In the community of Quinuacruz

At the end of July the school of Quinuacruz - in the province of Cajabamba - was filled with everlasting sacredness: the children and their teachers had asked for an all'pata paguikun the offering to the land.

In the early morning, our brother Alfredo explained the value and meaning of this ancient ceremony of ours, remembering where each food comes from and invited us to thank these prodigious gifts.

The children and their parents had brought seeds and produce from their farms and their animals; they made their offerings by giving them their breath and revering the mountains, the land and the dead.

Remembering that the earth lives and feels, the morning in the School of Quinuacruz continued full of drawings and songs, readings and images, finishing with a conversation and joint construction with the teachers on the techniques of animation of reading.

At the end of the day, the warm sunshine still brightened the intense green surrounding the school and the children of Quinuacruz. Already their library has an environment in which everyone is accompanied, encouraged, reading.

In the community of Pingo

We went to Cajabamba to have the joy of sharing with the teachers, principals and students of the school of Pingo, as one of our rural libraries operates there.

The children's hugs were the most beautiful reception we could have had; the sincere and cheerful smile of their teachers and the pleasing and colorful spaces of the school reminded us that living in the countryside is a privilege and a source of pride, it is an immense gift from nature. The school, surrounded and protected by its Apus, became pure sensibility and beauty.

Miguel Rodriguez, a teacher at the school of Pingo, told us that children are the ones who teach them the names of their sacred mountains, the meaning of the peasant soul, the colors of the mountains, the greens and the crops, the feeling and the expressions of the land of Cajabamba.

The vivacious and enthusiastic children drew and listened to the reading animation workshop and played joyfully; the teachers told us about the various activities they do with reading and how they manage to inspire children to read.

The conversation about reading, teaching and feelings in the countryside spread out across a colorful and wise morning, between the teachers and the children of a place that incites us to return again and again.

Thank you for being united in this journey between books, readings and encounters!

We are capable and refrains

As part of the General Assembly of the network the launch of our recent books took place.

Our brother Javier Huamán, General Coordinator of the Network, opened the event. The presentation of "We are capable - Guidelines for the recognition of disabilities" was carried out by the special education specialists María Trinidad Arana and Yenny Ugarte, as well as by Rita Mocker, Community Program Manager.

The presentation of "Water that you have to drink - sayings and phrases in the Cajamarcan oral tradition" was lead by Nathalia Quintero, who invited our brother Alfredo Mires, Director of the Enciclopedia Campesina Project, to talk about the construction process of the book.

Lola Paredes was the maestra of ceremonies and encouraged everyone, as always, to share and enliven reading.

Coming together

Nobody knows more than anyone else

nobody is more and nobody is less:

we all teach together

we all learn together.

Signs in the Encylopedia

Two days we were gathered in the Encounter of the Encyclopedia Campesina, animated with the presence of almost all the provinces of Cajamarca and Huamachuco, celebrating the incorporation of new companions.

We continue to build our dictionary of cajamarcanisms: it is a beauty to see how the sayings and knowledge flow... And the debate of the meaning, the critic of the contexts and the construction of strategies that allow us to consolidate the wanderings that reaffirm our journey.

Our project continues to investigate the various issues that the collective has decided and, at the same time, we find ourselves finishing identifying the signs that nature has taught us from the beginning and that have been forming our culture.

There is so much to keep on knowing!

"Fields of the whole world, let us unite!"

Julia Steiner, a volunteer who sustains the version of our blog in French (http://redbibliotecasfrances.blogspot.com/), has just published an article in a newspaper of the central massif -located to the center-south of France. "Fields of the whole world, let's unite!", is its title and in it addresses "The Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca: culture to liberate."

"More than a simple network of libraries - there are more than 500 that have flourished in the homes of the communities – it is a popular education project, based on the cultural traditions of the Andean communities. A way to bring reading and books to the rural areas forgotten by governments, and most of all the freedom to think, the tools to defend themselves, to know their rights. To rescue the Andean culture and the peasant world, its knowledge, its stories, its language, that could disappear as the peasant world has disappeared in France.

Here, the libraries are in the homes of the villagers. And the villagers are librarians, volunteers, that come to renew their libraries in the headquarters of the Network, in Cajamarca, walking many kilometers.

The operation of the association is horizontal, there are general assemblies, which allows everyone to meet and decide together which books they are going to write.

Culture is a factor of social bonds, of economic development, a means of opening up in the world. And it is also, then, a peaceful tool of struggle and freedom. These projects - and there are a lot more that exist - demonstrate the importance or necessity of culture in the countryside, but also that rurality is still invented today and will be invented tomorrow.

In these times of political changes, which are more and more distant to the citizens of the centers of power and decision, rural dwellers of the whole world: let us unite to bring the voice of culture, because a future is built in the countryside".

Nathalia

Nathalia Quintero Castro, professor at the Inter-American School of Libraries of the University of Antioquia – Colombia, is again with us and this time for longer.

As we announced in January, Nathalia is undertaking her doctoral project from the experience of our network of rural libraries and, for this, has been integrated as a volunteer. She arrived a few days ago and we are celebrating her pleasant integration.

"To return to Cajamarca, is to be in family again," says Nathalia. “Being part of the Cajamarca Ayllu and Rural Libraries has been the most poignant and important gift I have ever had.

Infinite thanks to Alfredo, Rita, Mara and Rumi who have welcomed me so lovingly into their community and family routines. Also to the support team and other volunteers and friends with whom I have shared and will share.

My special gratitude to the community librarians for allowing me to be with them, to learn from their immense wisdom in this Andean path of fraternity, simplicity and solidarity. Thank you because here I have found the value of complementarity and real happiness."

With all the experience and will of Nathalia, we are sure to improve our steps, initiated more than 46 years ago. We recognise the company of this sister and volunteer of ours, not only for her hard work, but above all, for her presence among us.

Welcome back, Nathalia!