Paco el Chiguiro and the Charitable Crocheters movement
Paco the Capybara is a character from the Charitable Crocheters movement that started in Colombia in 2023 by Fundacion Oropendola, quoting from the creator’s Instagram:
“Paco is a character who was created to address the enormous need for therapeutic support among children undergoing cancer treatment. In order for Paco to fulfill his mission and not just become another stuffed animal, he must come with a set of “instructions,” which will be given to each child in the form of a children’s storybook featuring stories and coloring pages. Each story relates to a different stage of cancer treatment, helping medical staff and caregivers explain the reasons behind the procedures to the children.“
The name Paco was chosen since it sounds similar to a contraction used in Spanish for the word “para” wich means “to”, so his slogan goes “Paco-compañar (to accompany you), Paco-nsentir (to indulge), Paco-mpartir (to share), Paco-mprender (to understand).”
Paco is the brain child of Juan Diego Castillo Ramírez of Fundación Oropéndola and his wife Paula, his pattern was designed by Sandra Orozco, and the storybook was written by Kats Mendoza and ilustrated by Paula. (The official account on instagram can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/pacoelchiguiro/)
Originally it was a movement only in Colombia, but over time it has expanded to almost very Spanish speaking country in Central and South America, going from Mexico all the way down to Chile and Argentina. And even more recently the book was translated to English (and can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/Paco-the-Capybara-EN-Version).
“This book and the crochet Paco pattern are a work in the public domain, with the purpose of reaching as many patients in need as possible. Therefore, it is subject to maximum dissemination. In this regard, any individual or legal entity, public or private, is authorized to reproduce, communicate, and distribute it, provided that the book is used together with the crocheted Paco in a contextualized and free manner, acknowledging all its authors and collaborators, who are listed in the corresponding credits.”
Right now the written pattern is only in Spanish but if anyone wants to participate in the Paco movement, I can translate it. There is also a video tutorial by Juan Diego, also in Spanish though the auto translate subtitles work OK, that can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c-s_glD9HI&t=2393s
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