Runa Soncco: Periodico eventual de la sanidad rural Rijchary.

Who is Manuel Núñez Butrón?

Manuel Núñez Butrón is considered a leader of rural social medicine in Latin America and created the Rijcharismo movement. He dedicated his life to improving the health of the Indigenous persons of the altiplano (high Andes) of Peru.¹

What is Runa Soncco?

Runa Soncco is the defunct journal of the Rijcharismo movement, with editions published from 1935 to 1948. Dr. Manuel Núñez Butrón was the editor and principal writer, often using pseudonyms or writing in the third person. The Rijcharys (Awakeners) who made up his sanitary brigade shared the messages within Runa Soncco with the Indigenous of the altiplano, and several Rijcharys also became prominent contributors to the journal. The Indigenous of the altiplano (many of whom spoke only Quechua or Aymara) were the intended audience, so many Rijcharys would read aloud the articles when traveling to visit communities. As such, the writings in Runa Soncco illustrate critical elements of Rijcharismo.

The Runa Soncco editions 3 – 10  that are presented below are part of the Manuel Núñez Butrón document collection in the possession of the Guillén Núñez family, descendants of Dr. Núñez Butrón (Arequipa, Peru). With the family's permission, digital scans of these editions have been made available via Scholars Archive at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University to broaden access to these writings and enable a deeper study of Rijcharismo.

Select images from the Manuel Núñez Butrón document collection have also been added to this https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rijcharismo-gallery/.

A complete collection of the original Runa Soncco journal editions is kept at the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library) in Lima, Peru.²

Citations

¹ Redelfs, A. H., Donoso, P., & Guillén Núñez, M. del P. L. (2021). Manuel Nuñez Butrón (1900-1952): Rijcharismo and rural social medicine in Peru. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306042

² Cueto, M. (1991). “Indigenismo” and Rural Medicine in Peru: The Indian Sanitary Brigade and Manuel Nuñez Butrón. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 65(1), 22–41. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44447657 

>>> Click on the links below to view Editions 3-10 of Runa Soncco <<<