The Dream of the Ñaupa

All beings are alive.

All life is sacred.

The whole earth is a temple.

Alfredo Mires

Grateful

Books are food for the mind. How right the person who said that was! Not only because of their content, but because reading them transports us to incredible worlds and enriches our minds. For this reason, we are grateful for the initiative of the Blanco and Barboza families, who have donated books to us. These are a valuable contribution to the readers of our rural libraries and enable us to offer a wider variety of titles to continue encouraging reading. 

If you would also like to support us by donating books, please get in touch with us so that we can continue on this path we have set out on with your valuable help.

Thank you for believing in us…

Back to School

A few days ago, a new school year began in our country.

At this time of year, with a bit of luck, schools are spruced up with a lick of paint, toilet repairs, and the tidying up of cupboards, amongst other tasks. Teachers review and draw up their lesson plans, timetables, and all the guidelines they need to ensure a successful year.

As librarians, we simply hope that the libraries in every single school in our country are also given a boost, and that, hopefully, children are welcomed with a book in hand, along with plans, projects and strategies to encourage and inspire reading for better understanding.

At this time, given the state of the world, more than ever, we need to develop the critical thinking, discernment and creativity of children and young people, based on what they read.

Without reading, we cannot achieve the quality education we so desire.

Sócota in FA

It’s always a source of joy and encouragement when new libraries open.

At our last meeting, the Network’s teacher and librarian, Abel Vásquez Saucedo, brought a large number of books to open two BRs in FA in Sócota, Cutervo: Rural Libraries in Families!

The BRs in FA are part of an initiative that emerged during the pandemic when, in the most remote parts of Peru, where there are no mobile phones or internet signal, students went almost two years without effective support from teachers and educational institutions. 

These mini family libraries that we created in this context were the only source of information and learning for many children. They also provided a reason to gather again in the evenings, as a family, after a day’s farm work, around the fire, to read.

They are now spreading throughout the Network’s territory, thanks to initiatives such as those of Mr Abel.

Thank you very much and welcome to our ayllu of Libraries!

 

We also learn from our land

On 25th February, our brothers José Isabel Ayay Valdéz and Javier Huamán Lara held a discussion as part of a course on Spanish Linguistics at the National University of Cajamarca.

Many people might express disdain (and possibly be scandalised) at the idea of two peasant farmers taking part in such an ‘academic’ activity, and even more so at a university.

The truth is that knowledge comes from everywhere and none of it deserves to be looked down upon, a view we have upheld in our network since our inception. 

Furthermore, the reality is that education is not confined to four grey walls with young people chained to desks for eight hours a day, facing someone who has (academically) a little more experience than they do. Education is a phenomenon that cuts across the fabric of human existence and often comes from the most unexpected places.

This is borne out by the students who took part in this activity, who also affirmed that Don Javier and Don José Isabel delivered a masterclass in Quechua and Andean culture.

Rumi Mires

On permanence and new beginnings

Those familiar with the Rural Libraries Network know that we view our association not as a hierarchical entity, but – in keeping with Andean tradition – as a horizontal organisation. Our organisational chart resembles a mandala, those Hindu diagrams that represent the cosmos through a series of concentric circles and recurring patterns.

Within this, one of the circles or ‘figures’ is the Permanent Council, a consultative body across various areas of the Network.

For a long time, this body was inactive; the advanced age of some of our members, the pandemic and other factors prevented us from meeting. In 2025, at our last assembly, we formed a new Permanent Council, made up of field coordinators, teachers and volunteers from the Network.

On 19 February, after many years, the new council met for the first time. We felt great joy, satisfaction, encouragement, light and hope, a great deal of dedication and many new ideas and initiatives in this space for listening and debate.

It seems that this council has a many dawns.

23 February

On 23 February, Alfredo Mires would have turned 65. His subtle humour, his storytelling ability, and the way he drew me into the fascination of his thoughts made me see the world through different eyes. It is something I miss deeply. That is why, so often, I read and reread his writings. Today I would like to share an excerpt from one of Alfredo’s many lectures with you.

