Reading Rally in Tarma

Just up the street from us is a large school campus:


So it wasn't surprising this morning as we left our house to see and hear this large band pass by, with school kids wearing their normal school uniforms:


Walking behind the band were students, teachers, and parents carrying signs and posters to promote reading among students in Tarma.

After our meeting at the church, we heard and saw other bands and school kids descending on the Plaza de Armas (city center):


All the school groups were holding signs, like this one, which says, "Reading makes a man complete, his communication lively, and his writing precise," or were carrying books:

A woman walked by and Scott couldn't resist taking her picture. She is carrying food for her guinea pigs:

All the school children came for the reading rally; these groups are in front of the cathedral on the Plaza de Armas:

These girls hold a sign that says, "An open book is a brain that talks; closed, a friend that waits; forgotten, a soul that forgives; destroyed, a heart that weeps" (from a Hindu proverb):

Dignitaries gave speeches, extolling the virtues of reading. The man sitting alone in the center is Brother Torres, president of the Tarma (LDS) Branch and governor of the (political) district of Tarma:

Peruvian children need this kind of encouragement, because most Peruvian homes have few, if any, books. Even Mormon homes here just have the scriptures and some Church manuals; usually there is no other reading materials. Hopefully, this will change over time.