Did You Know the U.S. Was Planning on Funding a $20 Million Pakistani Version of Sesame Street?
- Posted on June 5, 2012 at 8:50am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.S. has terminated funding for a $20 million project to develop a Pakistani version of Sesame Street, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday. The decision came as a Pakistani newspaper reported allegations of corruption by the local puppet theater working on the initiative.
The organization in question is the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop, a group in the city of Lahore that jointly developed the show with Sesame Workshop, the creator of the American series.
The show, which includes Elmo and a host of new Pakistani characters, first aired in December and was supposed to run for at least three seasons. The U.S. hoped it would improve education in a country where one-third of primary school-age children are not in class. It was also meant to increase tolerance at a time when the influence of radical views is growing.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Raines said the U.S. Agency for International Development terminated funding for the program, but declined to provide further details.
The Pakistan Today newspaper reported Tuesday that the cause was “severe” financial irregularities at Rafi Peer, citing unnamed sources close to the project. Officials at Rafi Peer allegedly used the U.S. money to pay off old debts and awarded lucrative contracts to relatives, the sources claimed.
Faizaan Peerzada, the chief operating officer of Rafi Peer and one of several family members who run the organization, denied the corruption allegations. He said the U.S. ended its participation after providing $10 million because of the lack of additional available funds.
“Rafi Peer is proud of its association with the project and of the quality of children’s educational television programming created within Pakistan as a result,” the group said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
If the corruption allegations prove true, it would be an embarrassment for the multibillion-dollar U.S. aid program in Pakistan, which some analysts have criticized for lacking focus and not achieving results.
Rafi Peer plans to seek alternative sources of funding to continue producing the local version of Sesame Street, which is called Sim Sim Hamara, or Our Sim Sim.
The show is led by a vivacious 6-year-old girl named Rani who loves cricket and traditional Pakistani music. Her sidekick, Munna, is a 5-year-old boy obsessed with numbers and banging away on Pakistani bongo drums, or tabla. Other new characters include Baily, a kindly donkey who loves to sing, and Haseen O Jameel, a vain crocodile who lives at the bottom of a well.
The action centers around a mock-up of a Pakistani town, complete with houses, a school and Baaji’s dhaba, a small shop and restaurant found in many places in the country. The town also includes a large Banyan tree, known as the wisdom tree in South Asia, in the shade of which the children often play.
Each episode is based around a word and a number, like the U.S. version, and tackles general themes like friendship, respect and valuing diversity. This last theme is particularly important in Pakistan, where Islamist extremists often target minority religious sects and others who disagree with their views.
The American version of Sesame Street first aired in 1969, and the U.S. government has worked with the company since then to produce shows in about 20 foreign countries, including Muslim nations like Bangladesh and Indonesia.
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Comments (49)
Arshloch
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 1:08pmWith Pack-kee-stan being run by the cookie monster, and elmo in the whitehouse, what else could be expected?
Report Post »charleyrocks
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 2:04pmWhen is the untied states going to realize that Pakastan is not your friend how much more do you need! jailing the guy who put his neck out finding bin laden should say it all wake up wake up!!!!!
Report Post »soybomb315
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 12:00pmWe should not be taking US taxpayer money and spending it in other countries. The federal government is run by government employees and bureaucrats – how hard is it to understand?
Report Post »Hoax And Chains
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 12:38pmTo all of us, you make sense. To libs and politicians, throwing money at anything should fix the problem… it’s all they know.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:58amBeing an Islamic country, I wonder how their version of Sesame Street will deal with female genital mutilation and stoning young teen rape victims.
Report Post »Celeste.Christi
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:54amWhy, with a song of course!
Report Post »Bruce P.
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:43amI guess the White House decided the money was better spent on Hellfire missiles and drones to bomb funerals and first-responders to other drone strikes in Pakistan.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:59amWe can only hope.
Report Post »Bruce P.
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:04amGONZO — the President is doing that very thing and it is disgusting.
Report Post »wdittgasn
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:19amWe need to STOP wasting our money ( money we borrow ) on these enemy muslim countries!!!!!!!!
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:40amPuppet shows for children? According to the country’s official religion, and that religions founder, children are for fornication.
