Marleny Olivera, co-ordinator of the libraries in the San Ignacio area of Cajamarca, wrote to us recently telling of the enthusiasm generated by the rural library in the community of Potrero Grande: “The attention given to the books has opened space to learn better!”
Each Rural Library meeting begins with the traditional Andean offering to Pachamama or Mother Earth.
The offering ceremonies, commonly known to the Andean people as, “payments to land or payments to Pachamama” are rituals of the ancestors. The offerings are part of a system of reciprocity between the material world and the spiritual world. The purpose of the ritual is to give back to Mother Earth what she has given you. The coca leaf is an integral part of the offerings to the earth.