Memory lies at the nucleus of a people’s identity, but that nucleus must be opened up, for the legal record is like a shell that suffocates it. Hence the value of maieutics, the art of helping to give birth, of bringing forth what is dearest to the heart. For memory need not be subject to domination when it possesses the independence of a committed heart and the vigour of an indomitable spirit (let me take this opportunity to pay public tribute to squirrels: it seems they do indeed possess a fruitful forgetfulness, for as they do not always remember where they have buried their nuts, they are responsible, year after year, for the birth of hundreds of thousands of trees).

Thank you, Alfredo, for your teachings, for your presence amongst us, for accompanying us on our journey, always.

Rita

Upbringing, ayllu and apus

From 19 to 21 February 2026, we gathered at the General Assembly with the coordinators of the Rural Libraries, the teachers from the Rural Libraries in educational institutions, some volunteers, the central team and the Permanent Council of the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca. Days of minga, book swaps, laughter, learning, reading and reflection.

At this assembly, we took plenty of time to understand where we come from, what we can contribute to society and how being part of the Network shapes us. 

At Rural Libraries, we learn the profound meaning of CRIANZA (upbringing). For when we speak of rural libraries, we speak of the Andes, and thus of crianza: the cultivation of potatoes and other foods, seeds, plants and small animals; crianza implies care and protection, conversation and attunement with life.

But Rural Libraries is also AYLLU, understood as an extended family, the community of those who love and respect one another. Ayllu are the mountains and lakes, the trees, the stones that are alive and converse; the hummingbirds, like ‘winged gods’, the small animals, the humans or runes: all are part of this great Andean librarian family.

And, likewise, Rural Libraries has taught us that the APUS, our sacred mountains, possess strength and vitality; they are and exist, they accompany us and converse with us. They are Wak’a mountains, protectors and guardians, a place where the power of the community manifests itself.

Being part of Rural Libraries is, then, all of that. And it is our desire and duty to continue teaching and sharing this way of seeing and living life.

That's right!

A few weeks ago, we saw a post on Instagram: a carnival mask featuring a ñaupita character. The painting was done by artist Kim-Libélula.

As a team, we immediately reviewed the post because we know that many people and institutions make use of the work, the product of the arduous research of our late brother Alfredo Mires, and never mention the source, much less acknowledge the artistic author of the drawings published in the iconography books of the Rural Libraries Network. As an example, let's look at the posters of the Cajamarca carnival... But this time was different because the painter mentions that she made her mask with Alfredo Mires' iconography, so we are happy to continue sharing the vast legacy that Alfredo left us.

We sincerely recognise Kim-Libélula's work and her respect for the work of others.

Long-time friends

In the midst of preparations for our first assembly of the year, we received a pleasant visit.

Jerónimo and Clara, friends of Esperanza TM, came to share fond memories with us, talk about our work in libraries, and rethink new horizons in this ever-changing world.

Thank you, dear friends, for your trust, your solidarity and support, and for always accompanying us. Our journey becomes easier; our spirits are lifted by your kind words, good humour, sincere actions, admiration and respect.

You are always welcome in this great family of yours, the Rural Libraries Network.

The wig

With such sorrow, life went bald. She was ashamed to walk around like that. So she gathered bits of joy and made herself a wig.

Life is beautiful when she wears her hair like that.

But there is a lot of wind in the world.

Alfredo Mires

in: The Goblin of the Labyrinth

Helping hands...

Our first General Assembly of the year is approaching. At the meeting, our coordinator colleagues will bring the reissues of the first nine volumes of the Peasant Library collection in the series: We, the People of Cajamarca, as well as other titles that we know are of interest to readers in rural libraries because they contain topics that can be applied to their daily activities, complementing their ancestral knowledge. 

These books have been prepared with the support of a team of volunteers from both the central office and a group of friends who have joined our cause. Their support has been essential in achieving our goal.

