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Omar Sobhani / Reuters
A "Sesame Street" character walks with Afghans at the French Culture Center in Kabul on Nov. 30. Children in Afghanistan will from Thursday be able to start their education as have millions of preschoolers elsewhere in the world: by watching TV show 'Sesame Street'.
Children in Afghanistan will now have a "sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away," as Sesame Street begins broadcasting a locally produced version of the show tomorrow. "Baghch-e-Simsim" will be broadcast in Afghanistan's Dari language, and is intended to help the country's education levels. The project, funded by the U.S. embassy in Kabul, is a result of Sesame Street working with the Afghan ministry of education and two local television stations. With its arrival in Afghanistan, Sesame Street will now extend to 22 countries around the world, including China, Nigeria, Mexico and Israel.
The series aims to encourage a love of learning in Afghanistan's youth. Around 45 percent of the population is under 15 and many will struggle to get an education, said Masood Sanjar, channel manager at TOLO TV, which will broadcast the show in Afghanistan's Dari language.
"Less than two-thirds of children are enrolled in primary school," he told reporters and children who had been invited to meet characters Grover and Ernie at a briefing in
Kabul ."'Sesame Street' is undoubtedly the most influential children's television program in the world. It was the first show to effectively use television as education," he said. Continue reading.
Omar Sobhani / Reuters
Afghan children pose for pictures with "Sesame Street" characters at the French Culture Center in Kabul on Nov. 30, 2011.
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Great idea.
No "Count Dracula," always my favorite. I don't know if it would translate in Afganeese, but always a cool character. Good luck
One stick of dynamite! One! Two stick of dynamite! Two!
Super Grover better make sure his flying skills are still good just incase some moron decides to welcome him with nitrates ? And dude where are your pants, they will think you are walking naked and that's reason enough to have our embassy violated and our flag burnt!!!
Hope Grover's wearing Kevlar undergarments.
What a great new suicide-bomb delivery method.
Since when did Ernie grow two bottom teeth?
Oscar the Grouch will have a bomb stuffed in his can. So-to-speak.
Do you think "Bert and Ernie" are especially nervous over there??
lol
More westernization that they do not want.
When will we realize that for thousands of years these people have lived the same way... they do not want to be bought with roads or schools or westernization, they just want to be left alone.
Once our military knuckleheads realize that afghans cannot be bought is when we truely will begin to leave afghanistan. Otherwise, look for another 10 years in country.
Brendan4 - why are you against children's education? Do you not realize that with education comes progress? And do you speak for the Afgan people when you say that they do not want roads or schools? I think you are mistaken, sadly.
@ Kate
I am not against childrens education what so ever. The point you seem to be missing is that tribal afghans do not want westernization. They have been living in the mountains for thousands of years without schools or education. They have no want or need for thier children to be educated. They view our occupation as an invasion of thier country.
I do not speak for them as a whole, but the numbers do not lie. We try to do nationbuilding inside afghanistan and the amount of soldiers dead only increases. What does this tell you? Do they value what we bring to them or they despise us? Are those roads and school actually making a difference?
Pull the wool off your eyes kate, just because we are the USA does not mean everything we do is correct. We have no reason whatsoever to be inside afghan nationbuilding. You also mention progress. Your view of progress and the average tribal afghan's view of progress are two complete opposites. Progress for them is getting us out of thier country, where we have no reason nor right to be in the first place.
Brendan's point is about cultural relevance. They have lived a certain way for thousands of years while the rest of the world, for the most part, has moved on.
Can we give them cell phones and give them the internet and hope that the brutal tribalism, Islamism, lack of human rights, etc. can just continue on as before? Without any future problems for the rest of the world?
Let's see if the kids there like SS, or if they prefer the brutal, nasty, chauvinistic, myopic, dystopian, Islamist, starving, harsh, totalitarian, theocratic existence they face otherwise, shall we?
