Success stories
Mathias and Amadou
Client:
European Commission - Development DG
Year:
2003
Languages:
11
Aims:
To explain to children the benefits of development cooperation, and the European Union's actions in this field.
Solutions:
Mostra produced an illustrated book entitled «Mathias and Amadou », designed specifically for small children, to be used either at home or in schools, and issued with a teaching manual for parents and teachers.
Given the age of the target group, (children between the ages of 6 and 8), drawings were used to convey the intended message. The teaching manual explains the real issues behind the 16 original drawings, and provides educators with complementary information to help them deal with with questions on specific subjects, (e.g. poverty, health, education, water supplies).
Afterwards, the concept of «Mathias and Amadou» reappeared in a variety of guises. At the «Couleur Café» Festival (Brussels, summer 2003), Mostra designed a stand for the Development DG which reproduced Mathias and Amadou's school classroom. Some of the characters in the book also appeared on panoramic posters, which were produced by Mostra for the Development DG and ECHO (the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office), and displayed in various European airports, including Brussels and in Rome.
Initially published in French and English, the illustrated book and teaching manual were subsequently translated into the nine other official languages of the Union, as well as into Czech, Hungarian and Polish.
In early March 2004, orders for both publications ran to over
half a million copies.
