Hikayat Simsim
Hikayat Simsim (Template:Lang-ar) is the Jordanian co-production of Sesame Street.
History
Twenty-six episodes of Hikayat Simsim, co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Jordan Pioneers (based in Amman), aired in Jordan beginning in October 2003 on Jordan Television, Jordan's public television station.
A community outreach initiative supplements the television series. A second season debuted in January 2007. A third and fourth season followed.
Sesame Stories (Jordan), or Hikayat Simsim in Arabic,
The project is funded in large part by project partners.
Content
The program was created, written, and produced by local educators and television professionals.
The show combines segments featuring the Sesame Street Muppet characters with animation and live action pieces, which introduce Jordanian children to positive images of themselves and others.
Messaging
Sesame Workshop and Jordan Pioneers have joined together to create Hikayat Simsim, a multimedia project that presents messages of respect and understanding to young children in the Middle East. The Sesame Street format provides educational material that is culturally relevant to Jordanian children. The content focuses on subjects such as literacy, numeracy, health and hygiene, national identity, needs of Iraqi refugee children, mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding.
Characters
The main Muppet characters in the Jordanian version are Juljul and Tonton. Tonton is a 4-year-old girl who loves soccer who furthers the show's message of girls' empowerment, while Juljul teaches children about computer literacy.[1] Tonton is played by Fatima Amaireh.[2]
Issa Sweidan plays the lovable grandfather figure Jiddo Simsim.
Episodes
In total, four seasons consisting of 104 episodes have been completed.
In other media
Tonton was used in early pitches for Ahlan Simsim and made a special appearance in one episode of the show.
Tonton was also used for outreach programs for Syrian refugees starting in 2016.[2][3][4]
External links
- Jordan Times article: "Second season of Hikayat Simsim to focus on Jordanian culture"
- http://www.sesameworkshop.org/what-we-do/our-initiatives/jordan/
References
- ^ "Meet Sesame Street's Global Cast of Characters". Smithsonian Magazine. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
- ^ a b Brune, Adrian (2018-03-05). "Meet the Muppet Bringing Joy to Syrian Refugees". OZY. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
- ^ "Meet some of the young Syrian lives the IRC and Sesame Street will change". International Rescue Committee. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
- ^ Louszko, Ashley; Effron, Lauren (25 August 2017). "How Elmo and friends are using Muppet magic to bring hope, education to refugee children". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-01-05.