Thank you to Cintia, María, Nathalie, Sandra, Andrea, Emma, Juan Andrés, Brenda, Auris, Rodrigo, Jaylli, Graciela, Bruno, Paul, Brandon and the entire central team of the Network for contributing to our rural libraries.

Being community members

Even the antonyms of the word united sound unpleasant: disunited, disorganised, alone, separated, scattered, abandoned... Words that are the opposite of together hurt: divided, disconnected, distant, estranged, alienated, marginalised, isolated, cut off...

Words such as union, affinity, joining, grouping, team, minga, junction, neighbour, empathy are so powerful. And not only powerful, but also beautiful and vivid are words such as family, home, shelter, pachaque. Community: what fulfilment, what strength!

(…)

Excerpt from the introduction written by Alfredo Mires

for the book by the Rural Libraries Network, Ser comuneros (Being Community Members).

Jallalla Ñaupa Fair

Jallalla (celebration and good wishes).

"The beginnings are of courageous enthusiasts who, with conviction, 

embark on a journey full of dreams."

For those who see special value in numbers, framed temporarily by significant events, visiting the blog of the Cajamarca Rural Library Network allows us to understand the connection that destiny seems to give us with memorable events. As I read through the lines and savoured the narrative, I came across a date (1971) "with books on the earth". Fifty-five years later, on 12 and 13 December 2025, the Cajamarca Rural Library Network launches and develops its FIRST ÑAUPA FAIR. An event that brought to life the culinary expressions, crafts and enterprises of a group of people who filled every corner with smiles, colours and life experiences. Traditional sweets, drinks, textiles and dreams gave a Christmas flavour to a space that liberates letters in every text read.

There was no need to list what was sold, lost or gained. The atmosphere was perfumed with the smell of mulled wine, cinnamon and medicinal plants. Visitors enjoyed good conversation accompanied by a good book and a hot chocolate. The traditional and the modern, the classic and the innovative, the biodegradable and the natural were all mixed together. Economic value took a back seat to the immeasurable value of cordiality. 

Leafing through the books again and again, turning the pages and commenting on the poems, smiling at the stories, admiring the images, were not just the preserve of young people and adults. Children were amazed by the forms and contents. 

A fair that, at 55 years of age, leaves me with an experience that will resonate in my memories as "my first craft fair". I am an entrepreneur of handmade soaps from Colombia. I attended the Ñaupa Fair by fate. I mention fate at the beginning of this text because I firmly believe that life places us where we need to be and gives us what we need and deserve.   

Gloria Velásquez

The mark of indifference

Several times a year, our family climbs Mount Qayaqpuma to perform our all’pata paguikun, our offering to the earth, the mountains and the deceased. It is a way of being close to nature and to the spirit of Alfredo, who loved this mountain. It is a way of leaving behind – even if only for a moment – the city and so-called 'civilisation' (I have a friend who calls it 'syphilisation') and it is an opportunity to find tranquillity and peace in a very special place.

Every time I go, there is something I hadn't seen on my previous visit, something that pains me: farms invading the apu, a road that wasn't there before, buildings that do not blend in with the beautiful landscape, or the hurtful sight of an open pit mine. I don't know if Qayaqpuma will still be the same in ten or twenty years. No one can know. In our eagerness to 'live closer to nature' or 'promote tourism', we humans unscrupulously invade these last healthy and sacred places and leave our mark of indifference. It seems that people forget that nature is not a rubbish dump but our great common home.

I am grateful for the company of Mara and Mateo on this outing, who, without making a fuss about it, dedicated themselves to picking up all the rubbish they found on the way back. If there were more humans like them, the world would be a different place.

Rita Mocker

Renewing our spirits

On 21st November, we met with readers, librarians and coordinators from our libraries at the Casa del Maestro in Bambamarca. Our coordinators Humberto Huamán Lara and Lino Gálvez had organised and managed this meeting. The intention was to bring together those responsible for the Network in this area to encourage them to revive our libraries in the local rural communities.

