Book fair – Freedom of expression
Its was the beginning of
the 12th , annual book fair. This event is organized by a local university
as one of its arms into the community. Publishers, book sellers and authors come
to present their books. Until Sunday Sept 11th, kids, professors from
different schools will come and visit plaza de armas (city square of weapons) in
downtown Encarnacion to learn and interact. In parallel with the book fair, workshops
are going on all day, dealing with topics as wide as social media, religion,
politics, team work, biographies, and history.
Just to refresh our
memory, until 1989 Paraguay had only two universities in the country. The
country was governed by a dictator for 35 years. Freedom of expression could
cost exile, jail or even death. That’s only about 30 years ago. Today there are
54 universities, but still only about 4% attending university. People are
gaining their voice without fear of repression after two hundred years. You can
imagine how these open fair events are celebrated in the life of this state and
country.
For the next five days
I will be sharing more about this event. This event is giving a voice to a new
generation of Paraguayans. People suddenly realize they have so much to offer
and so much to contribute to the development of this nation. I am excited to be
a part of this awakening.
More tomorrow....
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