While I wholeheartedly agree that we've engendered a world of hate toward the USA along with the violence that hate inspires because we've bulldozed our beliefs & way of life into places it wasn't & isn't welcomed & that we are very wrong in doing so, I disagree that this is an example of such. The US Embassy staff may have approached the Afghan authorities about the idea, but the acceptance & production is entirely Afghan's. They are doing the production from program design to script to actors all by themselves. So there's nothing Western about it except for the look of the costumes of the characters which obviously wouldn't be Sesame Street without & Sesame Street's characters are what have appealed to children the world over & gotten them interested in learning without even realizing it. And learning is not a Western concept.
brendan, for the people who live in mountains and don't access popular media, they likely don't have TVs, and can choose not to watch "Baghch-e-Simsim" if they feel it is threatens their traditional livelihoods.
The point you seem to be missing is that Afghanistan also has urban areas, and that although "less than two-thirds" of children are enrolled in primary school, that means quite a few of them are. That's a younger generation in need of tools to support their education. Sesame Street has been accomplishing that mission around the world, and for that reason this it's a good thing. I am proud that the U.S. embassy is working with the Afghan ministry of education on this.
I think the only hope young Afghans have for improving their lives will come through education. Left up to the adults who have been brought up in complete ignorance of anything other than a male dominated religion whose strength relies on keeping the younger generations as dumb as possible as they have for centuries, they will continue wallow at the bottom of civilization. It will not happen overnight, but if only those in power are able to educate their kids, the same corrupt and heavy handed factions will retain power over the masses far into the future. Money for projects such as this will go much farther to provide a brighter future for these folks than any money given to tribal elders who pretend to be our friends as long as we are handing out greenbacks.
It is only the religious zealots and uneducated poor that do not want westernization. The uneducated well because they are uneducated and cheaply bought. The religious because they lose power, wealth and status. Being a mullah has to be one of the easier and best paying jobs in Afghanistan. When the Soviets were there most Afghans welcomed them. It was only the mullahs fear the the commies would close the mosques that started the fighting and the wealthy landlords that owned everything. Even then the mullahs depended on the US, Saudis, and a mujaheddin made up of mostly foreign fighters. The Soviet imposed government was a lot less corrupt then the US one or the Taliban for that matter.
Pete - They already have cell phones and internet even in many or the more Rural areas. I have seen and met those that will change the country of Afghanistan for the better, kids who want to go to school and go to college and get careers that will better their country.
I almost never say this, but I'm speechless. Is this a joke? My taxes go for this? Soldiers died for this? Stunning.
Yes, we are a joke. Our taxes go for this. Same way our taxes go to our military and military industrial complex. Sad fact: our soldiers are tools who will die for whatever reason we agree for them to die for. And we spoke and said Afghanistan, ignoring our own history in the region. And then we spoke and said Iraq. America is the joke, and we are making fools of our soldiers whether we admit it or not. We should be outraged at the failure of simple diplomacy, because that is where we let our soldiers die. Now lets go @!$%# up Iran.
I'd check Grover for a suicide vest, myself. Will the female Sesame Street characters wear Bhurkas?
"Sunny day, sweepin' debris away. On my way to where bombs are sweet. Can you tell me how to get, how to get to I.E.D street? Come and play! I'll blow your whole ass away. Explosive neighbors that we meet. Meet down at I.E.D street."
They don't need this cultural invasion. They should be developing their own preschool educational programs. This kind of Western cultural infiltration only feeds the fears of the Islamic extremists..
I think it's a great idea. You think about gangbangers here and the taliban there, what's the common denominator? Lack of education and thugs grabbing the young and brainwashing them while they're young. I'm almost certain we'll see some positive things come out of this. Not sure how much it costs to broadcast, but it is surely pennies compared to what we've already spent there.
"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." -Ghandi
Finally a voice of reason in the wilderness! - Thru education comes understanding - thru understanding comes peace -
Well that does it for me. Now we can claim victory and head on home. Long live Bert and Ernie.