We began with a delicious lunch and a small offering to the earth. Then, our General Coordinator, Javier Huamán Lara, led us in a reflection on 16th November, the day of Atahualpa's capture and the massacre of more than ten thousand Indians in the Plaza de Armas of Cajamarca on that same day in 1532.

We continued the afternoon with the presentation of the new proposal for the Libraries Network in the current context, and the librarians and coordinators present shared their ideas and projects to join this plan starting next year. A young reader delighted us by reading El burro astrónomo (The Astronomer Donkey) from our book El shingo enamorao y otros cuentos (The Shingo in Love and Other Stories). We concluded with a reading circle of Un país (A Country), a poem written by our founder Alfredo Mires, a text that leads us towards next year's elections.

It was very good to meet and renew our enthusiasm to continue together in this community purpose. Thank you to everyone present for your effort and courage to keep going.

Books, light, respect and much more

A dynamic that is cultivated in our network and has grown stronger over the years, thanks to the experience of our elders and the openness and poise of those who still have much to learn; our Reading Circles.

Getting together in these circles is a unique experience because we all participate: children, young people and adults. Some read and others just listen. The important thing is to get together, accompany each other, support each other, learn from each other, each at our own pace and in our own style. We are all important.

We enjoy not only reading the content of a book, but in some cases, when the situation allows and depending on the place and time, following the teachings of our grandparents, we read the movement of the clouds, the setting sun, the flight of birds, the direction of the wind, the movement of the stars, the location of the moon and more. Everything can be read.

Reading circles are spaces filled with books, light, respect, memories, and learning.

Pure emotion

At the end of November, we met with the children and families of the Community Programme for the support of children with projectable abilities in El Tambo, Bambamarca.

Arriving in a community and seeing the children again after several months is always a great joy. I see how they have progressed in their development, how they socialise more, how they have learned to play with their classmates and friends. I see that they can now lift their heads or that they have learned to walk, that they know how to put on their shoes, wash their hands or button their shirts. It is pure joy and proof that what we are doing is worthwhile.

But what moves me the most and almost breaks my heart is when a child arrives and comes running towards me to give me a hug. That is love personified. My most precious gift.

Rita Mocker

Responsible for the Community Programme

Our Lady of Tenderness

I would like to share with you an excerpt from the story Our Lady of Tenderness, which speaks to us of unconditional love, pain, and faith in times of adversity, leading us to find peace, redemption, and the true meaning and purpose of our lives.  ...

"They called her La Brava (The Brave) because she was so difficult to find. That mountain was her temple. She was the only Virgin who did not have a church, for whom no priest celebrated Mass and for whom no pyrotechnician set off fireworks. She was the only one who did not have a feast day.

They said that the image was only two centimetres tall, that it had been carved from hummingbird bones, that her crown was made of alfalfa flowers, that her clothes were made of tender queñual leaves and her cape of chrysalis shells. They said that her eyes were made of mountain water, that her hands were carnation petals and her mouth was a ruby splinter carved from the gizzard of a wood pigeon.

She was a miracle of tenderness. They said she was the purest. They called her La Brava: that was and always had been Our Lady of Tenderness..."

I invite you to read the full story in the book El hombre que curaba (The Man Who Healed) by Alfredo Mires Ortiz. Edited and published by the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca.

The land within

No questions asked,

and yet,

with the always

and the nevers,

here we are.

Land of ours,

they couldn't

separate us.

Alfredo Mires

In: How to lie down indecisive...

Original in Spanish:

Tierra adentro

(13)

Sin preguntas
y sin embargo
con los siempres
y los jamases
aquí estamos
Tierra nuestra
no pudieron
separarnos.

Alfredo Mires
En: Como acostarse indeciso…

The Ñaupa Fair

This year, we celebrated our first Ñaupa Fair, a traditional Christmas market featuring authentic, handmade products that are clean, carefully crafted and of high quality.

For us, it's not just about buying and selling, because that's what any business does. We do it to have the opportunity to join forces, offer spaces for creativity and honest entrepreneurship, get to know each other rather than compete, and, of course, help each other in solidarity.

