The American Street overflows with giggling faces, neighbors congregating on city stoops, and friends playing jump rope. Sunny days and furry faces fill the Street, the symbolic artery through which so much history and learning flows.

The Indian Galli (alleyway) explodes with color and pulses with a rhythmic drumbeats. A caravan of diverse faces cheers as it zooms past smiling pink and blue storefronts and a technicolor lion kicking a soccer ball. The Galli is a familiar scene, a fantastical heaven tucked away in the dense city.

Both of these streets tell stories – stories of childhood, stories of community, and stories of culture. As an intern at Sesame Workshop and an anthropology student, I wanted to explore these stories in my senior thesis.

After working at Sesame Workshop in Global Education, Research & Outreach as an intern for a year and with the encouragement of a wise mentor, I decided to apply for funding to support a summer of original ethnographic research in India. Much to my mother’s chagrin, I traded in my ninth summer at camp in Wisconsin to explore the life of Muppets on the other side of the world.

When my rickshaw rolled up to the door of Sesame Workshop India in New Delhi, it hit me: I was experiencing, firsthand, what so many people back in the New York office described as “the longest street in the world.” Sesame Workshop India, the only wholly-owned subsidiary of Sesame Workshop in the world, is a lean machine comprised of a bold, fast, sharp team. Not only does this thirty-odd person office drive the production of Galli Galli Sim Sim (the Indian co-production of Sesame Street) radio and television shows that reach over 90% of television-owning families, but they also collaborate with national early childhood education experts to organize policy-oriented advocacy. They also just recently launched a franchise of after-schools and pre-schools called Sesame Schoolhouse, the first of their kind. And if that isn’t enough, this tiny team makes serious dents in school readiness and hygiene educational needs in India, a country where, if all the children broke off and made their own country, they would be the third largest in the world.

After a few days in the office and with the help of the supportive Sesame Workshop India team, I quickly identified a feasible research plan. In 2011 Sesame Workshop India was developing a Healthy Habits radio program intended to be distributed to a number of community radio stations. This particular series was designed in installments in a way that allowed flexibility for local adaptations. When I was in Delhi they were just beginning to roll out this initiative in a sizable migrant labor community on the periphery of Gurgaon, a major satellite city of Delhi. The community radio station, Gurgaon Ki Awaaz, took the material and tailored it to the needs of its audience, playing folk music from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh –many of the migrant laborers’ home states – and addressing issues that were specific to the community’s needs. And, taking full advantage of radio as a flexible and communicative medium, the community radio station engaged callers in conversation surrounding education, water, employment, and safety.

As I conducted interviews with mothers, kids, teachers, and radio producers it became clear to me: everyone wants to consume high-quality media that speaks to them and, perhaps even more importantly, everyone wants to speak. The Sesame material served as an inspiration for the The Galli Galli Sim Sim community radio program, which provided a safe, educational and accessible space for some of the most marginalized families in the world.

That’s a Street of which I am proud to be a part.

The Sesame Workshop Blog

This article originally appeared on the Sesame Workshop India site. VisitSesameWorkshopIndia.org to learn more about Galli Galli Sim Sim and all the wonderful work Sesame Workshop India does to improve the lives of and educate the children of India.

Sesame Workshop in India is committed to sustainable projects that enrich children’s lives long after our work is complete. We do this through partnerships, local development, and by investing in the furry heart of our programs—the puppeteers themselves.

Folk traditions of string puppets and shadow puppetry flourished in India long before our Galli Galli Sim Sim television show arrived in 2006. Yet the program’s Muppets represent something new: a sense of humor and emotional depth that connects powerfully with children and opens them to all types of learning.

It’s this quality that attracted actor Manish Sachdeva, whose work with Sesame Street in India has transformed into an enduring passion. Despite having no puppetry experience before his audition for Galli Galli Sim Sim, Manish was chosen from among 2,000 actors to begin training with master Muppeteers from Sesame Street in the U.S. Learning the unusual art of video puppetry took weeks of hands-on mentorship and many rounds of video critiques.