If they show Bert and Ernie living together won't they have to kill them?
Convert or kill, probably.
If you're from NYC, you're probably like me where all I could think of when i saw the first picture of Grover was the creepy foreigners who dress up in disgusting sesame street costumes and shake down tourists in central park for $5 a picture.
No Sono, when I first saw the picture of Grover I thought it was an Afghan women without her Burka on!
.....WHAT THE !@$% ........I'm.....this is just........I'm begining to think we really ARE there to take over......Jihadist don't want Elmo...don't NEED Elmo.....want to BLOW UP Elmo.
Grover-hu-Akbar!
lol just lol nuff said...
It could be worse. Could've been that purple blimp, Barny. OR...Mister Rodgers... or what would've REALLY pissed the Taliban off would be the Teletubbies.
Whoa Beev! Can you imagine eating some poppies and watching Teletubbies for the first time? Trippin.
Wait until the Sesame Street characters get blown up... the pictures will be epic!
Snuffleupagus guts for blocks! Yuk!
Oh fiddle-dee-dee! Sesame Street takes Afghanistan! Just the sort of hardcore journalism I would expect from a conglomerate-controlled news organization!
Kinda ridiculous this is a big front-pageer huh? Agreed.
Brought to you by the letter 'J' for Jihad.
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip.
Hello. Greetings. Greetings earthling.
Ohhhh! Bomb! Bomb...
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip. Bomb, uh huh uh huh uh huh.
*approaches quietly*
Ka boom! Kaaaaa boom! Ka boom.
Nope nope nope nope nope.
Yip yip yip yip yip yip!
Book! Earth book!
Oooooooooh!
Book book book book book.
Yip yip yip.
laughing too hard to continue
Over all I give America alot of credit on helping get the Taiban govt. control out. Giving Afghastan a new govt. and assisting on the training of the Afghan military. The new govt. now have over 160,000 tained combat ready soldiers. The Taiban haves a mixture of est. of 30,000 troops. Some in Pakistan and some in Afghanstan. The Afghastan new govt. should easily defeat the taiban. It's time we come home. What the new govt. does, is in their hands for the people in Afghastan.
Let Sesame Street fund it...
American brands are everywhere. CokaCola, McDonald, Soap operas, American songs (sometimes translated and sang by a local), American method of teaching, American accreditation system for high education, American cars (In China the Buick is considered a luxury car and is valued more than a Mercedes), novels (translated in local languages), and even Sesame Street episodes you will find in China, the Middle East, most EU countries, Japan, etc. You don't think twice in the US when you eat Chinese food or wear an Italian coat or a Chinese made shoes, or watch a Kung Fu movie produced in China, neither do the rest of the world when the use US products and ideas, except US products are more dominant throughout the world.
Can we not all agree that assisting this poor, ill educated, third world country into the 21st century is a good thing? Can we not all agree that assisting the young of that third world country to get an education is a good thing? Some of the arguments posted here have a (small) point, but I personally think that Grover and Bert & Ernie and Kermie and Miss Piggy (tho that character may not go over well) but certainly assisting the young to read, count, learn tolerance at a very early age can not be a bad thing. But that's just the opinion of a voting American citizen
Agree totally, and LOL about Miss Piggy.
They could make her into a camel or something maybe? I'm being serious; kids there know other animals.
The hottest selling Allah gift: "The Oscar The Grouch IED Garbage Can"!
We should ship Sandusky over there... I bet they would have one hell of a football team!
These comments are pretty funny, but I agree with the attempt. These kids look happy to see Grover.
This will show Afghanistan just how banal and shallow and stupid we are. But they already know that.
Actually it will probably show the kids how banal and stupid their adults/religion are!
Educating would be nice, however, the west wants the money from all that "other" stuff they market from shows like this and if this country does not pull their wallets out, this will be very short lived. The TV & film industry has done enough in the United States and now they are moving to other countries to keep the cash flow coming in. Very simply put: it's all about the $$$$$$