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