Pulitzer Center Update

Paul Salopek, Djibouti Classroom Skype with Michigan Students

Students in Chris Swinko's third-grade class at Summers Knoll School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, chat via Skype with globetrotter Paul Salopek and a classroom of students in the Republic of Djibouti. Image courtesy of Chris Swinko. Michigan, 2013.

Students in Chris Swinko's third-grade class at Summers Knoll School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, chat via Skype with globetrotter Paul Salopek and a classroom of students in the Republic of Djibouti. Image courtesy of Chris Swinko. Michigan, 2013.

Students in Chris Swinko's third-grade class at Summers Knoll School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, chatted via Skype with globetrotter Paul Salopek and a classroom of students in the Republic of Djibouti.

"The overall experience was really positive for the students," Swinko wrote in an e-mail. "They really enjoyed talking with their peers in Djibouti and we are hoping to maintain a connection with them." Swinko said his students tried to see Salopek's experience from his perspective as they prepared their questions, and a popular theme was that "we are all Djiboutians in a sense." As his students discussed this concept, Swinko noted that he "saw and heard their thinking about borders between countries shift. As we looked at the map on our wall, one student said, 'Before we were Americans, Ethiopians and Djiboutians, we were just us.'"

Follow Paul on Twitter with the hashtag #EdenWalk or at @PaulSalopek.

Check out the overview of Salopek's project on our Web site.