Geography - Geology News

By Jodee Haack

UNICEF estimates that over two million women, most of them girls, are sexually exploited every year in the multi-billion dollar sex industry. Last summer (2011), I spent a month in the beautiful country of Thailand, leading a short-term mission trip with my husband and nine college students. Part of the focus of this trip was ministering to girls who are at risk for entering the sex industry and bringing some light into the dark place that is the Chiang Mai red light district. We spent our time in northern Thailand, a lush, green mountainous region where many of the ethnic minorities reside. Most of our time in the North was spent between Chiang Mai and Chiang Kham. Chiang Mai is the most important city in northern Thailand, with a population of nearly one million in its metropolitan area. It is also a popular destination for tourists, including those primarily concerned with the city’s sex tourism industry. Chiang Kham, a much smaller place in the North, offers little to a tourist except a place to stay while on the way to a more popular destination. After spending nearly 10 days in the girls’ boarding house, Home of Blessing in Chiang Kham, walking the streets in Chiang Mai’s red light district revealed a sharp contrast between the young girls at the home and those on the streets.

On the streets, what struck me was the emptiness in the young girls’ faces. I could not help but wonder the age of each one, as I find it difficult to guess the age of any Thai woman. “Is she a child? Are they so bold as to keep the young ones in the open, or are the youngest girls kept behind closed doors?” I asked myself. Thailand’s Health Systems Research Institute estimates
that 40 percent of those employed in the prostitution sector are under the age of 18. However, the United Nations acknowledges that it is very difficult to estimate the number of prostitutes or children involved. No matter the exact figures, the fact is, Thailand is a hotspot in the sex tourism industry. Part of its draw is the availability of girls under the age of 18; and many of the customers are those from the most developed countries in the world.

Lack of education, poverty, and social situations in which all family members are expected to contribute to the household income make the northern region of Thailand a place where young girls can easily be exploited. Most of the ethnic minorities of the country are found in the region. Hill tribes, as they are commonly called, make up a collection of ethnic peoples that have made their way to this part of Southeast Asia over many years. Each group has its own story, but they all have some things in common. They are often subsistence farmers who make their living using slash and burn farming techniques along with raising livestock. They earn far less than the average ethnic Thai person and experience a certain amount of oppression from many Thai people and the Thai government. These factors and others make the hill tribe people of Thailand easy victims of the sex trafficking industry. Human traffickers are very creative in the means that they use to take girls from their families. Most often, the family members and the victim herself may think she is going to the big city for a waitressing job or maybe a cleaning job in a hotel. In some cases the girl is sent off with the promise of future income, while, in other instances, money is given to the family at the time the child is taken. Usually, parents and other family members have no knowledge that they are sending their child into a brothel.

At Home of Blessing in Chiang Kham, Pastor Sayan Kusavadee and his wife, Siriporn, attempt to offer the families of desperate hill tribes and ethnic Thais an alternative to sending their children away to the big cities to work. Some of the problem is that families cannot afford to educate their children. Home of Blessing provides food, shelter, clothing, and education to the girls that stay there. When we were present, they had 91 girls, from the ages of 5 to 18. Many of them were from various ethnic groups including Karen and Hmong; others were ethnic Thai girls that came from very poor families.

The Kusavadees believe that by providing everything a young girl needs to thrive in her high school years families will be less inclined to see her as a liability. The idea is prevention. It is much easier, in their opinion, to keep a girl from being sold into the sex trade than to rescue her from it. I was curious how this couple, who were once both teachers, came to be responsible for the well-being of 91 young girls. The story they shared was both inspiring and saddening. The teachers were working in the South of Thailand when they felt led to return to the northern part of the country, to Chiang Kham in particular. Sayan began to notice peculiar behavior in a
side street across from their house. He saw many young men and women traveling the side street and would sometimes see an older man with a young girl. Later, he noticed the man would leave without the girl. He asked some locals about the strange occurrences. To his dismay, the locals informed him that a brothel was located down the little side street. Poverty-stricken families are often tricked or coerced into selling their girls, many times with no idea where they are actually sending them, or that they may not see them again. They went on to tell him that the brothel was a preparation work place where girls come to be trained to go on to the larger cities of Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Child prostitution is illegal in Thailand, but Sayan learned that the police are often bribed by the trafficking rings to look the other way.