Report Post »don young
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:37amWe need to get rid of these people that keep giveing our money to countrys that are not our friends.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:36amThis is why we say CUT SPENDING on STUPID CRAP like this before you take in ONE MORE PENNY in tax revenues. Outrageous to say we don’t want tax increases because we want old people to die and babies to starve! Just THINK of the lifestyle these groups could enjoy with all those BILLIONS they waste in DC?
Report Post »sonnybethel
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:23amOur tax dollars at work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:21amThe Fed Govt GETS TOO MUCH MONEY
Report Post »wdittgasn
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:21amThere is no hope for our government, If you give them more money they just waste more money.
Report Post »Tigress1
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:16amWe don’t give them anything until they give us the doctor that turned in Bin Laden.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:23amI bet their Oscar the grouch will be an Imam, evil burt will be bin laden.
Report Post »wdittgasn
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:24amOscar will order the hanging of Bert and Erney, an Big bird will be beheaded for being a freak.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:08amHow ridiculous.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:55amBert and Ernie would be stoned because they are gay. Oscar the Grouch would be the Mullah. Grover would be the executer. Elmo, alas, would be the sucide bomber, just because he is so impressionable. Big bird would be dinner, along with snuffalupagus. I won’t even say what they are going to do to maria…….burkhas for all, freedom for none
Report Post »wdittgasn
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:26amI posted before i read your post, you have already said it.
Report Post »RougeFastFingers
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:53amDid they include a Burqua wearing puppet?
Report Post »caleejr
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:45am…and yet you see ads on TV where 1 out of 5 children in the USA go hungry.
Let’s go spend money in Pakistan for entertainment and propaganda!
Report Post »LibsAndCopKillersALoveStory
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:30amOne virgin to rape in heaven. Two virgins to rape in heaven….
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:21amCan you just visualize the segment entitled ” Big Bird and Elmo Meet al Qaeda ? “
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:33am1 suicide bomber ah ah ah 2 suicide bombers ah ah ah three suicide bombers ah ah ah…
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:20amMust be another lame, Lefty “ hope” solution based on throwing money at a problem which, unfortunately, might be better solved with a game of Search and Destroy. Hope there is a Harry Truman in our wings…
Report Post »Remembering Ruby Ridge
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:17amDid you know the only idiots more stupid than our Govt Officials are the people who keep voting them into office? I wonder if they will tell the Pakistani people that Bert and Ernie are gay? No that‘s not a good idea over there it would have TV ratings like msnbc’s here!
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:26amAgree. Like the idiots in NYC who vote in the guy who wants to ban big sugar but allow “ a little ” marijuana ? ( can’t you see the legalese mess this creates ? ) These people have no common sense but tons of arrogance which we see in their comments here . So “ superior ” but so clueless to the basic realities of life and human nature.
Report Post »lynnissmart
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:15amWhile people here are out of work…….part of the new world order?
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:08amBig Bird with a suicide vest.
Report Post »ShyMan
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:26amAlso known as an airplane.
Report Post »00gabooga
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:05amAllah-Allah doo-doooo-de-doo-doo,
Report Post »Allah-Allah doo-doo-de-doo
marjorie faye
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:05amI have felt for a long time that we need someone to do a total audit of the federal government and report publicly to “we the people” regarding every existing and proposed program, law, regulation, idea, plan, whatever, of the federal government. Every dollar, every proposed dollar, everything down to the smallest detail. No stone left unturned. Everything reported in the tiniest detail. Everything. The time has come. We need this NOW. It would be a gargantuan task, but it’s necessary. The American people simply have no idea how our money is wasted.
Report Post »00gabooga
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:19amI’m not against taxing the rich. If you need to, tax the HECK out of them. BUT, before we do that, we audit the entire government. Every program, every entitlement, all of it. Once that is done if we still need to raise taxes, then so be it, but something tells me once all the spending is out in the open we’ll find that people are paying way too much. It’s immoral to raise taxes on ANYONE, rich or poor, until a full accounting has been done. I don‘t think it’s too much to ask that my government do what I do on a weekly basis with my finances.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:02amYou mean 20 million borrowed from China, and billed to our grand kids ……
Report Post »HKS
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 8:57amThere’s a rat in the pie, follow the money.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 8:54amWhen Mullah Oscar had Bert and Ernie beheaded for being gay…it was time to pull the plug.
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 9:12amOr when the Count counted the number of stones it took to kill an infidel.
“Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-THREE! Twenty-three stones! Bah-ha-ha!”
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