The activity was part of the Hay Festivalito in Arequipa. The book contains 90 stories written by children who participated in the “National School Mining Award” competition.

The San Francisco Square in the city of Arequipa became the ideal setting for the activities of the Hay Festivalito, which provided an important platform for the book “The Earth and Its Minerals”. This book contains the literary creations of the participants of the National School Mining Award, held as part of PERUMIN 35 in 2022.

“The intention is to ignite children’s curiosity about mining, to encourage them to conduct research on mining at their level, and create a narrative telling us what they think," said Carlos Diez Canseco, the general manager of the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP), the organizer of PERUMIN.

During the storytelling presentation by Alexis Valverde, both young and old enjoyed the narration of four stories from the book composed of 90 stories created by students from 15 regions of the country. Doris Zuzunaga, a specialist in music pedagogy through play, was in charge of the presentation, and Carlos Diez Canseco, the general manager of the IIMP, shared details of the competition that led to this literary work.

Diez Canseco explained that the Institute organizes this competition on the occasion of PERUMIN, and now there are four categories: story, play, model, and an action of social responsibility in their locality for older students.

He also pointed out that this year's edition included a new section dedicated to Quechua-speaking children, with the participation of six artistic creations in this language. "They are still not many, but I think it is interesting and represents the participation of Quechua in our activities," he noted.

The importance of this competition, which recognizes the winning child, teacher and school in each category, is to spread knowledge about responsible mining throughout the country. The book, "The Earth and Its Minerals," also contributes to this mission by using simple language to convey information from one child to another.

"It is easy for most people to know about a bank or even a factory, but knowing about mining is a bit more challenging. That is why we want them to take an interest, ask questions, write and create their own stories," said Diez Canseco in El Pueblo newspaper.

Press contact

raquel.galindo@iimp.org.pe