Assembly

Are you in agreement?

That they should not stain the skies

That they should not poison the river

That they should not dirty the soil.

Tender lúcuma of the valley

Golden wheat field

Gladiolus of the ravine

Come and sing with me.

Original in Spanish:

¿Están ustedes de acuerdo?

Que no se manchen los cielos

que no se envenene el río

que no se ensucien los suelos.

Lúcuma tierna del valle

campo dorado de trigo

gladiolo de la quebrada

vengan y canten conmigo

Alfredo Mires, "Resuellos"

With the Librarianship and Archival Studies students of the UdeA

Since some time ago, the students of librarianship and archival studies, from the University of Antioquia, gathered in a Research Seminary, wanted to ask about the rural world; many observed their peasant roots or those of their parents; others, tired of the emptiness of meaning in the urban life of Medellin, aspired to know the wisdom of that forgotten or invisible oracle of nature.

So we started to build workshops, social cartographies, readings of rural texts: then we turned our eyes to Cajamarca, to Máxima Acuña, to the campesinos: women, men, children, young people; to their Network of Rural Libraries and with them to Alfredo Mires Ortiz, the man who carries and enlivens the voice of the villagers of Cajamarca, to those whom we want to know and from whom we want to learn.

We began to cherish a dream: to be closer to Cajamarca and its Rural Librarians. And part of this dream was fulfilled because the students could be with Alfredo on 28th November 2016, in the University of Antioquia.

He has taught us, he has shown us how, who and why they carry out the work of the Network of Rural Libraries; the work of gathering the oral tradition of their communities; the reading, the books and their role in the Cajamarca context; the solidarity and communal work that guides their human principles.

For Alfredo an embrace of gratitude for reconnecting us, through the voices of the campesinos of Cajamarca, with the cosmos: as he says "Of all with everything, between all, for everything".

An immense embrace for the Cajamarcan villagers!

Medellín: Citizen plan of reading, writing and orality

Medellín, Colombia, took its time to reformulate its Reading Plan: it consisted of almost two years of consultations in a joint effort between academia, the citizen population and the Secretariat of Citizen Culture. Two research groups from the University of Antioquia accompanied this process.

Today, Medellín has an excellent citizenplan ofreading, writing and orality 2016 - 2020, aimed at making a city of readers, through actions that promote books and encourage reading among citizens.

"Participating in the evaluation and formulation of this Citizen Plan has left us with the conviction that through reading, writing and speaking it is possible for citizens to build a culture of progress, equity and peace," expressed the director of the Research Group on Didactics Investigation and New Technologies, Doris Ramírez.

The delivery to the community of the new Plan took place during these days and, for that purpose, the Mayor's Office of Medellín held two events: a conference on reading, writing and orality by our brother Alfredo Mires Ortiz, on Monday 28th, and the Presentation of the Plan, on Tuesday 29th.

Information about this exemplary process can be found at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMnvNSo3Mg8 

They continue to sprout...

The edited edition of our Series "... and other stories", from the Biblioteca Campesina Collection, continues its course ...

It is going slowly, but surely. And hopefully soon we will have the 20 fascicles printed and on their journey.

César Eladio: The willingness to walk

I come from the community of Yunchaco, in the district of Cujillo, province of Cutervo.My name is Cesar Eladio Burga Bustamante.

Reading for me means to learn more, to know many other things that we do not know. Thus, in my view, through books many things are known even if other sites are not seen. It also has a meaning that we share with others. Think of this: we read a book and the others listen, and from there we learn many things, we learn to defend our rights, rights due to the citizens. And such.

I have been participating for ten years already with Rural Libraries, but for me there has been a big change. Many things have been fixed. In collecting what had already been forgotten of the elders, at least the stories, we have recovered ourselves. And we have learned to reclaim also the duties of the authorities.

In order to continue improving the conditions in our Rural Libraries, it would be good to have more reading circles and increase visits, so that we can meet up with our rural brothers. Apart from that also having the time or disposing of our time, going out to our communities, being willing to walk.

Finally the rain has returned!

Friends,
although they may beat you,
never lose faith;
even if dirty days may come,
never lose faith,
even though I myself beg you on my knees,
do not believe me
love life
keep the dew
for the flowers
do not suffer the rogue nights that will come!

Be happy, 
I beg you,
Come out of the shady rooms,
Be happy so that I do not die
Slaughter the sadness,
Sing in front of the sea.

Give me your hand, my friends.
I love the skinny earth
Which followed me hobbling to exile.
I only know how to sing, but I love you;
Also the aurora is built with songs!

A great wind rises.
There is too much pain.
A great wind rises.
I have seen strange rivers burning.

Manuel Scorza (original in Spanish)

“Bocas del tiempo” (Mouths of Time) in Chinese

In 2003, Eduardo Galeano finished writing his book "Bocas del tiempo" and asked us to illustrate it with the ancient Cajamarca iconography that our brother Alfredo Mires has been collecting and publishing. And so this beautiful book produced that was later translated into several languages.

From these comings and goings of words and connections, Mengye Han - a Chinese translator - made contact with Alfredo some years ago. And so that extraordinary bustle of stories and voices like only Eduardo could say, popped up last year.

Generous Mengye sent us the book, which is like a tribute to Eduardo, as she says: "Who will be loved by us forever!".

Thank you, Mengye.