SOUTH AFRICA: Sesame Street muppets introduce a new addition, Kami, who is HIV Positive, to help children infected or affected by HIV/Aids to cope

Record ID: 373891

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Sesame Street muppets introduce a new addition, Kami, who is HIV Positive, to help children infected or affected by HIV/Aids to cope
  • Date: 17th September 2002
  • Summary: WS: OF OFFICIALS ON STAGE. SV: EDUCATION MINISTER KADER ASMAL POSING WITH KAMI, THE NEW MUPPET WS: OF MEDIA. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) SOUTH AFRICA EDUCATION MINISTER KADER ASMAL SAYING: "I think it's very important because education is vital to ensure that people understand what HIV is, how it doesn't necessary lead to Aids, how we need to provide solace and comfort, show compassion to those who are HIV positive and we all know that the earlier you begin in this process, the better it is for our children." SCU:(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) KAREN TRUENBERGH VICE PRESIDENT OF SESAME STREET CONTEXT SAYING: "So we do this kind of work throughout the world, South Africa is one of our most important projects at this time, so we bring our expertise, our creative passion, our knowledge around education and the mix of how to try and organize and build something into something that is sustainable." SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) USAID REPRESENTATIVE DIRK DIJKEMA SAYING: " I actually think it's an example of how democracy works. You have four hundred and thirty five representative in the house, you have another hundred in the senate and a number of them raised the question. They got the information and they made their point of view very clear. They said we are supportive of it." SV: MORE OF THE MUPPET SHOW.
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Entertainment,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVA26BOKOLKGPWD44GHPCCBQANF3
  • Story Text: South Africa's Sesame Street community has welcomed a
    fluffy five-year-old orphan living with HIV in the
    government's latest effort to stem the AIDS pandemic ravaging
    the country and the continent.



    Her name is Kami and she is a lively bear-like Muppet
    with a passion for nature. She's also HIV-positive and has on
    Tuesday (September 17) made her Sesame Street debut at Cape
    Town's Groote Schuur Hospital, the only one in South Africa
    offering drug therapy for children with AIDS.

    South African Education Minister Kader Asmal was the first
    outsider to hug Kami.

    Guests saw a snippet of the first show in which Kami is
    invited to join the familiar Sesame Street characters at play.

    "You're beautiful," says Zikwe, the big, blue, gravely
    voiced kingpin of the show.

    Asmal said the character, rejected last year as a member
    of the original U.S. Sesame Street community, would join the
    local Takalani Sesame from September 30 to help children
    infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS to understand the
    disease.

    Takalani means "be happy" in the local Venda language and
    Kami's name is derived from the Tswana word for "acceptance".

    "I think it's very important because education is vital
    to ensure that people understand what HIV is, how it doesn't
    necessary lead to Aids, how we need to provide solace and
    comfort, show compassion to those who are HIV positive and we
    all know that the earlier you begin in this process, the
    better it is for our children", said Asmal after the show.

    Karen Truenbergh, Vice President of Sesame Street Context
    said "So we do this kind of work throughout the world, South
    Africa is one of our most important projects at this time, so
    we bring our expertise, our creative passion, our knowledge
    around education and the mix of how to try and organize and
    build something into something that is sustainable."
    USAID representative Dirk Dijkema said "I actually think
    it's an example of how democracy works. You have four hundred
    and thirty five representative in the house, you have another
    hundred in the senate and a number of them raised the
    question. They got the information and they made their point
    of view very clear. They said we are supportive of it."
    Sesame Street is a pre-school television show based on the
    popular Muppets series and designed to help children prepare
    for school.

    The United Nations estimates 2.3 million people died of
    AIDS-related illnesses in Africa last year, leaving hundreds
    of thousands of children orphaned.

    It estimates 28.1 million of the 40 million people living
    with HIV/AIDS are in Africa and 4.8 million are in South
    Africa, where one in nine people are infected.

    Drugs to control the disease are freely available to those
    with medical insurance, but there is no state-funded
    anti-retroviral programme for adults or children living with
    HIV-AIDS.

    The state-owned Groote Schuur hospital runs a
    foreign-funded pilot programme treating children with AIDS.
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