Not ours is the sound
of dismay
nor the calamity
of impunity.
Not ours is the society
of satiety
nor the eloquence
of decadence.
It is not ours the order
of nausea
the upside-down judge
the whorish deputy
nor the delinquent
president.
Alfredo Mires
in: Romance of the mountain
Books! It is a celebration to find a new book, it is an awakening of many emotions and of special gratitude; either because they were chosen with great care according to the needs of the readers, or even more, because most of them tell our history. In them we can find the wisdom of our grandparents, they narrate the respectful connection of man with nature, they unite us and make us feel proud of our roots, not to mention being our own productions, written in our own language.
Thus in each Assembly we celebrate the Festival of Exchange, a very special moment because, just as in the countryside where products are still exchanged, here books are exchanged - amid smiles, songs, recitals, readings, questions, recommendations and more.
The books arrive and leave for the communities to continue to encourage us, to be companions and great advisors.
Today, 24th September, 2024, at 9:30 am in the classroom of 2 “A” of the secondary level of the I.E. “Petronila Abad Carrión”, in the hamlet of La Victoria, belonging to the province of Utcubamba, we carried out a little paguikun (offering) to the earth, recognizing and valuing our living family - like the water, mountains, earth and also our dear departed.
At the same time, we reflected on the damage we cause by the greed of human beings for possessing more material wealth and destroying ourselves, as in the case of forest fires. A student made me realize that, in our village, water and electricity services are constantly suspended due to drought and high temperatures.
We also rescued the voices of our villagers who say:
“Times have changed; little by little the flow of the Utcubamba River is decreasing and becoming polluted”.
Then, the students, excited, formed themselves in a circle: they had brought the elements for this ceremony. They said to me:
“Teacher, I brought my grandmother's yonque (cañazo, aguardiente)”, ‘I brought the sugar’, ‘I brought the roses from my garden’, ‘I brought the corn that my dad harvests in my farm’, ‘I brought the lentils that I like so much’, ‘I think we need to recognize the music’, among other comments.
It was beautiful to see how the students took the initiative. They spread out a crocheted and embroidered blanket and placed the saddlebags, bracelets and other things. Their curiosity and joy was phenomenal; it made me realize that they wanted to learn; one student said to me:
“Professor, who taught you?”
Quickly the face of our beloved teacher Alfredo Mires Ortiz and the beautiful memories we had in Cajamarca came to my mind. And, in a summarized way, I told my students a little about the Cajamarcan Libraries Network and how I learned this beautiful ritual.
Then I explained to them when they can do this ceremony; for example, when they are about to start planting, during the harvest and even after the harvest as a thank you to our Pachamama for all that has been achieved. We also read the prayers to the three elements: earth, Apus and the deceased. Then I started, taking some coca leaves and making a little ball with the help of my hands, I gave three breaths and left them inside the clay pots. I took the sugar and finally, in the form of rain, I added the yonque.
At the end I mentioned the word “All'imiri, all'imiri, all'imiri”. I explained that it meant “It is good, it is good, it is good” and so we continued with all the participants.
Finally, we culminated with a reflection from a student, highlighting the value of what our elders teach us and how beautiful it is to value the knowledge they possess. Then, another student, in a special way, asked me not to bury our offering because she wanted to bury it in her farm and teach her parents what she had learned.
I take with me this beautiful experience with my students. We had a different class, very meaningful for everyone. A class of Andean cosmovision or cosmovivencia, as Alfredo would say.
I know that it is a challenge to get out of the routine of teaching, that many teachers cling to the traditional when teaching, that sometimes we are blindfolded and indifferent to the needs and changes required by the environment where we work.
That is why, together with two other teachers, we have also started to change an abandoned and dirty space, which was the library, and we have planted tamarind and coconut plants in our school.
I want to teach my colleagues, students and friends to learn and unlearn many things, to show them that there is a robotic classroom that limits us.
