I began to imagine the journey of "Reading with Migrants
in the Middle of the World" in 2020, the year when the
coronavirus pandemic forced us to stay at home and cancel
any possible travel plans. However, in the midst of that
context of social isolation and mobility restrictions, I was
invited to create and lead virtual reading workshops for
Venezuelan and Ecuadorian children beneficiaries of a project,
among whose objectives was to generate spaces and dynamics
of integration between the migrant population and the host
population. I confess that at first it was not easy to imagine
how to achieve that those children would integrate while each
one was confined to their home, relying only on the remote
images and sounds that could reach them through a cell phone
or a computer. At that moment of initial confusion, I also couldn't
conceive how to read to them or show them a book and develop
reading mediation activities that would foster dialogues,
encounters, and discoveries from a distance. Deprived of the
certainties provided by the availability of a physical space full of
books and materials for manual work; of the effects of the voice
and the close presence of the mediator to motivate reading and
conversation; and of the spontaneous integration dynamics that
occur among people when they share a space or an experience;
I felt lost.
Fortunately, books provided me with asylum. The first ones to
welcome me were the writings of Michèle Petit, some of which
I had read some time ago from the comfort of an observer.
However, in my new situation, her reflections on "What Reading
is For" (2008, p.41-74); "the habitable nature of books" (p.51);
and the possibilities that literature offers us to reanimate our
interiority, put ourselves in the shoes of others, or expand our
being through the celebration of the imaginary (p.123), gave
me the first impulse to carry out those virtual workshops where
I put my own trust in books and literature to "bring together
what is separated" (p.112) to the test. Following Petit's advice,
I set out to practice the "art of hospitality and availability" (p.164)
and turn those virtual rooms into "reading shelters"; all I needed
was how to do it. It was then when I came across the book "To
Read in Adverse Contexts and Other Emerging Spaces"
(Secretaría de Cultura de México, 2018), where not only did
I find ideas that reinforced my confidence for working with
migrants and host populations in "emerging spaces" - such
as the virtual one - but I also discovered that this book made
available to mediators, promoters, and artists the systematization
of experiences with methodologies of "cultural attention" (p.9)
implemented both in scenarios of human mobility and natural or
social tragedies, as well as in educational settings to strengthen
teachers' competencies.
Among the various experiences and methodologies shared
there, the research and projects carried out by Evelyn Arizpe
revealed to me the potential of the picture book to generate
cultural exchanges and foster the creation of meanings. In
particular, the project "Reading with Migrants" provided me
with the methodology to turn books and reading into symbolic
shelters where children felt welcomed, safe, and encouraged
to build bridges between them, through the shared reading of
picture books and children's and youth literature, accompanied
by reading mediation activities. These activities were illuminated
by the mediation model applied by Arizpe, based on the metaphor
"mirrors, windows, and doors," elaborated by Rudine Sims Bishop
(1990), who shows us that as a mirror, literature offers readers
the possibility of seeing themselves reflected in the characters;
as a window, seeing the lives of others and knowing other possible
ways of inhabiting the world; and as a door, confronting reality
to cross thresholds, take a step forward, or close and leave behind
old cycles.
The virtual reading workshop sessions with Venezuelan and
Ecuadorian children extended over six months, and after their
conclusion, I had the desire to share the experience with other
mediators. I sensed the need, especially in Ecuador, to somehow
replicate the training program "Reading with Migrants" led in
Mexico by Evelyn Arizpe, as Ecuador has experienced significant
waves of migration and internal population movements in its
recent history. According to reports from the IOM, in 2019 it
was listed as "the main recipient of refugees in Latin America"
(IOM Ecuador, 2019). The opportunity arose with the opening
of a call for cultural or training projects in the public competition
for the "Promotion of Culture and Human Rights 2020" line,
from the Institute for the Promotion of Creativity and Innovation.
Inspired both by the methodology and the philosophy of the
"Reading with Migrants" program, Natali Lalangui and I applied
with the training program "Reading with Migrants in the Middle
of the World," which won funding for its implementation.
The project's objective was to train librarians, teachers, reading
mediators, and human rights promoters from the Metropolitan
District of Quito and other provinces of the country in
methodologies and tools to create intercultural reading itineraries
with communities in migration or human mobility contexts.
The training program took place virtually and brought together
a diverse group of mediators and professionals in terms of their
knowledge, origins, and the type of population they interact with.
Among the 18 participants, we had mediators of both Ecuadorian
and Venezuelan, Peruvian, and Colombian nationality, residing in
different parts of Ecuador. In addition, we had two reading
mediators from Brazil, for whom geographical distance and linguistic
differences posed no barrier. And so, from the very formation of the
group of participants, we began to live that experience of
"reading with migrants."
Guided by this purpose, we designed, led, and journeyed
together with the participants through ten virtual sessions using
the workshop methodology. We began "Imagining the Journey"
by approaching the reality of migration and its effects; "Packing
Our Bags" by exploring the tools provided by reading mediation;
"Starting the Trek" by reading the world from contexts of crisis
and migration and discovering the potential of children's and
youth literature and picture books for these spaces. Finally, we
"Explored Routes" with the gracious participation of Evelyn Arizpe,
who generously explained to us the model of reading mediation:
mirrors, windows, doors; and we learned how to develop a reading
itinerary that fostered encounters between the host population
and the migrant population, encounters that would alleviate some
of the burden of the grief that migrants must process. With all this,
we began to "Map Out" under the compass of reading mediation
resources, to create activities that allowed for the exchange of
experiences and emotions in a respectful and sensitive manner.
Once the paths were established, we encouraged the participants
to "Open Their Bags" to think about the "Creation of Reading
Shelters"; for this, we asked them to design their own reading
itineraries and put them to the test with the group. Thus, during
the practical sessions of the training program, we were able to
experiment with and provide feedback on each of the itineraries
designed by the participants, itineraries that are already being
put into practice in their work environments.
According to the testimonies of the participants themselves,
this training process was quite a journey in which they filled
their bags with valuable tools that they are eager to share in
different contexts, as they lend themselves to it. Especially, we
are glad to know that participating in the program meant, in the
words of one of our mediators, being able to close, "that circle,
that void of longing" for her country. Also, as they expressed, it
was an opportunity to encounter diverse perspectives on the
craft of reading mediation and to feel that during the journey,
everyone was a teacher sharing their knowledge; to recognize
how for mediators, the exercise of cultural transmission through
reading is transformative and becomes a window to see the
world with renewed eyes, a mirror to see themselves reflected
in shared reading experiences, and a door to encounter the
other in more hospitable, welcoming, and human spaces.