We joined hands. Hands that weave, embroider, and sweeten life; hands that prepare alternative medicine... all those hands united in a single market, under the pretext of Christmas.

We did not offer a Black Friday, but we guaranteed a Friday and Saturday full of colours, delicious flavours, exquisite smells, and a lot of fraternity.

Chocolate, love and work

Cocoa is one of the many products of American origin that Europeans integrated into their gastronomic culture during the colonial period. Interestingly, one of its most "simple" derivatives (hot chocolate) was already a ritual drink in pre-Hispanic times, whose preparation was perfected by the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec cultures.

It seems that this "ritual use" has been carried over to the Christmas season in modern times (and probably since the 19th century). Everyone enjoys a delicious cup every 25th of December... and all of Latin America produces what is known as "drinking chocolate".

But while the commercialism of the December holidays urges us to buy Winter's or Cusco brand bars, we all know that the best chocolate is the one prepared with effort and love.

In a corner of the Central Market in Celendín (capital of the Cajamarcan province of the same name), in a wooden and green brass cart, Mrs. Margarita Alcántara sells bars of handmade chocolate prepared with effort and love, and if it is cold, she warms your soul and heart by offering you a cup.

In a world as "globalised" as this one, initiatives such as those of Doña Margarita are what truly sustain our country's economy and culture. Chocolate made with love and hard work tastes better and warms you better than the chocolate that comes out of large factories and enriches giant companies.

Rumi Mires

Grandfather's dream

I remember Don Dionisio Lobato, a farmer from the community of Pallán, in Cajamarca, whose grandfather had told him that, long ago, while working in the fields in the rain, lightning struck near him and knocked him unconscious.

Then, the grandfather dreamed that God was healing his head and giving him a little water and bread to drink. In that room where God was healing him, there were all the sick people on earth, but there were not only humans, there were also all the plants, all the animals and all the stones.

There he understood that everything had life: Don Dionisio's grandfather saw a bloody grain of wheat arrive, he saw potatoes with injured eyes, a corn cob complaining of being lame, a burnt blade of grass, a swallow arrived crying, and a tree also arrived dragging its sorrow.

That was what Don Dionisio's grandfather could now see in the sky, but it was what was happening here on earth.

Then God said to him:

'Now I will heal you and you will leave for a while.

The grandfather woke up remembering everything he had seen in his dreams. And then he advised everyone that we should treat the earth and everything that lives on it with the utmost delicacy, and that we should not throw grains or fruits on the road, because they get run over and burst, and then they go crying to God.

Alfredo Mires Ortiz, in El libro entre los hijos de Atahualpa (The Book Among the Children of Atahualpa)

We thank our coordinators Lino Gálvez, from El Ahijadero, Bambamarca, and Silverio Herrera, from Cutaxi, Chota, for continuing to work the land with all the care it deserves, using their hands and traditional tools, in true partnership with the entire ayllu, because, as we know, in this corner of the world, "everything is a person."

We also thank them for sharing these photos of their dedicated work as dignified farmers and peasants.

Here we are

It was in Cajamarca where the conquistador Francisco Pizarro and the Inca Atahualpa met on the afternoon of 16 November 1532. It was there that the oft-told incident occurred in which the Inca threw down the Bible, unleashing the barbarity that resulted in the deaths of ten thousand Indians on that afternoon alone, including men, women, the elderly and children.

We do not believe that the Andean people felt repulsion towards the book or the written word. Other factors were involved in the events of 16 November that triggered the events as we know them. It is even more likely that Atahualpa threw the book at Valverde and not on the ground. Likewise, it can be assumed that he would have thrown a parchment, a tablet or whatever else, given the circumstances. But, at the end of the day, with or without a book thrown to the ground, the massacre would have taken place anyway.

Alfredo Mires Ortiz in: El libro entre los hijos de Atahualpa (The Book Among the Children of Atahualpa); BNP, 2021

That is why, at Bibliotecas Rurales, we began many years ago to commemorate 16th November as the day of 'Aquí estamos' (Here we are); we remember this tragic and painful day by reading with the peasants of Cajamarca, with offerings to the earth and other ceremonies in public and in silence; to remind us that, despite everything, we are still standing and still on our path.

