World Map Project

In her first year as a Peace Corps volunteer (1988-1990), Barbara Jo White recalls a fellow volunteer requesting wall maps from National Geographic to post in classrooms for her students. White replied, “The only way you’re going to get a map to stay on a wall is to paint it there.”

Applying the grid method to make her first world map, White says she utilized the Mercator projection method that makes countries further from the equator appear larger. Later she traced National Geographic’s new projection map and World Map Project was born. Pretty soon letters poured in from Peace Corps volunteers around the world asking for gridded map pages.

Enthusiasm for the project continues today due to the project’s simplicity and durability. White explains, “Because few rural schools have maps and many students leave school in their teens, some children never see a world map or have a concept of the world. The only way many schools can get and keep a map is to have it painted on a wall.”

Today World Map Projects can be seen on five of the world’s seven continents. “It’s such a good way to get integrated into the community. So many volunteers work with children and youth and this is a great way to literally draw the connection between you as a foreigner, and the community for the young people,” says Inter-America and Pacific Country Desk Officer Ella Ewart (RPCV/Peru, 2006-2008). She adds,”It was really rewarding to me, as a volunteer, to have a map—something tangible that I could point to and that I created hand in hand with the kids.”

Inspired by this method of mobilizing a community through painting project, Lucas commissioned his PACT Club to create a World Map Project on a wall on the Lempu CJSS campus. Graciously the art teacher at Lempu, Mr. Mosele, supported the project by donating paint brushes and offering to help pay for some of the paint. Along with some of our own contributions and donations from a local hardware store, we managed to collect all materials for almost no cost at all

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Following White’s instructions on how to trace, label, and grid a world map, we had to be extremely particular when drawing the grid lines, which on a curved wall is not easy. Once the lines were drawn, PACT Club students painted the foundation of the map ocean blue. Lucas had every student practice on separate sheets of paper recreating a gridded square by copying it onto a larger square. Then they began drawing out all the countries of the world. Although the project is supposed to be more about a community coming together for a common goal, many geography lessons were learned by students and staff. Several times people asked which of Botswana’s neighboring countries is America. Then we got to show them just how far our home country really is from Africa. Even many staff could not say where South Africa is (just south of Botswana). Many students assumed Russia was America because it was the largest.

After all countries were painted and labeled, we completed the project by painting Botswana flag and Peace Corps emblem in the corners. Lucas is making up lesson plans to share with teachers on best practices for utilizing the World Map. After all the ups and downs of our service having to address a topic as sensitive as HIV, this project was a breath of fresh air. And we will have managed to leave a physical mark in Salajwe.