The Magic Barrel

Books are like children; some take a little longer to come into being. After a long wait, a new book from the Network has finally ‘been born’: *The Magic Barrel*, part of the *The Storyteller* series from the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca.

This book brings together ten texts from the oral tradition from different parts of the world. It contains stories by well-known authors such as Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, but also takes us to the Arab, French, English and even Chinese worlds with lesser-known writings. 

The author, Rumi Elías Mires Mocker, “tells his story (…) from the perspective of the archetypes of (Swiss doctor and psychologist) Carl Gustav Jung”, as our friend Grimaldo Rengifo mentions in the foreword to The Magic Barrel. And, indeed, at the end of each story you will find a description of the archetype that predominates in each text. 

The Network presented this new publication as part of our anniversary celebrations on 31 March. Thank you to all our friends who joined us on this occasion.

And thank you, Rumi, for taking us on this journey, for offering us new readings and new adventures, for your contributions and thoughts, for your critical eye and your encouragement, for your consistency and integrity.

The Magic Barrel is on sale at the headquarters of the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca.

Gustavo explains

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine from Medellín, Gustavo Oquendo, sent me a photo of a note he had written for a girl at his school. Gustavo is a secondary school teacher, and the girl is a primary school pupil at the same school. Despite her young age, she seems to be an extraordinary reader, and Gustavo wanted to give her one of the Network’s books as a token of recognition and encouragement. For this, he had chosen ‘Mandalas del Ñaupa’, one of our colouring books. 

I was moved not only by the gesture of rewarding this girl, but also by the explanation – so simple and precise – that Gustavo gives about the Rural Libraries Network and the Ñaupa. Here I share it with you:

Dear ___, I am your teacher, Gustavo.

I am sending you this book as a gift for your love of and talent for literature. I hope you fill it with your magic and essence.

A Ñaupa is an imaginary being, a cave painting from the northern highlands of Peru. He is a guardian of the earth, a caretaker of all beings in nature.

The Ñaupa is the symbolic figure of the rural libraries of Cajamarca in northern Peru; these libraries are built by the peasant farmers themselves, where they keep their books filled with legends and stories that recount their own lives and those of all beings in nature. Enjoy it.

With affection and appreciation.

Thank you, dear Gustavo, for sharing your thoughts.

Rita Mocker

A country

How sad is a nation

with no children to defend it,

and one must take care

that it is not sold off piece by piece.

How uncertain is a country where

the land and water are sold off,

and the rightful owners

are ignored, mocked and insulted.

Excerpts from the poem “A country”,

by Alfredo Mires Ortiz,

in: Resuellos

Original in Spanish:

Un país

Qué pena da una nación
sin hijos que la defiendan
y más bien hay que cuidar
que en pedazos no la vendan.

Qué incierto un país en donde
la tierra y agua se venden
y a los legítimos dueños
ignoran, burlan y ofenden.

fragmentos del poema “Un país”,
de Alfredo Mires Ortiz,
en: Resuellos

World Book Day in La Pauquilla, Cachachi

The BRIE (Rural Libraries in Schools) at the “Bicentenario” Educational Institution in the community of La Pauquilla, in Cachachi, Cajabamba, celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April in a very special way. We would like to share this wonderful experience with you, as recounted by its headteacher, Mr José Noé Hoyos Rodríguez, whilst also commending the efforts of this educational community to promote literature, reading and the value of books.

Today, 23 April, at the “Bicentenario La Pauquilla” Educational Institution, we marked a significant day for World Book Day, reaffirming our commitment to reading as a tool for transformation in a rural context. Students and teachers actively participated in various activities that fostered a love of books, critical thinking and creative expression.

In particular, the dramatised reading of “Paco Yunque” by César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza aroused great interest and emotion among those present, prompting reflection on justice, empathy and social reality through the lens of literature. These experiences reinforce the role of Rural Libraries in Educational Institutions (BRIE) as vibrant spaces for learning, gathering and the development of citizenship.  

José Noé Hoyos Rodríguez

Book Day in Jaén

Dear family of the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca. 

At the “Sagrado Corazón” School in Jaén, we also celebrated Book Day. 

We organised an activity where the pupils visited the two places with books: the Reading Promotion Room and the Library.

We’ve had a lovely experience all week. And most importantly: our students have enjoyed reading. Taking them to a different space, where they can read more freely and choose what they want, helped a great deal. They were delighted with the books, and some of the young people have returned at another time to finish reading their favourite book.

The Rural Libraries Network was present throughout with its books: beautiful and meaningful, full of tradition, identity and wisdom.

This message came to us from the “Sagrado Corazón” School in Jaén, where one of the Network’s first Rural Libraries in Schools (BRIE) was established.

Thank you, Ms Elizabeth and the school community, for sharing this wonderful initiative with us.

We are us

We build community by helping one another, sharing what we know, exchanging goods, looking after one another, protecting one another. “We are not one without the other,” as our comrade Alfredo Mires used to say.

Today we celebrate the arrival of another major publication from the Network: *We are Us*, now in its second edition. This companion book returns with peasant reflections on Andean tradition; on the knowledge of our ancestors, on values rooted in respect for oneself, but also for others.

We invite you to read it so that we may continue to learn from one another, or rather: learn together; come together to celebrate every achievement, value who we are and what we know, care for the planet, and keep creating.

Remembering…

In Eduardo Galeano’s *The Book of Embraces*, there is a passage that reads: “To remember: from the Latin *re-cordis*, to pass through the heart once more”. 

It is a very apt phrase that explains how our memory is not merely a repository of information, but the ability to relive past emotions, people, situations and lessons in the present.

Between 2017 and 2021, at Rural Libraries we were delighted to welcome Nathalia Quintero Castro, a Colombian friend who was writing her doctoral thesis on the journeys of the Network. Nathalia presented this thesis in 2022 under the title The Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca in Peru: Andean Trajectories and Geographies, and dedicates it, amongst others, to “her ayllu in the city of Cajamarca, the Mires Mocker family, and her community ayllu comprising all the librarian families of the Rural Libraries Network”.

Nathalia’s thesis is a text brimming with experiences, convictions, encouragement and connections, with memories, feelings, journeys and loves. 

From time to time, I read, look at and listen to this thesis. And so, I revisit the words, thoughts and voices within my heart. Because the thesis exists not only on paper, but also as a living digital document.

Here is the link:

https://view.genial.ly/61b78c92838ab70d8b349be2/presentation-red-de-bibliotecas-rurales-de-cajamarca

Thank you, dear Nathalia, for this gift.

Rita Mocker