Sesame Street takes on a new flavor at PRCS

In a collaborative effort between the Sesame Street project and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, children participating in PRCS camps this summer have had the opportunity to meet their favorite television characters from the Sesame Street program in person, interact with them during live performances and ask their advice.

Children participating in PRCS’ summer camps in Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramallah enjoyed a range of entertaining artistic performances. The famous puppet duo, Hanin and Karim, was featured, as well as artists Shadin and Khaled. Sesame Street presented a show designed especially for PRCS which featured Shadin Salim as a disabled child who uses a wheel chair. Hanin and Karim built kites during the show, in order to fly them.

In Hebron, the show was performed at the Child Happiness Centre and in Bethlehem and Ramallah at the PRCS social centers. Excitement filled the air as the crowd of hundreds of youngsters watched the Hanin and Karim performance with delight. The children, many of whom were enthusiastic fans of the puppets from the TV show, which has aired for several years, sang along with the puppets and relived with them some of the great moments from classic Sesame Street acts. During the program, the children also participated in several competitions.

The performances were organized as part of a program of educational activities which the Spanish Development Project has been running since 2006. PRCS implements the activities with support from Asamblea de Cooperación por La Paz (ACPP), a Spanish association. The program tackles a number of health issues, as well as a range of cultural and educational topics on themes such as nutrition, manners and healthy social conduct.
Ina’am Nawara, coordinator of the project, said that the show was born out of the previous collaboration between PRCS and the Sesame Street project. The aim was to develop children’s cultural and educational skills, by bringing to life characters they have watched and enjoyed many times on television.

Ms Layla Al-Sayigh Othman, director of the Sesame Street project and executive manager of the Bin Association for Educational Media, said that the collaboration between between her association and PRCS had worked very well, with a very successful show as the result. “The show was conceived in order to draw attention to the rights of disabled persons, and the need to integrate them into their society,” she said. “This was achieved by means of a puppet show and performances by artists participating in the Sesame Street project.” She added that the Sesame Street project is currently running in 140 countries worldwide.

The performance by Khaled and Shadin dealt with the rights of the disabled. They both danced and sang with great energy, as one of them played the character of a handicapped girl. Hanin and Karim joined them during the show, to the delight of the excited young spectators.

Artist Khaled Al-Massou said that he found it a great pleasure to participate in the show because of its focus on the importance of integrating disabled persons into society in Palestine without any limits or restraints, so that they can have the opportunity to lead descent lives. Al-Massou pointed out that art and theater have become powerful channels for communicating ideas and knowledge and play a critical role in transforming societies. He commended PRCS for its efforts and investment in supporting people with disabilities and in their rehabilitation in order for them to have the opportunity to integrate fully into society.

The Sesame Street project succeeded in communicating its message to the hundreds of children who participated in the PRCS summer camps – thirty percent of whom have disabilities – while entertaining them at the same time. Mohammad Shabaneh, a fourteen year old, said that he was ecstatic to have had the opportunity to experience this performance in the company of disabled children.

Marah Abu Esheh, another child who watched the show, is ten years old. She has participated in PRCS summer camps for the past three years. She said that she enjoys the camps because they include such interesting programs.
“I love it here because we have so much fun,” she said. “I like the kids with disabilities; my friends and I help them. The Sesame Street show was really nice. We had a lot of fun.”