf, with whom I joined forces in the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca. At the end of 1980 I came here and a year later Fr. John returned to his homeland; it was then I knew that my task was even greater.
Because the dreams of that endearing seedbed never left; because reality is still a challenge; because the poor keep crying out to heaven; because the search for truth, justice and community is a cause that is loved, joyful, intense and just.
Just as plants need water and crops need fertilizer, the mind needs to be nourished with knowledge, take root from memories, and flourish from hope in the future. For that, books are a marvellous tool, and collective reading a way of organizing and liberating ourselves.
Alfredo Mires Ortiz
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