World Map

One of my last projects in Nicaragua was to complete a world map at one of my rural community schools. The concept was simple enough: I had sixteen sheets comprising of a world map that was grided and we would then transfer the drawing proportionally to the school wall. I remember saying how the last couple months would be the hardest because I would be unmotivated and have difficulty finding projects, but this world map idea just fell into my lap. In all of my four rural schools we did world maps on large butcher paper, but at only one did we decide to go big and put it on the school wall. The final dimensions were 5ft x 10ft and it is the first thing you see walking up to the school. I was so proud of all my 5th and 6th grade students. Yes, I am a perfectionist and I ended up drawing most of it, but you know what, I took a back seat and let them do all the painting. Sure, some of the borders may have shifted and I am sorry to all people in the newly formed South Sudan, you did not get your recognition. In fact, I am sorry to Andorra, Luxemburg, the Balkans, and the countless islands in Polynesia that we left out. Whoops, I guess you can´t fit it all in there, it is a big world you know.

Anyways, the point of this project was to show my students how grand the world is. Think about it, these students have not grown up with television nor Internet. They have no idea where Nicaragua is nor its size to the rest of the world. It was shocking when we were labeling the countries when I asked them to find Nicaragua. The first response was, "It´s so small" or "I didn´t know the world looked like this". I hope that they will see this map as a reminder of our two years together and also be a way for them to relate to the world when they hear the news about a report of other countries. I left it to them to do the painting and at the end each one of them signed their masterpiece, I hope that this will be something that they can look back on and one day show their own kids.