Space, voice and vote

In November, the Community Program stopped: as we do every year, we take time to review and evaluate our work.

It is good to remember what fails us, celebrate what we achieve and together, plan the next steps. And it is even better if we do it as a family.

This time we had the opportunity to share this experience with the Parent Groups of Huayrasitana, Numbral, Conga Blanca, Rejopampa and several other communities of Chota.

And it wasn't just the adults who talked: also children with projectable abilities had space, voice and vote in this process. For that we apply different techniques and open new forms of participation to strengthen consensus.

Thank you all for making these meetings possible!

The BRIEs shine

On November 28, the BRIE (Rural Library in Educational Institution) was formally inaugurated in IE Ricardo Palma, San José de Lourdes district, San Ignacio province.

Students and teachers attended with a spirit that we would like to see multiplied in more communities.

“They have put their hearts into it and it shows in the librarian's smile,” said Marleny Olivera, Coordinator of our Network in the area.

The librarian is Deysi Olivia Pintado Camacho: for her and hers, ours, we send an embrace of many arms.

The ñaupas help us

In the Community Program we have younger and younger parents, and their children present what ‘officially’ is known as temporary disability, that is, learning difficulties, hyperactivity or behavioral problems.

As a strategy and to remind parents that they are responsible for the life and improvement of their children, a few years ago we printed papers where our coordinators write together the tasks for parents. "Help me every day with my speech therapies" or "Take me for a walk three times a week," you can read on these personalized posters.

Gino and Kelvin have greatly improved their mood with these highlighted responsibilities. Now they pay more attention and do their homework even better, help at home and know how good it is to behave beautifully.

You will see how happy the family is!

Magdalena reads

Our friend José Julio Estela continues to send us photos, celebrating the spirit of reading that has been awakened in Magdalena with our books.

We join that celebration!

25 years: words sprout

The voice of Fiorela (a girl from the community of Huarrago, province of Cutervo) and a member of the Community Program for the Accompaniment of Children with Projectable Capacities, began the reading of ‘Gabi's eyes’; then Alfredo told how Gabi (the girl with cerebral palsy) "spoke" with her eyes and told him what is written in this booklet.

Rita, responsible for the Program for 25 years, recalled how this enthusiasm was born in a General Assembly of Librarians of the Network, through which the spirit became collective and from that moment the books, therapies, support of coordinators with natural medicine, advice on food, care and treatment of children was and has been the guiding star of the Program.

The voice of Mara and Rumi and the volunteer Coordinators were present, relating the impact and transcendence that the Community Program has had in their lives.

The voice of all, full of admiration and respect for the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca that celebrates, in one of its Programs, the permanence of goodness, love and absolute dedication to the cause of peasant families, who require a voice of support, encouragement and a thousand community voices saying that we are not alone, that here we are, we are all.

Congratulations Rita, coordinators, families for their first 25 years of precious work!

Mayra learns to read

Mayra lives in Liuchucolpa, in the highlands of Bambamarca, province of Hualgayoc. After three years she was integrated into the Community Program for the accompaniment of children with projectable capacities, by our coordinator Nanci Huamán.

At this time, Mayra could not walk. Nanci prepared rubs of traditional Andean remedies that she had learned from her mother. She also massaged Mayra: little by little, the girl took her first steps.

Now Mayra runs and also goes to school. There she learns, although with difficulty. Camila, Nanci's daughter, is Mayra's classmate and helps her with difficult tasks. Happily they were blessed by a conscientious teacher, with much patience. 

Mayra still has a hard time spelling, but she loves the stories of the Rural Library Network which call her attention a lot.

We are sure that Mayra - with the help of our elders' words - will one day be reading even better!

So in the flowers as in the fire

The hummingbird, ‘winged deity’, is the center of the work that our brother Alfredo wanted to share, years ago, in this book published by the Rural Library Network of Cajamarca.

These letters offer the most varied gifts: if your interest lies in the sacredness, the soul and the depths of the Andean peoples; in the way of life, bodily characteristics and the character of the hummingbird; if you want to know about the Andean peoples and other worldviews; if the  stories, myths and legends call you; if you want poetry, drawings and community inspiration; if you want to refresh your eyes with the beautiful iconography of our winged god; if you seek a sensitive approach and, at the same time deep, stuck to the earth and, at the same time, supported by sources ... in sum, if you want to simply inhabit other worlds other than the frantic, polluted, arrogant and commercial world of today, immerse yourself in So in the flowers as in the fire: you will be moved, shocked and in love with the birds and the flowers, of the Andean and peasant world; of this earth, our spirit and the hummingbirds, our order-givers, fertilizers and eternal shamans.