That children must be involved in humanitarian causes that dignify existence, because they are aimed at improving – in these lowlands, at saving – the lives of the whole on the basis of solidarity, inclusive and generous criteria that go beyond the merely commercial and individualistic. , is an imperative too proclaimed for what is usually done in pursuit of that beautiful purpose. These causes are the feminist, the environmentalist and the indigenist as the (still) novelties of the time, which add to the historical struggle of humanism – thus, in general – for an economy that contemplates everyone, that is, that lets live and, if it is not too much to ask, enjoy, because one does not come to the world to suffer. Containing future generations in these battles is essential, for obvious reasons.
Perhaps contrary to what is usual, the book OLGA, the Mapuche guardian, was designed from its kilometer zero for the consumption of kids. With the understanding that adults already know who she was, and if they don’t know it is because they are not interested. That purpose is reflected in the writing and illustrations, which make it agile and colloquial in order to spark the interest of a ten-year-old. Without losing power, it is worth saying that the message that must be transmitted regarding the life and especially the militancy of Olga Garay for the Mapuches in particular – the people to which she belonged – and the natives in general, does not resign the vigor her. In this case the tone does not weaken the song, but rather strengthens it. Lightness does not take away from the courage of the message, nor does it reduce its depth. The type of drawings and the color of the print could give the idea that we are in the presence of a work of entertainment. Big mistake: The Mapuche guardian is much more than that, since in addition to entertaining it teaches a story, or the other side of the history that was instilled in us for generations, built on the blood, frustration and procrastination of the former owners of these lands. that we steal without contemplation, in the name of a progress that centuries later has known how to be anything but fair and supportive. (Are they indoctrinating?)
You can’t talk to preteens in the same way as adults, as if the same hat design should match all heads. Even less as we spoke to older people twenty years ago, before the ‘dictatorship’ of social networks. In any case, it is about telling them the same thing, but in a different way, implementing other resources. Or they will get bored, and far from joining the bus that they are invited to join, perhaps they will cross the street and get on the first bus that passes in the opposite direction. Recent Argentine politics can attest, and so can Bolívar, if we look at those meetings related to human rights in which we are the same as always and almost never people under 30. The pride of always being there versus the pain of not adding, not to widen edges. If we become pragmatic and look at certain figures, we will see that some constructions, which are supported by the linguistic framework that is the dynamo of action, require urgent updating at the risk of being trapped in the cell of the obsolete, with the danger that this entails. from a future perspective in an increasingly unequal world.
Therefore it is to celebrate the publication of a book like this. That does not invent gunpowder but collects a noble tradition, the comic, not always taken into account or valued as literature although it has long proven its effectiveness. Designed for kids from the first letter written by Mónica González, Candela Castillo and Ana Karina Martínez, from the initial stroke put by the illustrator, Mariela Holgado. Not adapting a product intended for adults, a resource that is also valid although with surely less penetration power in the youngest layers of our society, those who will guarantee that tomorrow we continue fighting for a broader, more inclusive and fair world, or will decline. the flags of humanism resigning themselves to inequality and cannibalism.
OLGA is a grain of sand, she is not going to change the world. But it is a necessary grain, which should ‘make school’. As necessary as Garay’s own career, in the way that she is a unique woman here. The book by the collective Mujer Originaria and the Directorate of Human Rights and Gender Policies, which was presented on Monday at the Cinema and for now will not go on sale but will go to schools, is thus an indispensable contribution to our historical future, that time will make it bloom. Let’s enjoy it and promote it, because its single edition improves us all, and, even more, invites us to be better.
Chino Castro