Enclosing nature

Years ago, several years ago, during the summer season, it was common to take school children on walks in the countryside "to breathe fresh air," as we used to say. Over time, green spaces have become scarce. In Cajamarca, the few remaining natural spaces have been converted into private sports fields. Parks and gardens are almost always littered with dog excrement, plastic bags, empty bottles and other rubbish.

Nowadays, if we want to take the children to a different, pleasant place, we have to travel and pay a hefty fee to enjoy a beautiful environment, where we can find small forests, gardens with lots of flowers, small farms, cobbled paths and other attractions.

In other words, what we used to find in many places in our beloved town is now only accessible if we pay to enter, because the most beautiful of nature is enclosed within high walls.

Hot off the press

A few days ago, the Rural Libraries calendar for next year came out, just in time for our general assembly. This meant that coordinators could take it back to their libraries and communities.

This time it features a photo taken by Jorge Camacho at one of our sectoral meetings and a text from a presentation by Alfredo:

"Before being librarians, we are human beings. And we are a collective, we are the other, we are the rest."

A beautiful message for a beautiful new year.

Simply... Uncle Lino

Amidst much nostalgia, a beautiful gift from our brother Alfredo Mires appears: Uncle Lino's book. 

And Uncle Lino arrives to continue telling stories and enchanting us, to make us smile even when life gets difficult. He tells us picaresque stories, full of traditions, customs and beliefs and, as Abelina says in the first pages, rather than reading with our eyes, we should learn to read with our hearts.

Let us try to read this great book with our hearts, so that we can hear the voices of our grandparents, of those who always saw the light in the darkest of times, and discover the sparks of hope captured in the illustrations by the children of Contumazá and Cajamarca.

Quite simply, Uncle Lino's book has a lot to teach us.

Our gratitude goes to those who made this publication possible.

A Blind Date

The Rural Library in Educational Institutions (BRIE) at the Víctor Andrés Belaunde Public Teacher Training College in Jaén held a Blind Date event with the Rural Library Network books on 20 October at the college, with the aim of strengthening identities and reading practices. We conceive of our rural library as a living space for encountering others and books, as a place where coexistence and rural culture are present. 

For this activity, eighth-cycle students in the Citizenship and Social Sciences Programme, accompanied by teacher Sara Moreno, had covered 185 books from the Network with recycled paper. They also placed a phrase alluding to the content of each book on each book cover.

Then, students and teachers from nine Study Programmes at the School of Education freely chose one of these books, registered it in the library with a commitment to read it.

Now, the organisers of the Citizenship and Social Sciences Programme are attentive to reading and exchanging with other BRIE books.

From the Central Office of the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca, we congratulate this wonderful activity to promote reading.

Network Assembly

On 24 and 25 October, we held our second Network Training Assembly, with the valuable participation of librarians, coordinators, representatives of BRIE (Rural Libraries in Educational Institutions) and the central office team.

It was a pleasure to reconnect, share, renew the relationships that unite us as Network volunteers, and feel the spirit of collaboration and mutual support that continues to be at the heart of our work.

The main purpose of this assembly was to analyse the progress made, reflect on current challenges, and define new goals and projects that will continue to strengthen and encourage reading in rural communities.

Active participation in our assemblies is essential, as this is where we learn new methodologies and strategies that inspire us to promote reading in our communities.

Shared reading fills us with motivation to continue working with commitment and affection.

In addition, the assemblies offer an excellent opportunity to exchange books, thus allowing us to renew the titles available in each library, share the wisdom of our grandparents, and renew our cultural identity. 

The goals we have set for ourselves on this occasion can only be achieved together. We say goodbye with hearts full of gratitude, hope, and a commitment to continue bringing reading to every corner of the countryside, where a book always finds hands willing to open it and hearts ready to learn.

Rosa Rumay

Responsible for the Network Exchange Centre