Professor Soriano discusses the teaching of reading and teaching habits.
The model carrying books on the back of a dunce to admit the charm of recitation and teaching to children, young people and adults who live in the Sierra Nevasca de Santa Marta and in remote places in the region of Bizcocho is found in Argentina and other countries. . imitated South American countries.
The software, called Biblioburro, was created 25 years ago by Luis Soriano, a clever man from Nueva Milgrana, Bizcocho, who set out to fight illiteracy in his community, the Corregimientos and surrounding towns.
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When he started out, he only had a handful of books that he collected and two donkeys that he named Alfa and Beto who accompanied him in all his delirium to cover long kilometers through the paths and the jungle.
The rudimentary but innovative proposal, despite all the limitations, security threats and difficulties, soon paid off in the communities that received the books as a unique tool for education and entertainment in their remote and deserted towns.
Since then, Professor Soriano has been teaching analysis and making recitation a custom in vulnerable communities.
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Seven years later, in 2004, the Caja de Compensación Corriente del Bizcocho was added to this scheme, which decided not only to finance it but also to assume it to increase the coverage of care and include indigenous peoples and peasants other remote locations. localities and in particular to the influence in the Sierra Nevasca de Santa Marta.
The software has been enhanced to cover the routes of the savannas and the mountains of the Sierras which cross a large part of the indigenous peoples, from the coasts of the Caribbean Sea to Ciudad Perdida.
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Currently it is driven by appropriate people and accompanied by two donkeys at the same time, with woven fique backpacks and cloth briefcases on the back, filled with books for different evacuation depending on the existence of people .
With this work, family and community spaces are promoted through the possibility of reciting, telling stories, myths and legends.
The Red de Biblioburros, as it is now called, facilitates access to books, human sciences and universal information for peasant and indigenous communities who seek to initiate a dialogue between their cultures and other peoples for the preservation of civilization through the creation of programs that work for salvation and strengthening. verbal tradition.
With his process, he managed to unite communities, led by the Mamos or Mamus and advised by indigenous literacy workers (teachers).
The teachers of the different ethnic groups who participate in the software each transcribe the stories in their mother tongue to collect them and translate them into Spanish, thus creating a written memory of these communities.
The Biblioburro would benefit other communities in South America
The testimonies of the changes and opportunities that this ingenious initiative has obtained in rural areas have motivated the international community to pay more attention to its implementation and the demands of adapting it in their areas as an educational front in the areas entry difficult.
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Cajamag’s Director of Special Programs, Addy Martínez de Llanos, was invited by the National Library of Congress to personally share the experience of this recitation promotion program that contributes to educational and cultural training in the Sierra Nevasca de Santa Marta and rural areas. from the Santa Marta cookie area.
Argentinian software praise
It’s not just about admitting books, it’s always about democracy, information and recreation
Alejandro Santa, chief coordinator of the Library of Congress of Argentina, was surprised by the reach of this software and highlighted the benefits it has obtained in the affected population.
“This program is an example of how societies can transform themselves from within and improve the skills of their members,” Santa said.
He always described it as an example of solidarity, dedication and placing libraries in a higher purpose.
“There is no doubt that this software, which is made in Sierra Nevasca, is alive to allow the saved, democratic and inclusive entry to knowledge, because it is not just about admitting books, it is always acts of democracy, information and leisure. , which allows members of indigenous communities to integrate with the rest of the society in which they are immersed,” said Santa Claus.
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Precisely because of what implementation means for children and young people, Alejandro Santa, as a member of the Regional Area Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Convention of Library and Library Associations (IFLA), wanted to give more visibility to the network of Biblioburros de Cajamag, so that it could be taken as an example and replicated throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
“If we do it naively, we will help the natives to have more visibility, more money and we will help to preserve their languages”, declared the director.
Addy Martínez, representative of Cajamag in charge of presenting the program and its achievements, assured that it is a unique and exciting moment, especially because it opens the possibility that this type of strategy benefits the remote populations who come , continue to cross borders and replicate successfully. In other countries.
“Whispering about the Biblioburro always fills me with pride. On this occasion there was great joy because I was able to show them how, with a sexual act, effort and dedication, it is possible to use books to educate, entertain and educate children, young people and even adults,” said Addy Martínez.
The stories, experiences and social changes left by the Biblioburro were told in a conference entitled “Network of Biblioburros for the promotion of intercultural recitation” held at the Leonardo Favio Competition in the city of Buenos Aires, in Argentina.
By Rogelio Urieles
By WEATHER Santa Marta
@rogeruv