When Ño Nepta recounts

Fifteen years ago, in June 2009, our publication “Cuando cuenta Ño Nepta” was published: tales from Bambamarca, narrated by Mr. Neptalí Vásquez Mejía.

Alfredo Mires said, in the presentation of this book, that we have graduated from the university of the life-giving tale. This is how he referred to the capacity of the villagers in all the towns to tell the stories of our traditions, confronting the system that increasingly deprives us of the pleasure of reading, of the capacity to tell and transmit knowledge, joys and sorrows. To feel alive. To know stories from so many places, as Don Neptali did, to tell them to others. Fortunately we are stubborn, Alfredo used to say.

Ño Nepta left a few days ago to meet those who travelled before him and left us this memory that will continue to walk through the towns that continue to tell our history. He must be telling many stories, with all those he meets.

Have a good trip, Don Neptali. 

Alfredo in Qayaqpuma

When we hear the name of this splendorous Apu, the image of Alfredo Mires comes to mind: taking pictures, making tracings, contemplating the little spiders, the little plants that live there. Everything by hand, with his field notebook, his pencil and his camera. Scarce resources for such great purposes. And he was like that: austere and supportive.

Twenty-three years ago, in 2001, Volume I of the Qayaqpuma collection was published by the Rural Libraries Network (thus, well written), clarifying that this publication was achieved after several decades of dedicated study by Alfredo and in an organic and community effort of cultural affirmation, as indicated on the flaps of each of the four volumes that make up this collection.

As a result of this hard work, today we have these publications that record thousands of images that are used by artisans, weavers, painters, among other artists from many places. Many of them recognize and are grateful for Alfredo's legacy.

“Today I walked through the sector of the platforms and I had to deviate a thousand and one times from the paths: the spiders had their webs woven everywhere”. We highlight this text by Alfredo, published in volume III of the same collection, to show in a simple way the deep respect with which he walked through the sacred Apu. And not only did he take care of what he found in his path, but even before starting his walks, he would ask permission with his offering to go quietly into the mountain. And, when he retired, he thanked it for having allowed him his findings.

Now that the Apu Qayaqpuma is in the international news and has awakened so much curiosity, we hope, at least, that the legacy of Alfredo Mires and the way he defended and protected this sacred mountain of which the most ancient of our ancestors were the true owners, will be taken into account.

The village of our grandparents

A few days ago I finished reading the book: “El Pueblo del Abuelo”, one of the many heartfelt books that live in our Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca. I could not help but be uplifted as I flipped through the pages of this excellent book of memory. 

In the assemblies we talk about the sayings of our peasant comrades and the importance of our books, but this only gains momentum when we exercise the right to read.

In this book we can find testimonies of all kinds, which attest to the life and spirit that lies in our apus. Alfredo once told me that we must learn to “remember ourselves”, and I believe that, if there is any way to do it, it is by reading the pages of this important book that shows us how to understand our workmanship from the geographies of these apus, scattered throughout our  land of Cajamarca.

If we evoke some memory of our grandparents, I feel that the first thing that would come to mind would be some warm moment - cozy and calm, but before that space there was always an invitation from the affectionate and cheerful voices of our elders.

Thus, I invite you, with all my heart, to take a look at this and all the books that live in the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca because you can be sure that our grandparents will be there waiting for us with that eternal affection.

Mauricio Perez

Smiles

Sometimes, from the Community Program, we want to give a gesture, an affection, a little something to the children with projectable capacities that we accompany in the rural communities - to alleviate something, to contribute with a grain of sand to the hard life of these children and their families.

That is why, in the year 2023, we made an effort to design and have a polo shirt made for each of the children in the program. We did it with a lot of dedication and we think the polo shirts turned out beautifully. And our coordinators were thrilled when they were able to take the little packages to their communities and hand out this little gift.

But the greatest gift was received by us - the smile of the children in the rural areas when, for the first time, they put on their new clothes.

Your own understanding

Reading a book is a privilege. It is to train your imagination through reading, to enjoy your own creative image, to interpret the text and the context. It is a complex exercise, but also a very complete one. And, at the same time, it is fun, because it is our own understanding.

Now, with technology, it is a nightmare that has us slaves of the concepts and images of others, which go at full speed. We do not always know what is the intention of a Tik-Tok, a meme or a reel, since each one receives it according to his interests. We passively receive what others send us. And we fill ourselves with superfluous things that do not help to strengthen us as critical, creative, imaginative and reflective people. Many times, because we dedicate ourselves to these medias, we stop reading.

In my institution, thanks to the generous spirit of our friend, teacher and leader Alfredo Mires Ortiz, we have books and we are cultivating the love for reading. We instill in the new generations the habit of reading and we try to strengthen the enjoyment of their own creative imagination. We work with the sole purpose that readers become free beings thanks to knowledge; that we know how to defend, promote and rescue what our grandparents left us as their inheritance: the customs and traditions of our land, the language, the wisdom to care for and defend nature.

For this and much more, we give infinite thanks to Alfredo and all the people who continue to lavish us with this benefit of our Rural Library in Educational Institution (BRIE) where we promote reading for our entire educational family.

Manuela Vásquez Gonzáles

Teacher and librarian, IE 82663 - Bambamarca

Always take care of yourself

Always take care of yourself and dream with yourself

because dreams are inside.

And I always dreamed

and we always dreamed

dreams.

I kiss your hands.

Always.

This.

Alfredo Mires

in: Como acostarse indeciso y despertar a arriesgarse 

(How to go to bed undecided and wake up to take the risk)

We are still: part four

This explains why the reproductions of Alfredo Mires' Ñaupa are not mere "pretty" representations, but a bet for a fairer world:

"And these recreations do not want to limit themselves to the representation of emotions or attitudes, but also to mimic historical characters whose presence cannot be postponed in the history of the continent or the world.

And in the midst of it all, next to the fierceness of the puma or the jaguar, it is impossible not to see the extraordinary tenderness of the Ñaupa and the sense of their presence, their contagious communal joy and the generous spirit with which they still remain.

Let this point serve to express our gratitude to those who have accompanied these endeavours."

Alfredo Mires

in: El Ñaupa