Children of the world

Somerville-based photographer Randi Freundlich will display her work at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on March 28. Her exhibit, titled “Children of the World | Boston,’’ includes 32 large-scale color photographs that tell the story about immigrant families and their children living in Boston. The exhibit will be displayed until January 2014.

Pictured: Jeremiah, 4, Haiti. “I met Jeremiah, his sister Elisabeth and his mom at the Museum of Science for our photo session. I arrived to find not only mom and the two children, but cousins, an uncle and an aunt. All the kids wanted to be in the pictures. It was a big adventure. In this photo, Jeremiah was looking at something and gesturing. He looks like he was dancing, but he wasn’t. Sometimes getting the best shot is pure luck.’’ — Randi Freundlich

Ado, 12, Dominica. “I consider myself American. As a citizen, technically I am American, but when it comes to someone asking me about my ethnicity, or where you feel you are a part of . . . it’s not where my roots come from. If someone asks me, I say I’m born in America, but my parents are from the Caribbean. I was just born in America. American is just a label, it doesn’t mean anything. But I’m truly, my blood is from Dominica.’’ — Ado

Osezele, 3 months, Nigeria. “Growing up, I would see women backing babies. You put the baby on your back and you tie the wrapper. Comes time for me to do it with my son, I realized that I don’t remember how. If I was in Nigeria it would be something I would practice all the time. So my mom came to visit, and helped me. My mom showed me how to jiggle the baby up, and get the wrapper in the right position. That’s a perfect example, if I was in Nigeria I would know how to do it.’’ — Osezele’s mother

Hazel, 11, Nicaragua. “It’s hard for her, being here. But I’m very proud of where I’m from. I’m trying to show her how proud I am of my country and my culture. Some of my family, they totally disconnected . . . they don’t know any Spanish at all. They’re amazed that Hazel knows Spanish. When we talk about moving to this country, having this totally new culture, we always said, yes, it’s fine, you were born here, this is where you’re being raised and this is all you know, but you’re coming from this other place, and it has good and bad, but it’s our culture. And that’s why I think she’s really involved, when it has to do with Nicaragua.’’ — Hazel’s mother

Laura, 5, Colombia. “Laura’s mother did not speak English. When I went to their house for the photo session, a neighbor was supposed to be there to translate. She didn’t show up. So we got by with my VERY limited Spanish, and gestures and such. Laura’s English was limited too. We had fun. After a while we didn’t need much language. Our language was play.’’ — Randi Freundlich

Nai, 2, Lebanon. “I have a western mentality but an oriental heart. If I had the choice, I would want to live and grow up again in Lebanon and raise my children there. It’s a beautiful country and it’s a melting pot of different religions and cultures. But we have been through so many civil wars; back in the 70’s a lot of Lebanese folks emigrated. It was difficult to stay in Lebanon; the situation was really bad because of the war. So it doesn’t seem likely that any time soon there will be any opportunities to go back there.’’ — Nai’s father

: Kyla, 6, Trinidad & Tobago. “For a while I struggled with Kyla, she had two white girlfriends and she would say she wanted to be white. We talked a lot, and I realized they were nice to her. Didn’t tease her about her hair; would stop others from teasing her. She wanted to be like them, not necessarily because of their skin color, but because they were nice. It was a journey for me to get to the bottom of it, to see why.’’ — Kyla’s mother

Amir, 8, India. “When we hear my mom speak Urdu, we just make fun of her. I just make fun of her, and then my sister starts making fun of her. When we go back to India, I can make out what they’re saying, I can sort of understand, because they usually use hand gestures and stuff. I just know what they’re saying, they’re pointing to some direction. With my grandmother, we talk on the phone and I understand sometimes, but when I don’t, I just say, Okay, okay . . . And then just quickly pass the phone to my sister.’’ — Amir

Henry, 5, Burma (Myanmar). “We don’t tell, give them everything about our culture— every tradition, just give them what they can accept. They are living here, they aren’t living in Burma. It’s too difficult for them. Sometimes they watch TV we say, don’t take that, if it’s bad things. We tell them how we grew up, about our traditions. They were communicated it was good, the way we grew up, the traditional things . . . I don’t know how to say that.’’ — Henry’s mother

Natalia, 2, Puerto Rico. “She has asthma, and my mom makes this home remedy, it’s a couple of different green leaves and honey; she has to send for [a special liquid] in Puerto Rico; she blends it all up into this green thick liquid. The baby will drink it up. It helps with her breathing, with her lungs. She makes her a lot of those remedies. I want to learn how to make them, so that I can continue on in the future—passing it along from my mom to me, to my kids, to my kids’ kids, ‘cause it’s part of our culture.’’ — Natalia’s mother

Keilina, 10, Cape Verde. “We were raised to take care of each other, value and respect everyone. Doesn’t matter what color they are, what language they speak, what class they are. Education is important. You go to school and you study. You have your goals, and you respect the elderly, respect your family, help your family out. Those values, maybe it’s a Cape Verdean way. We are all human beings, we should all take care of each other, we all need each other.’’ — Keilina’s mother

Emma, 1, Taiwan. “When I came here, the only language I knew was Taiwanese; I didn’t even know Mandarin. But my parents took us to Chinese school—that’s where you learn Mandarin— every Sunday we were going to Chinese school from 1st grade to 8th grade. I definitely want her going to Chinese school. Learning Mandarin will be a good thing for her in the future. When I went to Chinese school I hated it. But after I was out of Chinese school and in college, I appreciated it. And I’m sure she’s not gonna like it but, oh well. She’ll thank me in the future.’’ — Emma’s mother

Aryan and Ayush, 18 months, Nepal. “Here, the law is strict, equal for everyone. That’s a good thing. So that’s the difference between here and other country. America has a good thing, equal rights. That’s why you want to be here, otherwise everybody will go back to their home country, fighting, doing all those stupid stuff there. That’s why everyone wants to come here. Because all has equal rights, equal opportunity.’’ — Aryan and Ayush’s father