Sesame Workshop’s Lewis Bernstein Speaks at Shara’a Simsim Launch Event

On November 25, 2008, educators, broadcasters, producers, government officials, and children gathered in Ramallah to kick off production on the new season of Shara’a Simsim, the Palestinian version of Sesame Street. Among them was Lewis Bernstein, executive vice president of education, research, and outreach at Sesame Workshop. In a speech to the crowd, Bernstein celebrated Shara’a Simsim, the vision that it shares with Sesame Workshop’s family of international co-productions, and the seeds of hope and change that the smallest hands are planting.

Lewis Bernstein's Speech

Thank you. Having worked with Daoud, Lucy, and the team of creative Palestinian writers, researchers, producers, puppeteers, filmmakers, and animators on the very first phase of Shara’a Simsim, I am so proud to be here in Ramallah in person to help celebrate the launch of another season. The series, as many of you know, is part of the Sesame Street family. We have had the privilege of educating and engaging children with music, humor, and furry friends for almost 40 years in over 140 countries.

Sesame Street began in America as an experiment to see whether or not quality early preschool education on television could make a meaningful difference in the lives of children, especially the neediest children. The success of the Sesame Street experiment made it the longest street in the world. Each of our co-producing partners has focused on two key goals: 1) preparing preschool children for school, and 2) modeling respect for differences. At the same time, each of our partners has focused on their country's unique educational and social needs.

In South Africa, where HIV/AIDS ravages millions of children and adults, the local co-production team has worked on destigmatizing the disease and on related health messages. In Tanzania, our partners focused on malaria prevention. In Kosovo and Northern Ireland, the co-productions revolved around the nations’ unique issues of conflict resolution and cooperation.

To the credit of all those assembled here, despite political conflict, despite limited funds, despite a host of issues, through sheer perseverance and determination, this project, like the Palestinian people, continues to surpass expectations; and in fact, is embraced by all who view it.

In the years that the show has gone on the air, the project has reached thousands of children through the television program on Ma’an Network – helping children who need it the most to improve on basic cognitive and social skills.

You have produced and distributed colorful educational outreach materials that have enlivened the walls of hundreds of preschools; storybooks and activity books that help parents and educators teach young children basic literacy and math skills. And you have held wide-reaching training programs that have helped to build a core group of educators who, with the help of our materials, have learned creative ways to approach curriculum and teaching.

It is through the dedication of all our partners on the ground that this project is here today. At Sesame Workshop in New York, we’re fond of saying, “We build the kitchen and our partners decide what to cook.” While the Sesame Street model originated halfway around the world, it is you, our partners, who are challenged to add the fine ingredients and perfect an authentic meal that will inspire the minds and hearts of Palestinian children about their future, and the world in which they live.

I want to share a thought my daughter Maya, who grew up on Sesame Street and is now the mother of my two granddaughters, shared with me a few weeks ago.

As the American presidential election was coming to a close, Maya said, “The founders of Sesame Street 40 years ago in 1969 created an idealized street, modeling strong African American characters living and working together with Caucasian and Hispanic characters in urban New York,” which seemed so outrageous at the time that it was banned in the state of Mississippi. “But you know,” said Maya, “the seeds planted on that street back then have been transformed into reality with the election of Barack Obama. Don’t think for one moment that Sesame Street did not plant and nurture those seeds of change!”

So I leave you with the same challenge – what seeds do you want to plant on Shara’a Simsim for today’s Palestinian child that 40 years from now will help shape and transform the Palestinian nation?

We together, artists and educators, academics and animators, are only limited by the scope of our imagination and vision. I ask all of you to dream big for the sake of your children, and mine, and the world’s. I urge you to dream of making the entire Middle East a more tolerant neighborhood.

And now, please allow me to take this opportunity to thank some very important people.

Our production partners, Pen Media, led by Daoud Kuttab, whose creative vision and expertise make simple puppets come alive and become friends with the young and the young at heart.

Our outreach partners, led by Lucy Nusseibeh at Al-Quds University’s Institute for Modern Media, who is helping us reach thousands more with important and exciting educational materials for the classrooms and beyond.

The United States Agency for International Development has been a partner to Sesame Workshop not just in Palestine, but around the world. They helped fund versions of Sesame Street in Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Tanzania, and others – ensuring that millions of children, no matter their economic or social background, have access to quality educational content.

The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Righteous Persons Foundation for their generous and unwavering support.

We take special pride in our partnership with the Palestinian Ministry of Education. We are so pleased that they are making early education an integral part of the Palestinian Authority’s Five-Year Educational Plan.

We thank you, Minister Alami, for your contribution in recognizing the important role media can have in supporting education for young children. We are also grateful to you for assembling such a dedicated team, led by Basri Saleh, to give guidance to this project. Shokran.

In closing, let me say that we at Sesame have learned a great deal from our 40-year history and 27 co-productions around the world. One important lesson is that a successful Sesame Street program, anywhere in the world, depends on strong partnerships with government, broadcasters, donors, NGOs, and the private sector.

It is the start of this partnership that we announce and celebrate here today. We look forward to growing and sustaining this partnership so that educational media in general, and Shara’a Simsim in particular, can help us achieve our mutual goal – children in Palestine who will be wiser than we are today, who can build a brighter future in the Middle East from which all the world can benefit. Thank you.