10 Children, 10 Maps

All map images are taken from the UNICEF website: http://children.library.carleton.ca/index.htm

By Justine LaMantia

Map #1: 15 year old from Algeria

Caption: The World, As Agreed Upon

The child feels that communication and compromise are essential in a peaceful world. This communication and compromise need to come from overseas as we reach out to one another.

Map #2: 12 year old from Brazil Caption: Giving and Receiving

The child sees the world as being unequal. At one end of the world we have a child with opportunities available to them; on the other end we see a child that is less fortunate and needing what the other child has.

Map #3: 12 year old from ChileCaption: Together we must aid world sickness

The child sees the world in desperate need of fixing. In the child’s eyes the world is sick, stricken with grief; the writing on the sides says: It’s sick. It needs your help. We can together bring the remedy. Even though the child sees the world as sick the child still sees the world as curable– as long as we cure it together.

Map #4: 14 year old from HungaryCaption: Unity will hold the world up

This child sees the need to come together across races and countries to make our country a success. The fact that the hands are holding the world up shows that through unity our world will be supported rather than forgotten about or left to drown.

Map #5: 11 years old, New Zealand Caption: Urbanization will destroy our world

This child has a clear vision about the detrimental effects of building up without regards to our environment. The state of our world as a whole is declining on the right side while the world was once fruitful (as seen on the left). This child has made it clear that our world is transforming for the worst.

Map #6: 11 years old from PolandCaption: Planting the World Together

This child sees the world as something that is shaped and nurtured by people. The child also sees the world as a living, growing, ever-changing entity. The people in the picture show that it takes a global community to shape a successful world.

Map #7: 14 years old, South AfricaCaption: Our World, Our Regions: The Good and the

Bad

This child is deeming parts of the world favorable and unfavorable based on climate. Already this child has preconceived notions about “good” and “bad” places in the world and may make judgments based upon climate. The child is already being set up to see favorable and unfavorable parts of the world, thus having a vision of good and bad. This child’s map shows factual disunity in climate, which may in turn have the child feel a disunity as a whole with our world.

Map #8: 16 years old from UkraineCaption: Protect and Nourish our World

This child sees the world as something that needs to be protected and guarded. There are many different world maps which may symbolize that the child feels that all different countries need to be protected in order to live and grow together.

Map #9: 13 years old from the USACaption: The World Has a Shot

This can have many different interpretations; I see this as the child making a statement about sports bringing the world together (baseballs and basketball). Our world has found a uniting entity– sports (as seen with soccer) and the child could be telling us to nourish our commonalities rather than simply focus on differences.

Map #10: 9 years old, Venezuela Caption: People are the World

Since this child drew a map in a person’s face it is obvious the child feels that people make up the world in which we all live. The drawing reminded me of a “native” of a region and I am interpreting this as a child reminding us to learn about our regions, where we originally came from and who the land originally belonged to. Our history propels our future.