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