We are already taking our first steps in this journey.
Miguel Lopez
The students of the school “Sagrado Corazón” - Jaén, who participate in the weekly workshops of reading animation, applied a technique to create a new text: “tracing poetic structures”, and for this they used as a literary source the poem “Vengo” (I come from) by Alfredo Mires Ortiz, published in the book “Romance de la montaña”, (Romance of the mountain), page 44.
Our readers read the poem and then answered the question “And where do you imagine that you can come from?”, the answers were not long in coming: from a hidden stone, said one, from a green leaf, said another, from a volcano fire, said a third, and in this way they were socializing what their imagination dictated.
Then, they received the poetic structure that they were going to trace and the poetic results were interesting and praiseworthy.
Here, I share some of their productions:
I COME FROM some rain drop.
FROM some sad cloud I come.
PERHAPS I AM a path without a road.
PERHAPS I AM a meaningless text.
I COME from some haunted forest.
FROM SOME part of space I come.
PERHAPS I AM a king without a crown.
PERHAPS I AM the light of my path.
Dalton Jhampiero Lozano Ruiz
First grade. 2024
I COME from a bird of hot fire.
FROM SOME purple moon I come.
PERHAPS I AM breakable grass.
PERHAPS I AM a blue meteorite.
I COME from some floating bubble in space.
I COME FROM SOME haunted house.
PERHAPS I AM an invisible wizard.
PERHAPS I AM a witch in love.
Dayira Sleiter Dávila Solano
First. 2024
VIII
Drunk with sunshine
the leaves fall
to give thanks
to the earth
that gave them body.
XXII
I went away, I arrived
but to another place.
XXXII
Absencemeter:
apparatus for measuring the distance
from heart to heart.
XLIV
One plus one is one:
you, me, us,
the world.
Alfredo Mires
in: How to go to bed undecided and wake up ready to take a risk
This is Elena, our kitten, our companion. We received her for adoption when she was two months old, to keep us and Micaela, our older cat, who, until then, was a loner.
Elena, who quickly adapted to our company, was playful and very mischievous; she loved to roam and doze on the office furniture, leaving us the souvenir of her fluff.
When we arrived at the Network's premises, Elena was waiting for us with a tender meow, she would lie down on the floor and show us her tummy, to stroke it, then she would follow us to the offices to keep us company.
Elena was a very affectionate kitty, she would jump up and down and be patting us, kneading us and relaxing us with her purr.
When new books arrived she was the first to check them out: she smelled them, looked over them and sat on them, as if to say these books were mine...
Elena got lost one morning in June, we don't know exactly what happened; she didn't climb the roof or leave by the door. We searched for her for days and weeks, hoping to find her. Several months have passed now since her disappearance..., we know nothing about her. We prefer to think that one day she will return. We look at the work table and imagine that she is there, asleep on the books.
We miss you, Elena...! We only have the consolation of thinking that you are happy and that you are giving happiness to the people who are now with you...
Hello, I'm Luis Ángel Gálvez Carajulca, I'm 10 years old, I'm in the fourth grade. I study at the Institución Educativa Nº 82663 Bambamarca.
Reading is the most beautiful thing for me, especially when I read the stories told by our grandparents.
I am excited to share with you today about my participation in the event ‘Bambamarca reads’, on the 28th of August, organised by the CEBA ‘Alcides Vásquez’, in Bambamarca.
There I read the story: ‘El zorro y el Huaychao’. I started reading a bit nervously, but little by little I gained the attention of the young people present. I heard them giggling and talking quietly because of the particular language in which this story is written, such as ‘oye sobrinito, cose pue mi hocico, pa’ silvar pue a las chinas’ - “fiu, fiu”, among other words that some of us still speak, pue, here in the countryside.
I was so happy that when I finished reading I realised that I had got everyone's attention. Now I am a happy and even better reader of the dear books of the Rural Library of my Educational Institution.
