SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 1 “As a child of Egyptian immigrants, growing up was a very difficult thing. I always felt like I didn’t quite fit in. Sesame Street was my place of refuge. It was a happy place. I remember feeling that it was okay to be different; that on Sesame Street it didn’t matter if you were blue or if you were green or if you were yellow.” – teacher and lifelong Sesame Street fan 2004 Annual Report SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 2 Respect and Understanding “Today we plant the seed; tomorrow is in our hands. We know a better world is up to us.” These words, sung by children in Hebrew and Arabic, are part of the theme song that opens and closes every episode of Sesame Stories, the groundbreaking media initiative helping Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli children learn about themselves and one another as a bridge to a better tomorrow. We know, of course, that it’s never that simple. But we also know that media can be used effectively to foster respect and understanding among children across and within cultures and countries. For the last three decades, Sesame Workshop has been at the forefront of this effort: using Sesame Street in the United States and in coproductions around the world to help children develop the skills to challenge ignorance, dispel stereotypes and champion diversity – skills that contribute, in no small way, to sustaining peace in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. In addition to Sesame Stories, targeted efforts to promote respect and under- standing include Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam, a Sesame Street adaptation in Albanian and Serbian respectively, that helps children from different backgrounds in Kosovo learn about one another. And here in the United States “Global Grover,” a daily segment of Sesame Street, introduces children to the ways in which their counterparts live around the world. Grover USA > SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 4 “Sesame Street has meant the world to me! As a child it was my first teacher, my first English tutor…. As an only child in a new country it was also my best friend; it gave me a sense of belonging…. As a parent, I see the enthusiasm on my son and daughter’s [faces] as they watch Elmo and crew…. They have learned so much – colors, alphabet, numbers, sharing, life… [The show is] [rein]forcing their desire to learn….” – parent and Sesame Street graduate SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 6 School Readiness Entering school “ready to learn” requires more than recognizing letters and numbers. It requires physical skills and the abilities to listen, get along with others, and develop friendships. It requires a sense of mastery over behavior and emotions and the abilities to predict and recognize the consequences of actions. It requires enthusiasm for learning. Sesame Workshop is unique in its focus on the full range of child development. We embrace the “whole child,” helping develop the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills necessary for children not only to be ready for school but to reach for a bigger, better world. This approach is as central to Sesame Street abroad as it is domestically, particularly in places where access to educational opportunity is limited. Our coproductions in Egypt and Mexico promote school readiness for all children and soon in Bangladesh and India, our work will support a new focus on the importance of early childhood education. Here at home, we’re in the early stages of a new educational outreach project for children in rural America. Created in collaboration with the Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State University and “Between the Lions” producers WGBH and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., the Rural Literacy Project will consist of video, audio, DVD, and print materials for children, caregivers, and teachers to help redress gaps in school readiness among children in rural regions. < Abelardo Mexico SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 8 “My friend…is Nomfundo.... Her mom died a few weeks ago…. I feel sad because my friend is HIV positive. Other children they don’t play with her and they don’t love her. My friend is still my friend and I love her. Everyday I’m watching Takalani Sesame with my friend. Moshe and Kami on Takalani Sesame they care about people who are HIV positive…” – young Takalani Sesame fan from Eshowe Township, South Africa Takalani Sesame is the South African adaptation of Sesame Street SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 10 HIV/AIDS Education Kami, the vibrant Muppet on Takalani Sesame, the South African adaptation of Sesame Street, is sad and doesn’t want to play. “Why not?” asks her Muppet friend, Zuzu, curious and concerned. “The other children at school don’t want to play with me because I’ve got HIV,” Kami explains. “They don’t want to touch me because they think I will make them sick.” Throwing her arms around Kami, Zuzu exclaims, “…but you can’t get HIV just by touching someone. We’re not scared to play with you, because we know that we can’t get HIV just by being your friend!” Clear, simple statements spoken by characters children love and trust, state- ments that empower children with age-appropriate information to cope with the consequences of HIV/AIDS – these are the hallmarks of Takalani Sesame and its pioneering HIV/AIDS curriculum, launched in 2002 to address the devastating impact of the disease on South Africa’s children. Developed in collaboration with coproducing partners, the curriculum centers on the adventures of Kami and provides children and their caregivers with basic knowledge about the disease, skills for coping with profound loss, and a basis for altering behaviors that perpetuate HIV- and AIDS-related stigmas. Since her debut, Kami has been warmly received and widely recognized, helping to increase public discourse on issues typically constrained by prejudice and silence. Kami South Africa > SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 12 “I learn everyday something new from my friends Khokha, Filfil, and Nimnim, which helps me to become a better person.” “I like Khokha because she encourages us to go to school…” – young viewers of Alam Simsim Alam Simsim is the Egyptian adaptation of Sesame Street SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 14 Girls’ Education “My name is Khokha. I am a young girl. When I grow up, I’ll be a doctor. I’ll be a pilot or a ship captain or I could also be a lawyer….” So sings Khokha, the bubbly female Muppet in Alam Simsim, the Egyptian adaptation of Sesame Street, as she imagines what she’ll be when she grows up. Central to the scene is something subtle but equally powerful: As Khokha happily sings, the male cast around her – two men, a boy, and two Muppets – affirm each choice, lending support and encouragement to a young girl’s sense of possibility. On Sesame Street, as in all Workshop productions, we strive to help all children reach their highest potential by modeling a sense of what’s possible and making sure girls, Muppets, and everyone else, no matter their color, gender, size – or stripe – are not defined by stereotypes. This is particularly potent in those parts of the world newly committed to lifting the status of women. In Egypt, for example, where illiteracy among girls is disproportionately higher than among boys, one of the central themes of Alam Simsim is to promote girls’ education. The same is true in Afghanistan where Koche Sesame, the Afghani adaptation of Sesame Street, endorses equal access to educational opportunity. By modeling girls engaged in academic pursuits such as reading, studying, and going to the library, the program helps girls – and just as important, boys – broaden their sense of what constitutes a woman’s role in society. After all, for many children, media is the lens through which they view the world; it is both the reflector and the definer of cultural norms. Khokha Egypt > SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 16 300,000 “Sesame Workshop’s...’Healthy children under the age of 18 are directly Habits’involved in armed campaign conflicts worldwide offers a new 6,000,000and welcome opportunity to... helpchildren inaddress the United States one are ofobese our nation’s 800,000greatest public health threats.... BySouth helpingAfrican children preschool-aged became HIV-positive in 2002 children 1,000,000learn lessons about healthy eating andwomen inexercise...we Egypt cannot read or write can...improve 2,000,000the health of our next generation.” million Mexican children do not attend school – Senate Majority Leader 500,000Bill Frist, R-Tenn. AfghanMay 2004 girls launch attended of Sesame school Workshop’s under the Taliban “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative 1,000,000 women in Egypt cannot read or write 2,000,000 million Mexican children do not attend school SW_AR04_01.13_1222 1/20/05 6:30 PM Page 18 15,000,000 Healthy Habits for Life children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, as of 2003. Nowhere is this epidemic more devastating to children than in sub-Saharan Africa, home to 80% of those orphaned by the disease. Sesame Workshop has long modeled strategies to promote good health on UNICEF Report: "Childhood Under Threat: The State of the World’s Children 2005" Sesame Street and in other Workshop endeavors. But in response to alarming trends in childhood obesity and its attendant illnesses, the Workshop has turned up the volume, launching a comprehensive, multiyear initiative to help 17,600,000 preschoolers and their families develop “Healthy Habits for Life.” children under age 5 worldwide are estimated to be overweight.