So in the flowers as in the fire

The hummingbird, ‘winged deity’, is the center of the work that our brother Alfredo wanted to share, years ago, in this book published by the Rural Library Network of Cajamarca.

These letters offer the most varied gifts: if your interest lies in the sacredness, the soul and the depths of the Andean peoples; in the way of life, bodily characteristics and the character of the hummingbird; if you want to know about the Andean peoples and other worldviews; if the  stories, myths and legends call you; if you want poetry, drawings and community inspiration; if you want to refresh your eyes with the beautiful iconography of our winged god; if you seek a sensitive approach and, at the same time deep, stuck to the earth and, at the same time, supported by sources ... in sum, if you want to simply inhabit other worlds other than the frantic, polluted, arrogant and commercial world of today, immerse yourself in So in the flowers as in the fire: you will be moved, shocked and in love with the birds and the flowers, of the Andean and peasant world; of this earth, our spirit and the hummingbirds, our order-givers, fertilizers and eternal shamans.

Beautifying reading

Our sister Marleny Olivera, our Coordinator in the province of San Ignacio, has sent us recent photos of the IE Rural Library “Ricardo Palma”, in the San José de Lourdes district.

"They have created the space with love!" Marleny tells us.

How not to believe in this infusing force of joinings and growth?

In this way it pleases to enter the universes of reading!

Congratulations and hugs.

Street Parade in Jaén

Within the framework of the First Book Fair in the province of Jaén, the Educational Institution "Sacred Heart" took to the streets to encourage reading, to promote reading with position and heart with its Rural Library.

What an inspiring march they made on 31^st October!

Infusing courage with every step is also one of our challenges.

Tamborín and the architect

‘Tamborín and the architect’, a book written by Father Miguel Garnett, an English priest, nationalized in Peru, has been published by our Network.

Father Miguel toured the Cajamarcan countryside with Juan Medcalf many years ago and is a personal friend of our brother Alfredo, so he knows about the network's wanderings.

This novel is made up of the presence of a farmer with great wisdom –inspired by our brother Pascual Sánchez Montoya, community and veteran volunteer of the Network–, an architect raised in Lima but in search of his mountain origins; a cemetery and the stories of families, conflicts, mausoleums and epitaphs.

References to the wakes and the washing of the deceased's clothes, as well as to the Andean culture on “the narrow roads and valleys where serpentine rivers run, the goblins, the apus, the enchanted forests, the birds and the animals that speak."

Allusions to the history of Peru; to ideals and struggles. To the art of construction and design. Reflections on life, love, death; the bewilderment and frustration. About costumes and nudity. On diseases of the soul and the encounter with the cure: "Tamborín was a kind of healer with very humble origins and with a capacity to heal wounds."

From the richness of orality and the ability to tell histories and stories “… being illiterate is a certain poverty, but it also has its richness (…) The richness of memory. People like my father have fabulous memories. My father must have heard hundreds of stories and legends; stories told at night around the stove. He always remembered them all. It was as if he had a library in his head.”

This work is also a tribute to books and reading, to the people who lend, give or facilitate others to read, as do the volunteer members of the Network who, after celebrating 50 years, continue to do the honourable work to circulate the books that, in addition to speaking and instructing the universal and Peruvian culture, make known the traditions, stories and teachings of Cajamarca's culture.

Trail of books

Our friend José Julio Estela arrived at the headquarters with two bags full of brochures on different topics: literature, history, language, laws, ecology and environment, health, recipes and others.

Thank you very much, José Julio. Soon these materials will begin to be shared in the field.

Launch of Tamborín

"Tamborín and the Architect" of Father Miguel Garnett and edited by our Network, was launched to the public on 18^th October of this year.

It is a book that fills the rural library family with joy because the main protagonist is our beloved brother Pascual Sánchez Montoya, from the community of Chuco, in the province of San Marcos.

Pascualito is a villager who with only a few years of primary education and despite the long work in the field, there has always been time to read and promote reading; He did not attend a university or any "superior" institution, but his vast knowledge and wisdom matches the specialists and the learned.

At some point in the history of the Network, Pascual was General Coordinator; he visited and accompanied with humility and commitment the work of the Rural Libraries in many communities.

Pascual could not be present in the presentation of this book that we consider a deserved tribute to him, however, we feel accompanied by his good energy and his enormous wisdom.

Thank you, Pascual. Thank you, Teacher Earth.

25 years of the Community Program

Let the words sprout ...

25 years ago, the coordinators of the Community Program for the accompaniment of children with projectable capacities began to take the first steps in the rural communities of Cajamarca.

Today, 15^th November, the Network will be commemorating this date. We invite you to participate in this celebration.

We know that not all who belong or have been part of this journey at some time can be present personally. But we also know of your love and solidarity that has no limits or borders.

We will be together, all, as a family, as always.