Matters of the Earth

Since time is wrapping up at LJSS I wanted to a bigger more tangible project to leave behind--so we are painting a mural of the world! Its the World Map Project that most PCVs are familiar with. Its dawned on me over and over again that the students that I work with--and even many of the teachers don’t have a grasp on world geography. This is nothing different than America, I have a feeling that many Americans don’t have a solid grasp on world geography.  For some reason, the apparent lack of understanding of the world around them is more striking in my everyday life now. It is as if Batswana ran before they could walk. People are exposed to big news items (mainly celebrities and Obama) in the American media, but with little awareness of the happenings in South Africa or Zimbabwe.

I have always been rather fond of maps and geography, so doing this mural seems rather fitting. I started working with the art teacher and several art students in creating our mural. As of right now (school is on break) we have the grid and aaaallllll the countries drawn. I just purchased paint and we are ready to paint come June!

One of the students that I am closer to came to visit me after we started the map, she looked at me very thoughtfully and asked “what time is it in America?” I explained that the part of America where I come from it is about 8 hours behind Botswana. She was a little puzzled, so I explained time zones. Still, she was a little confused so I found tennis ball and a flashlight and drew an X on Botswana and an X on America. I then rotated the tennis ball trying to explain time zones and the sun. The light of understanding flashed in her eyes. As every good learner she of course had more questions! Then asked “do you sleep when its dark in America or in Botswana” I think thats a pretty dang good question (showing some budding critical thinking skills)! Since I am American, why would I not be on an American schedule!

More pictures of our mural will come!