Carlos Diez Canseco, general manager of the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP), indicated that this year the PERUMIN National School Mining Award received 368 participants from 22 regions for its 4 categories, which practically doubled the number of applications of the previous edition.

“One very interesting thing is that we not only have products in Spanish but also products in Quechua, stories and plays, which is extremely interesting and speaks volumes about the integration of the sector with the Quechua culture and community,” he said in an interview with Exitosa TV.

This year's edition has four categories: short story (from 1st to 3rd grade of elementary school), theater performance (from 4th to 6th grade of elementary school), scale model (from 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school), and documented Social and Environmental Responsibility work (from 4th to 5th grade of secondary school). “Also, this year, the short story category has surpassed the 90 stories received last year,” pointed out Carlos Diez Canseco.

The IIMP representative acknowledged that the products received in this contest allow a much better understanding of how children see the subject of minerals and mining in the country. "This is an interesting insight for us, for the future of communication, because normally we have a very direct, very precise communication, but when you see these stories and the way the children write, you realize that you have to write in a different way to reach them," he explained.

He also added that it is very important to reach all the regions in terms of communication, especially the families and communities near the mining areas, outside of Lima. "When you read the stories, you definitely realize that mining is definitely important for the people of the regions. It is an essential element. It is a component of development that allows you to grow. You see it clearly in the stories," he said.

Publication
 

Furthermore, the general manager of the IIMP took the opportunity to present the recently published work "La Tierra y sus minerales” (“The Earth and its Minerals"), a compilation of 90 stories from 15 regions of the country, which were elaborated by children for the PERUMIN 2022 National School Mining Award, in the framework of PERUMIN 35 Mining Convention.

"We hope that the book can soon be found in the main bookstores and have storytelling sessions. We are also thinking of new creative ways to disseminate the stories and seeing what to do with the other products of the contest, which this year has received recorded theater performances, documented social work, and the scale models that we are showing at PERUMIN," explained Diez Canseco.

You can access the digital version of "The Earth and Its Minerals" at the following link: https://iimp.org.pe/perumin/36/Libro/la-tierra-y-sus-minerales/