DRAGON LAKE
@Mekong Migration Network
Dragon Lake, a children’s picture book was part of an advocacy project under the Mekong Migration Network to sensitize Thai Ministry of Education staff in addressing the topics of migration and living together in primary schools.
Process:
This project included creative activities with Grade 1 students in two different schools: one with a large number of migrant children and one where students where mostly middle class and of Thai ethnicity. In the activities, children created a city and a village in two different countries (Sweet, Sour, Spicy or Salty countries). Then they role played journeys in various directions with the challenge that travelers had lost their purse on the way. Students’ responses spoke strongly of rejection and acceptance which were kept as the theme of the Dragon Lake story, which Estelle Cohenny wrote and illustrated.
The Book
The book layout is conceived to accommodate with six languages (Thai, English, Burmese, Shan, Laotian, and Khmer). Hence the book layout is designed on a trifold format.
The response to the book were emotional and positive but shortly after the completion of the project, there was a change in government in Thailand. Reinforcing Thai-ness in schools was the first reform made by this government.
