From a distance

In the Community Program of the Rural Libraries Network, we usually meet from time to time to organize our activities, train ourselves, define what materials we need to better serve our “Juanitos” (a name that we lovingly choose to refer to children with projectable capacities whom we serve in the communities) and to see the needs that arise.

In these meetings we not only address aspects related to work, but we also talk about our families, the concerns we have, also the beautiful things that happen to us. That is why these meetings, more than work, are meetings to share, like all the meetings of the Network.

In the current context, it has been impossible for us to meet again physically. However, we have managed to find common spaces at the beginning of each month to share, do breathing exercises, read and continue learning.

We recognize the effort of the Community Program team: we all had to learn to use new technologies, many have to find a place for each meeting where there is a signal and we always miss giving each other a hug. But, although many times we have to turn off the cameras to prevent the internet signal from being cut, we know that we are there and we always listen to each other.

Akhulli - Debate: Liberating Reading Experiences in the Andes

A few weeks ago, the Simón Bolívar Andean University, from Ecuador, The Andean Oral History Workshop and the Literature Department of the Higher University of  San Andrés of Bolivia, came together to pay tribute to our Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca for the 50 years of its walk in the Andean communities of northern Peru, journeys that the great teacher Patricio Guerrero sums up in his song “Corazonando los Libros de Cajamarca”.

In the debate on the initiatives to rescue oral tradition, libraries and reading, various personalities joined to tell about the actions they carry out in their respective towns in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Our brother Alfredo Mires presented the experience of the Network and also recalled that, on this same date, 11th September, 1973, the coup d'état against President Salvador Allende took place in Chile, as well as the arrest of the Chilean singer-songwriter Víctor Jara, who days later was vilely murdered after cutting off his fingers and tongue so that he could not play his guitar nor sing his songs. Alfredo said: We must never forget where we come from, nor the legacy of our teachers, of these peoples who managed to survive everything. Bullets cannot destroy communities.”

1971-2021: Tribute to our Network - 9

We continue celebrating our 50th anniversary, remembering that the Cajamarca Rural Libraries Network includes also the active presence of animals. The variety of companions in the Andean world are many: the fox, the puma, the deer, the mangujo, the ulluay, the vizcacha, the eagle, the chilalas, the guyanas, the lic-lic, the guinea pigs, the sheep, the donkeys and the cows; just to mention a few. And how not to recognize and celebrate the presence of our winged god: the hummingbird, source of voices and secrets. We revere the life and the soul that is in our Earth.

Tribute to courage and drive - 9

 

A heartfelt tribute to the constant work of the Yglesias family, from the Hoyada Verde sector, Contumazá province. We are referring to Don Ramiro, his wife Isabel and their children. They, as a family, tend the library work at home. Ramiro Yglesias is a promoter committed to reading circles in the various communities of Contumazá.

Fraternal hugs!

First National Meeting of Peasant Libraries

The National Library of Peru and the Bartolomé de las Casas Centre, in Cusco, organized the First National Meeting of Peasant Libraries, on 14th and 15th September, with the aim of generating a space to share experiences and reflect on the role of reading and the library in rural areas.

Representatives of libraries from the departments of Lambayeque, Lima, Cusco and Ayacucho participated in this meeting, and a tribute was paid to the Rural Libraries Network and our brother Alfredo Mires, who participated by recounting the experience of the Network in the discussion “The role of the book and the library in the rural area.” At the thematic table: "Challenges and Possibilities of Peasant Libraries", our sister Lola Paredes participated.

At the end of his participation, Alfredo mentioned that "Respect and humility have to be components that mark coherence and consequence."

We appreciate these meetings and gatherings.

Afternoons of coffee and action

To liven up our afternoons, fill us with energy and enliven the conversation by recalling anecdotes from the great library family, or making plans for the future, coffee brings us together, another blessed fruit, cultivated with great dedication and commitment in Cajamarcan lands.

Thank you brothers, Aníbal Segura and Jorge Carrasco, from the community of San Juan, in Cutervo, for sharing with us. We not only enjoy the great taste of coffee and the pleasure of preparing it, but also your affection and, as someone says: "Who loves you, gives you coffee."

Winged snakes and puma people

A few weeks ago a large package arrived from Germany: Kyra Grewe, a friend of ours and of the network for years, had sent us her book Winged Serpents and Puma People, "her child", as she likes to calls it. It is a book in German, but more Peruvian than many other Peruvian books I have read ...

In approximately 300 pages, Kyra shares with her reader her travels to Peru. Although she visits and describes many tourist places, she invites us, above all, to accompany her on what could be called her inner journey into deep Peru.

Kyra's book is criticism, reflection and testimony. It is opening, searching and finding. It is unlearning and relearning. It is solidarity, community and ayllu (family).

It is a description of an immense inner change that requires the ability to open up to something new, unknown, something that inspires, but also invokes fear and insecurity. It's the story of your meeting, Kyra, with a little light at the end of the tunnel. And that light was turned on by thousands of community members of Cajamarca, nights around the fire, shared meals, mingas, walks, laughter.

And above all: laughter and the possibility of laughing at yourself. In many moments, Kyra's humour, her capacity for self-criticism, to tell with sarcasm and details of her multifaceted encounters with the Andean world, drew a big smile on my face. And at many other times, they made me burst out laughing.

Thank you, Kyra, for your sensitivity, your love for our people, for the Rural Libraries Network. I am honoured that you have allowed me to share this journey with you, sister. I admire your frankness, your path, your devotion. You are simply great… and so is your book. Hopefully soon we will be lucky enough to have it also in Spanish!

Rita mocker