Rruga Sesam/Ulica Sezam

Rruga Sesam/Ulica Sezam
Genre	Children's television
Country of origin	Kosovo
Original languages	Albanian, Serbian
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	CMB Productions Sesame Workshop
Original release
Release	5 December 2004 (5 December 2004) – 2006 (2006)

Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam are the Albanian and Serbian-language names for the Kosovan co-production of Sesame Street, which began airing in December 2004.^[1][2]

Production

Inspired by the success of Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim, Sesame Workshop began considering creating a co-production for Kosovo, another region with high political and social tensions, in this case between ethnic Albanians and Serbians. The show was originally sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNICEF.^[3]

The first season began airing on 5 December 2004. Both the first and second seasons of the show consisted of 26 episodes, each half an hour long.^[4] The second season of the show began airing on Radio Television Kosovo, as well as Serbian-language channels TV Puls, TV Most, and TV Herc, in late 2006.^[5]

In 2006 the co-production was included in the documentary The World According to Sesame Street.^[6]

Content

The content of Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam was essentially identical, with the exception of which language the episodes were dubbed in. The production combined Open Sesame content with locally filmed live-action segments focusing on children's lives.^[3][5] In addition to showcasing Albanian and Serbian children, the show also includes segments featuring Bosniak, Croatian, Gorani, Roma, and Turkish children.^[3] Unlike some other co-productions, no original muppets were introduced for the series.

The production had six broad educational objectives: human diversity (which included ethnic/cultural diversity, gender equality, and respect for disabled persons), emotions, social groups and institutions, health and safety, numeracy, and literacy.^[5] However, show creators ran into an issue while creating vocabulary segments. Albanian and Serbian use the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, respectively, and neither group wanted to see the other's alphabet. A compromise was found in the form of a "visual dictionary", with segments showing children speaking the words, rather than showing words on screen.^[7]

Community outreach

An outreach program was designed by UNICEF to complement the show and its episodes. Print materials (in both Albanian and Serbian) were distributed to families as part of this program.^[3]

In 2007 a series of picture books was launched to complement the show's messages.^[8]

Reception and impact

A 2008 study commissioned by Sesame Workshop and carried out by Fluent Research found a positive correlation among 5 and 6-year-old Albanian and Serbian children between viewership of the show and positive attitudes towards other ethnic groups. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that adult viewers of the show became more aware of social issues such as water shortages.^[9][10]

References

1. Fluent Research (January 2008). "Assessment of Educational Impact of Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam in Kosovo" (PDF). Sesame Workshop. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
2. "Sesame Street teaches tolerance to Kosovo's children". osce.org. 7 December 2004. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
3. The Sesame effect : the global impact of the longest street in the world. Charlotte F. Cole, June H. Lee. New York, NY. 2016. ISBN 978-1-317-61501-9. OCLC 948546744.
4. "Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam Children's TV Series". The Communication Initiative Network. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
5. Fluent Research (2008). pp. 3–5. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. "HOW `SESAME STREET' IS ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT WORLD NEIGHBORHOODS". Hartford Courant. 2006-10-24. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
7. Seib, Philip M. (2011). Global terrorism and new media : the post Al-Qaeda generation. Dana M. Janbek. New York. p. 113. ISBN 1-136-92672-0. OCLC 1290068343.
8. "Muppets go to school in Kosovo in UN-backed effort to bridge ethnic divide". UN News. 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
9. Fluent Research (2008). p. 8. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. "'Sesame Street' unites Kosovo youngsters". ABS-CBN News. 23 June 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

Bibliography

• Fluent Research (January 2008). "Assessment of Educational Impact of Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam in Kosovo". Sesame Workshop. Retrieved 14 March 2023.