Barbara and I just had a coffee and a chat with an indigenous lady here in San Cristobal de las Casas. It was quite a conversation.

We were talking about where we come from, being Scotland for me, and it was quickly apparent she had no idea Scotland existed let alone where it was.

I could understand this, it’s a small country after all and I have had similar discussions with people even in Europe, so I continued to say it was a part of the United Kingdom, just north of England. Nothing.

Ok, it is near France. Nothing. It’s in Europe (kind of). And this is when the penny dropped. This lady had no idea, absolutely no idea where and what Europe was.

It transpired not only was she unaware of Europe, she pretty much had no idea of where other countries and continents were like China or Russia or Africa.

On top of this; she thought that all of the countries out there were effectively governed by the US and George Bush. Although she may not be completely off the mark on that one, she was quite surprised, and I think pleased, to hear that we all have our own governments.

I opened up a map of the world on my laptop; showing her where Mexico was then the US, South America, across the ocean to Europe, then Africa, Asia and Australia.

It was quite something seeing someone amazed by the world in which we live in. I never expected her to have a vast knowledge of the world, but to not be aware that a land exists across an ocean was one that caught me by surprise.

It’s one of those conversations that reinforces just how far we have to come in terms of education in the world. Maybe an organisation whose purpose is to install a world map in every town would be a good idea. The ideal of everyone getting an education is far off, so something small may be a good step.

Mind you; if you read the following, which many of you will already be aware of, I probably shouldn’t be so surprised by a lack of geographical knowledge in the world. Study: Geography Greek to young Americans

The best part of the above link is the following line: “On the positive side, the study noted, seven in 10 young Americans correctly located China on a map”. Now this would have been quite amusing if it was sarcasm. Well done to those two thirds.

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