Children's Village Blog: June 6, 2008

Sesame Workshop Sends Books to the Children’s Village

By Nano Chatfield, Chairman of the Board with Peter Leon Massey, Managing Director of the Children’s Village

At the end of May, Sesame Workshop delivered 400 books to the Children’s Village. Sesame Workshop, a nonprofit organization working with the legendary Sesame Street “works around the world through local in-country partnerships that address children’s needs in culturally relevant contexts”. In 2007 Sesame Workshop implemented a multi-media pilot initiative in partnership with Tanzanian educators and producers. In addition to books, they’ve produced 13 television episodes and 13 radio episodes in Kiswahili addressing many of the issues relevant to orphaned and vulnerable children in Tanzania.

Sesame Workshop provided us with 200 each of two different books, written in Kiswahili and English for preschool and kindergarten children. They were Nani Anakulea? Who Cares for You? and Tuko la Kumshangaza Bibi, A Surprise for Grandmother. In addition, they sent us 52 Learning Together at Home books, which are guides for parents and caregivers.

In his letter of thanks, Peter Massey, our Managing Director wrote to Sesame Workshop, “They are beautiful books and as we were opening them, we could see our kids’ eyes were popping out and everyone wanted a copy. Simon, one of our Standard Two (2nd grade) kids was holding A Surprise for Grandmother and was reading aloud the English part: I was amazed! I promise to send you some pictures of our kids reading these books.

We have also started watching your kids show every Saturday. The last Saturday show about orphans caught our kids’ attention and they saw how privileged they are to be living at our Children's Village. I took some pictures of our children watching the show because I was there and the level of the attention they paid was beyond imagination. Once again, thank you very much. Cheers, Peter”

Clearly, our children are already benefiting from these valuable materials from Sesame Workshop. Sesame Workshop’s mission is “guided by the conviction that all children deserve a chance to dream and discover, to understand the world and their place in it, to reach their highest potential.” These goals resonate with ours at the Children’s Village. We congratulate and thank Sesame Workshop for creating materials for children in over 120 nations: these books and multi media programs are providing a sense of hope and a love of learning to all children around the world.