After realizing this horrific scene so close to their home, the Kusavadees grieved about the situation. They wanted to help but did not know how exactly. Not long after, the opportunity came to them. The local doctor, who was a family friend, called needing their help. His patient was a girl of 13 years. She had come from the brothel and needed emergency gynecological
treatment. She had severe internal bleeding from being overworked. The doctor bought her for 5,000 baht, which is the equivalent of about $120 US dollars. He then brought her to the Kusavadees, knowing they were Christians. Sayan and Siriporn cared for the girl and then sent her to a recovery center in Bangkok that specializes in the treatment of such traumatized girls. This situation, however, brought about the ideas they needed to help young girls.

They decided to take in a few girls that were in high-risk situations. The criteria would be girls from impoverished families that could not afford secondary education. Often these would be girls from the so-called hill tribes, or minority ethnic groups. They started with just five girls of Yao ethnicity, brought them into their home, and provided for them as best they could. From this meager beginning, the Home of Blessing was born and now provides for almost a hundred girls.

During my time at the Home of Blessing, I was awestruck at the organization and responsibility instilled in these girls. They arise each morning at about 5:00 to be at morning worship at 5:30. That lasts until 6:00, when they each go to their assigned weekly chores, which include cooking, cleaning, and feeding farm animals that help provide their food. They then eat breakfast and head off to school. After school, they have some leisure time until dinner; and then they have some organized activities that include Bible study and English class. Finally, they do their homework. The girls seem to be thriving under these conditions.

For four days during our stay, we planted rice alongside the girls and staff of the Home of Blessing. Our fat, western fingers fumbled with the tender, young rice plants while the young Thai girls made quick work of the planting. Watching them play and work in the rice fields brought us great joy. These girls are so precious, and knowing that they could be working as sex slaves in one of Thailand’s big cities is sobering. What an awesome opportunity they have received. They are all continuing their studies while participating in the success of a small community. So, when we transferred cities from Chiang Kham to the fast-paced and bustling Chiang Mai, we became heavy hearted when faced with the infamous Chiang Mai red light district and so grateful that two people in northern Thailand were willing to devote their lives to help others have the opportunities that would not have been afforded them otherwise.

Human trafficking, modern-day slavery, and the sex-trade not only exist all over the world, but thrive. The irony in it all is the relationship between their growth and furthered development in places like Thailand. As Thailand has developed and become a popular tourist destination, the demand for both young and adult prostitutes has increased; and many of the customers are men from the most developed countries in the world. In fact, 25 percent of all child sex tourists worldwide are American men. Ideally, with development come more opportunities and rights for women, not exploitation and abuse. This situation begs the question: “What can we do to help?” The answer is to get informed and involved. To learn more or to get involved, check out the following organizations: American Anti-Slavery Group, Amnesty International, Free the Slaves, Stop Child Trafficking Now, or International Justice Mission. If you are interested in helping the
Home of Blessing, search for it by name online or contact me directly.

The time I spent in Thailand is one that I will never forget. However, I am most appreciative of the awareness I gained concerning the grave issue of sex trafficking and child prostitution. Knowing this problem exists is one thing. Experiencing the laughing, playing, and innocence of girls who might have had their childhood stolen under different circumstances is quite another. My Thailand trip helped me determine to be an active participant and not a sideline observer.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jodee Haack teaches Advanced Placement Human Geography and French at Bixby High School in Bixby, Oklahoma, which is just downstream on the Arkansas River from Tulsa. She earned her undergraduate degree from Oral Roberts University and has been teaching since 2001. Jodee enjoys traveling in her free time and has taken nearly 100 students abroad over the years. She took a spring 2012 exchange trip to China for three weeks.

To read the actual article as it appeared in print, to see other items in Volume 40 of Glacial Deposits, or to check archived issues of Glacial Deposits, click here.

By James R. Carter

Maps were always an important part of my teaching career. A couple of years after I retired my former student and Geography undergraduate Charles Nuttall noted that his 18-month-old son knew what a map was because he watched Dora the Explorer. I was fascinated that a child that young had any concept of a map.

I looked at a few episodes broadcast on Nickelodeon and viewed a number of Dora the Explorer DVDs from the local libraries. The program targets children ages 2 to 5. Dora is a 7-year-old Latina cartoon character with many cartoon animal friends. Her parents gave her a magic backpack, which contains everything an explorer needs, including a map. Map is a character in the shape of a rolled-up map with eyes and mouth. Early in every episode Dora encounters a situation where she has to go someplace. She turns to the audience and asks “Who do we ask for help when we want to know which way to go?” The children yell “Map,” at which time the character Map jumps out of the backpack and sings “I’m the Map. . . .When you need to know which way to go, I’m the Map. . . .” While he is an animated character, he is also a flat paper map showing where we need to go.

