Jaqaru and the earthquake

[MJ Hardman]

The aftermath of the Earthquake has put the Jaqaru language in an even more
precarious position.  And just when we thought we had things going well!

MJ

http://txupi.org <http://txupi.org>

http://tupefund.org <http://tupefund.org>

Markmashi, friends, colleagues, family ­

It is now nearly four months since the earthquake of Aug. 15, 2007 destroyed
Tupe.  We have been most gratified by the many offers of help from so many
of you. I thought it would take me a couple of days to arrange an easy
conduit for such help.  Unsurprisingly, but not anticipated, in a
capitalistic society, charity giving is also a capitalistic enterprise.
There is an old Spanish blessing of health, wealth, love and the time to
enjoy them.  In opening a direct path for help for Tupe it turned out that
while Dimas and I had the love, we lacked the health, wealth and time to do
so.  

http://tupefund.org <http://tupefund.org>

We do have, however, a website, http://txupi.wordpress.com/
<http://txupi.wordpress.com/> , as well as domain names as well as an email
address (jaqaru at bellsouth.net <mailto:jaqaru at bellsouth.net> ). We tell the
story on the webiste http://txupi.wordpress.com/
<http://txupi.wordpress.com/>  as well as listing some of what has been
done, what still needs to be done ­ especially for the school, what we still
hope to do in spite of it all, and how you can help.
http://txupi.wordpress.com/ <http://txupi.wordpress.com/> . The site is set
up as a <blog> so that everyone can participate.  We are hoping that people
who are involved in the reconstruction will also tell their stories there
which will help us in what we might attempt to do from here, as well as
comments from here on what is feasible.  Also, there are links to videos
done after the earthquake as well as other documents and some material about
and in Jaqaru.  We are hoping to make this website http://txupi.org
<http://txupi.org>  a central information site for the earthquake and for
the reconstruction, with an idea to continuing for the preservation and
revitalization of Jaqaru, http://txupi.wordpress.com/
<http://txupi.wordpress.com/> . Everything is in both English and Spanish;
which comes first varies, but if you don't find the language you want,
please go to the bottom.  Maybe there will be a volunteer out there who can
think of a way of making it easier for those who want only one language.

http://txupi.org <http://txupi.org>

There is another saying that the coffee is best drunk hot.  Natural
disasters have certainly not been lacking since August, the world over.
Recovery, however, takes a very long time. In the case of Tupe the matter of
the survival of Jaqaru complicates everything.  One teacher, one who has
been most active in bilingual education, was heard to remark, in the
aftermath of the earthquake, that Jaqaru was going to die anyway so why try
anymore.  Since a year ago there has been a full time position for working
with the teachers in Jaqaru.  In the aftermath of the Earthquake that has
now been cut to half-time.  We have just received news that they are
thinking of cutting it out entirely.

We would so like to find the way to make the path to the preservation and
revitalization of Jaqaru sustainable; it's loss as a consequence of the
earthquake, after all it has been through to manage to still exist now, 500
years after conquest, would be a human loss indeed.
 
Dr. MJ Hardman and Dr. Dimas Bauista Iturrizaga