Manish’s character Boombah the Lion is a playful big brother known to a generation of Indian children. Even during training, Manish was urged to explore Boombah’s persona and make him as real as possible. “I started asking ‘What’s his chemistry with other characters? What does he think?’” recalls Manish. “As an artist, you play with it and make it your own.”

The experience—artistic, technical, and social—was excellent preparation for Manish’s next big role. At the end of his tenure on Galli Galli Sim Sim, he started building his own puppets and a company of artists to bring them to life—The Puppet Studio. In its first year, the group produced numerous videos, hosted workshops for children and aspiring puppeteers, and staged an all-puppet version of “The Wizard of Oz.” And Manish is dreaming even bigger, with ambitions for a feature film and TV series that expand the legacy of Muppets in India.

By investing in puppeteers like Manish, Sesame Workshop in India is helping to nurture an art form that can move people in profound ways, giving a voice not only to artists but to children who might otherwise have none.

Living proof is Ghazal Javed, the voice and hands behind Chamki, the much-loved star of Galli Galli Sim Sim. India’s leading woman puppeteer, Ghazal’s career with Sesame Street in India started during her final college exams in 2005. She’s been immersed in puppetry ever since, parlaying her time on the show into a dizzying array of projects, including scriptwriting, documentaries, a soap opera, performing at the Cricket World Cup, and a high-profile government campaign to promote girls’ education.

But her most rewarding work, she says, happens more quietly. In 2011, Ghazal and her partner, who plays the character Googly on Galli Galli Sim Sim, brought a month-long puppet workshop to an orphanage in the embattled region of Kashmir. Working with children whose lives have been torn apart by war, Ghazal worked to create a safe space for them to share their stories.

Ghazal recalls one girl who wrote about how her father was gunned down by militants. At first, she struggled through tears to put words to her tale. Then she picked up a puppet.

“She grabbed this puppet, which she made,” Ghazal says, “and she stood up in front of everyone. She told about losing her parents and how she came to the orphanage. She didn’t flinch. She did it all confidently—with a smile.”

Behold the power of puppets.

The Sesame Workshop Blog

This article originally appeared on the Sesame Workshop India site. Visit SesameWorkshopIndia.org to learn more about Galli Galli Sim Sim and all the wonderful work Sesame Workshop India does to improve the lives of and educate the children of India.

As India surges on the global stage, early education here has never been more important. With 165 million children under age 8, India’s preschools face a daunting task: creating a new generation of global citizens with creative minds and critical-thinking skills that can help the country continue to thrive and compete.

Indian families are eager to give their children the best advantages in a highly competitive world. But India’s current system struggles to deliver. While there are pockets of excellence among India’s preschools, major gaps exist in availability and quality. In many places, preschool lessons are a downward extension of the primary curriculum, relying on memorization and a didactic teaching style that aren’t appropriate for the youngest learners.

To help meet the booming demand for quality education in India, we’re taking our mission into a new arena: Sesame Schoolhouse. This unique social enterprise uses a franchise model to bring world-class early childhood education everywhere it’s needed, at a price that’s reasonable for Indian families.

Developed especially for the needs of children ages 2 to 8, Sesame Schoolhouse creates a continuum of learning through two complementary programs. Sesame Schoolhouse instills the essential building blocks of critical thinking, creativity and curiosity in children 2 to 5. After they enter primary school, we expand on this foundation with hands-on science and math enrichment at Afterschool.

Sesame Schoolhouse was developed through an approach that’s made Sesame Street an icon of engaging education. We put the child at the center of everything we do. We believe that all children have unique potential that should be encouraged. And we know that for children to excel in today’s complex and technology-driven world, they need a new set of tools—social and emotional skills, critical thinking and creativity.

That’s what our Sesame Schoolhouse initiative is all about. Built around the lovable Muppets of Galli Galli Sim Sim, the experience unites highly trained teachers, a lively classroom environment, and collaborative projects that nurture the whole child. Our preschools address six areascritical to early childhood development—cognition, language, social, emotional, physical and cultural diversity—in line with India’s National Curriculum Framework.