The program is a commercial success, and images of Dora appear around the world. I started asking persons in the cartography and geographic education communities about Dora the Explorer. Almost no one knew anything about her, but finally I was directed to Dr. Osa Brand of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). She knew about Dora because she watched the program with her granddaughter and was impressed with it. She realized I knew more about it than she did so she suggested I write an article about Dora the Explorer relative to geographic education. A few months later I sent my manuscript to the Journal of Geography. The editor accepted it with a few changes (see Select Bibliography).

The creators of Dora the Explorer have a web page where they explain the basis for creating the show. On that page the creators argue that children 2 to 5 have no power and cannot do much on their own, so the creators designed the program to empower young viewers to help Dora on her journey. Viewers talk to the cartoon characters, getting up to push, pull, or march as Dora asks for help. When Map comes out of Backpack, he does not tell Dora where she needs to go but instead shows the young viewers the route to follow. After Map disappears, Dora reviews where to go with the help of the viewers. (Of course, Dora will go where she needs to go whether viewers help or not.)

Dora the Explorer seeks to employ all of the multiple intelligences of Dr. Howard Gardner in every episode. Using a map implements the spatial intelligence. Because the story line follows the route laid out on the map, the map is the cognitive organizer of the program. The map works in the same way in every episode so it operates in a helpful map use environment that most children seem to be able to understand.

Dora is a bi-lingual character and on television in the U.S. speaks both English and Spanish. As a cartoon it is easy to employ other languages and the program appears in at least 30 different languages in more than 100 countries. I have seen the program on television in India and in many Latin American countries. I have talked to persons who have seen it in Indonesia, Italy, Singapore, and Taiwan, in all cases using local languages. I have seen DVDs where viewers can select the two languages for the presentation. The bi-lingual aspect of the program appeals to many parents, and young children have little trouble with a second language.

There are academic articles examining the impact of television on children. One study found that children who watched Dora the Explorer and/or Blue’s Clues had better language development than children who watched no television or some other children’s TV programming. The fact that these two programs solicit interaction from the viewers and have a single storyline for the entire episode contributes to the positive impact on the viewers. Most Dora episodes are 23 minutes long, but a few are over 40 minutes long. On Nickelodeon the shorter episodes appear uninterrupted, which helps maintain the storyline.

More than 110 episodes of Dora the Explorer have aired since August 2000. It takes about a year to produce each episode. Preschool children from a variety of backgrounds serve to test the concepts, graphics, and story for each episode. On the shorter episodes, the characters travel to three places. The creators found they have to show a road or path on the map linking
the three places for children to make the links. The research employed in designing the program and each episode is important in the success of the program.

Most of the episodes focus on children’s stories or fantasy situations that give the creators great freedom to portray characters. In one longer episode, Dora has to deliver friendship bracelets to children around the world. We go with her to France, Tanzania, Russia, and China. The producers found it difficult to show persons and scenes in those places that were representative of the places but not stigmatizing of the places. They have been criticized for using faces for adults who look like specific people. In the future they are unlikely to portray real places or persons in cartoon form because they might offend someone, somewhere.

Most of the episodes follow a common theme. Dora greets the viewers who will join her on the journey and sets up a story line that requires us to go somewhere. Children call Map, and he appears taking over the screen. Map talks to viewers and then departs. Dora returns, she reviews where to go with the viewers, and then we set off. Many things will happen; we keep
checking on where to go next, and finally we reach the destination. At that time everyone sings “We did it.” Dora thanks viewers and tells them “We could not have done it without you.”

A few episodes depart from this routine. In one of the departures, a bird carried off Map; and, as the bird carries him, Map tells Dora to make her own map. She turns to Backpack and gets paper and pencil; and we watch her draw her own map. A geographer colleague told me that his 3-year-old daughter at this point pauses the DVD and gets her paper and pencils so she can draw her map with Dora. I consider this activity to be an important scene for preschoolers. When Map is released, he praises Dora for the quality of her map.

