Rruga Seam....Sesame Street comes to Kosovo

That childhood staple, Sesame Street, has come to Kosovo.  I’ve actually known this for a while, but never seen anything in the English press about it.  Now “The World According to Sesame Street,” a documentary is explaining how the kids program has become a global phenomenon.  The LA Times says in a review:

It runs in more than 120 countries, mostly in dubbed versions of the original, but in more and more places — beginning as far back as 1972, after an inquiry from Germany — it is being produced locally, retooled for the native audience, with new characters and settings reflecting native culture and concerns.” The documentary focuses on productions of “Sesame Street” in three countries places: Bangladesh, Kosovo and South Africa. 

According to the PBS site, Independent Lens:

Creating a locally produced Sesame project in Kosovo was more than just creating a children’s TV show. As Producer Basia Nikonorow explains, “We really believe that a Sesame project could aid in the peace process.” After years of violent ethnic strife between Serbs and Albanians, the show had the potential to build peace and tolerance with a new generation of children, showing them that their ethnic counterparts were just kids, too.

At the same site you can see some videos of the production team.

I think this is pretty good stuff.  The children of countries places like Kosovo need all the help they can get in forming a future multi-ethnic home, where all ethnic groups can live in peace with one another.