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The classic US kids format Sesame Street has launched in war torn Afghanistan.
Educational organisation Sesame Workshop, which produces the long-running show, has partnered with local broadcasters Tolo TV and Lemar TV to produce an Afghan version called Baghch-e-Simsim.
The 26x30′ series will air on Tolo in the Dari language and on Lemar in Pashton from Thursday to Sunday each week.
Scenes with Jim Henson-created Sesame Street characters will be interspersed with local live-action shorts on urban and rural life in the country that will encourage children’s literacy, maths and life skills.
The programme aired for the first time on Thursday this week. Certain cultural changes have had to be made to the programme – with characters like Oscar the Grouch and The Count cut, the show’s Afghan-American producer Tania Farzana told AFP.
The series will be in consultation with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education.
Sesame Street has run in the US on public service broadcaster PBS since 1970 and is seen in more than 140 countries.