Preschool children do not have the ability to travel far on their own. In Dora the Explorer they get introduced to some different environments—rivers, forests, islands, snow, mountains with snow on them, etc. These are fantasy environments, but the images expand the world for very young children. We get some exposure to her Latino culture. Her house and family reflect that
culture; we get to see her abuela (grandmother), she visits towns representative of Latino communities, she celebrates Three Kings’ Day, and she attends her cousin’s Quinceañera (the special birthday party celebrating a girl turning 15 in many Latin America societies). Additionally, much of the music in the series has a Latino flavor.

The fact that millions of preschool children have spent countless hours interacting with Dora the Explorer should have positive impact on what they bring to their start of formal schooling. Conversely, millions of children have not had this experience, either because they did not have access to such programming or their parents or caregivers did not choose to watch Dora the Explorer. In far too many cases, children get to watch only what the older persons watch—after all, these young children do not have much control of their environment.

What difference does it make for geography what children watch on television? This is an important question. I have heard stories of parents helping their kids make maps so they can follow the route to the bank, Farm & Fleet, and Walmart, just as Dora does. I argue that these preschoolers get exposed to some geography and learn about maps, but no one has tested the
impact of this exposure—yet. In my most recent article, a co-authored piece in Research in Geographic Education, we pose some research questions relative to these concerns.

Dora the Explorer hooks children, and they get actively involved with the characters. Then at about 5 years of age the child realizes she/he is talking to a television set and abandons Dora because she/he is too mature for such childish activity. But, for a couple of years, children learn maps and geography by means of a well-designed television program.

Select Bibliography

Carter, James R. “Dora the Explorer: Preschool Geographic Educator.” Journal of Geography 107.3 (2008): 77-86.

Carter, James R. “Map: TV Character and Visual Representation of Space.” Proceedings, International Cartographic Conference, Santiago, Chile 2009, on CD, Theme 29, paper 4, 10 pages. Find online at <http://my.ilstu.edu /~jrcarter/29_4-Carter-Chile-paper-Nov-2009.pdf>.

Carter, James R., and Mariana Diaz-Wionczek. “Geographic Education for Preschoolers: The Dora the Explorer Contribution.” Research in Geographic Education 13.1 (2011): 35-49.

EDITOR’S NOTE: James R. Carter is a Professor Emeritus of Geography at Illinois State. He maintains an active research agenda during this first decade since his retirement in 2005. We thank New Games Productions Inc. of New York for permission to use the Dora illustrations, which are ©2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Dora the Explorer and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

To read the actual article as it appeared in print, to see other items in Volume 40 of Glacial Deposits, or to check archived issues of Glacial Deposits, click here.

Meredith Strow

Meredith Strow, a senior in the Department of Geography-Geology, has received the Student Poster 2012 Excellence Award for her poster presentation at the November Geological Society of America meeting in Charlotte, NC in November 2012. The award is sponsored by SGD (Sedimentary Geology Division of GSA), SEPM-Society for Sedimentary Geology and Nexen of Canada.

The award is based on the results of a judging committee of SEPM and SGD officers that reviewed all of the poster presentations in the SGD – SEPM Student Research Poster Session at the Charlotte Geological Society of America meeting. The top four student presentations from the session were chosen for these awards.

Strow’s research included interpreting dated zircons from the Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming) in order to reconstruct paleogeography of the surrounding regions.

Tasha Dunn

Tasha Dunn, Department of Geography-Geology, was awarded a 3-year, $125,000 grant from NASA to study metamorphism in primitive meteorites. The proposal is titled “Thermal Metamorphism of the Unequilibrated CK Chondrites: Evidence for a Single CK-CV Chondrite Parent Body?” The primary goal of this project is to determine whether the CV and CK chondrites (two types of primitive meteorites) originate from the same asteroid.

To answer this question, Dr. Dunn will analyze compositions of minerals such as olivine, magnetite, and pentlandite in several CK chondrites, and will then use this data to determine how much heating each sample experienced during its formation. This will allow her to establish a metamorphic sequence for the type 3 CK chondrites. Once this is done, it will be much easier to test the single parent body hypothesis.

This is the first NASA grant awarded to the Department of Geography-Geology.

Tasha Dunn is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography-Geology and has taught at ISU since fall 2008. She completed her B.S. (2000) at Tulane University and her M.S. (2005) and Ph.D. (2008) at The University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on the study of extraterrestrial materials, from meteorites to asteroids.

Dunn is a member of the Meteoritical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the Mineralogical Society of America, the Geological Society of America, and the Sigma Xi Research Society.