A recent global ranking of students’ reading, math and science abilities placed India near the very bottom of the list. We’re working to reverse this trend with Sesame Street Afterschool. Our new enrichment program builds strong foundations in science, math and critical thinking for children ages 6 to 8. Four hours a week, kids engage with scientific concepts through exploratory games and hands-on activities that foster creativity, problem-solving skills, and a sense of curiosity about the world.

How do we know these programs work? Our process is grounded in 40 years of research and proven impact. Numerous studies tell us that children who are exposed to Sesame Street content are more confident, active, curious and inclusive. In short, they’re better prepared for school and life. And this commitment to research is ongoing: we’re already studying how to make our school experience more effective.

Sesame Schoolhouse preschool and afterschool programs are anticipated to open across Northern India in Spring 2012. Each location receives complete training, curriculum guidelines, and classroom materials from Sesame Workshop in India. This sustainable approach ensures our energizing brand of learning can thrive wherever there’s a need. The business will expand to reach families across India within ten years.

That’s excellent news for millions of active and curious little minds, and for India’s next big act on the global stage.

To learn more about our preschools visit www.sesameschoolhouse.in

The Sesame Workshop Blog

Millions of families in India are cut off from information that can help children grow up healthy, happy, and ready to learn. To get around the barriers that marginalize these families, Sesame Workshop India is using phones to make educational media an integral part of the community. The poor and deeply conservative village of Nagina in the Mewat district if Haryana does not have electricity. Children here have never seen a radio or TV before, let alone a Bollywood movie.

Yet there is one media source that’s breaking through in Nagina. In the evenings, children and parents gather around a mobile phone to tune in Radio Mewat, a nearby community radio station. What are they hearing? Laughter mixed with learning, as characters from Galli Galli Sim Sim talk about literacy and math lessons, as well as good nutrition and healthy habits like always washing hands before you eat.

This audacious children’s health initiative, known as RadioPhone, is the first of its kind ever in communities like Nagina. The need for health lessons is critical here, where basic knowledge of nutrition and hygiene is scarce. Each year throughout India, approximately 1.9 million children under age five die from preventable diseases.

The pilot program began in 2011 with 31 episodes of Galli Galli Sim Sim broadcast by Gurgaon Ki Awaaz (GKA), a community station in Gurgaon, accessible via FM radio and on cell phones. So far Galli Galli Sim Sim RadioPhone broadcast in Gurgaon has reached over 200,000 listeners.

In separate subprojects funded by Qualcomm and HSBC, families and classrooms use 3G-equipped phones to stream Galli Galli Sim Sim radio shows on demand and access related videos and print materials that reinforce healthy messages. Community radio broadcasts are typically limited to a radius of 10 kilometers. But streaming content enables a far larger audience and consistent access for migrant families constantly on the move.

Given the great diversity of culture and language in India, RadioPhone relies on local relevance to break through. GKA in Gurgaon broadcasts in the language of its listeners and episodes include segments featuring Chamki, the beloved star of Galli Galli Sim Sim, interviewing neighbors in the local broadcast area.

By becoming part of the community experience, RadioPhone is giving families a voice. GKA reports an enthusiastic response from listeners, who call in to offer feedback and ask questions of health experts on air. More amazingly, listeners are using the program as a forum to share community concerns such as water access issues. Women are calling in to the show as well, a sign we’re making in-roads where other media cannot.

To understand where our efforts can have the biggest impact, we’re also bringing the program to life in 10 schools with “Healthy Habits” educational materials and curriculum guidance for teachers, with support from HSBC Bank.

Next for RadioPhone: nine more community stations, anticipated to reach over 1.5 million new listeners, and an expanded curriculum, with 60 new episodes on literacy and math now in the works. By combining local radio, mobile technology and engaging Sesame education, we’re delivering critical information to families whose health may depend on it.

Partners

Schwab Charitable Trust, Qualcomm, The Restoring Force (HSBC)

The Sesame Workshop Blog