Baghch-e-Simsim

Production history

Sesame Street made its Afghan debut in 2004 under the name Koche Sesame, airing on state television and distributed as DVDs for classroom use. One of its features was "Grover Around the World," adapted from the American "Global Grover" segments and material from Sesame Street and Play with Me Sesame. In 2010, production began on Baghch-e-Simsim, a joint effort between Sesame Workshop and Afghanistan's Moby Media Group. Filming took place partly in Afghanistan, while other segments were drawn from international co-productions and dubbed into Pashto and Dari.

Funding comes from the U.S. embassy in Kabul, with guidance from the Afghan Ministry of Education. The first 26 half-hour episodes aired in Dari on Tolo TV, followed by a Pashto version on Lemar TV.

A radio adaptation, created with Equal Access International, launched in July 2012. In January 2015, a Taliban suicide bomber killed editor Sayed Jawad Hussaini in an attack on a Tolo TV bus. The show's seventh season premiered in 2019.

Characters

The show features several familiar characters with local names: Abby Cadabby, Bert (Bart), Big Bird (Shaw Parr), Cookie Monster (Khajoor), Elmo, Ernie (Hadi), Grover (Kajkoal), Oscar (Gom Gom), Prairie (Pari), Rosita (Rukhsaar), Telly (Shaarmac), and Zoe (Zeba). Voice actor Zubair Ahmad Kakkar performs both Khajoor and Kajkoal. The first original Afghan muppet, a six-year-old girl named Zari, debuted in season five on April 7, 2016. Her brother Zeerak followed in 2017.

Their design intentionally blends clothing from various ethnic groups to appear pan-Afghan, and both names are used in Dari and Pashto. Puppeteers Sima Seltani and Mansoora Shirzad operate Zari. International characters also appear: Khokha (from Egypt's Alam Simsim, renamed Khushaal), Tuktuki (from Bangladesh's Sisimpur, called Gulguly), Lola (from Mexico's Sésamo, called Laala), Businka (from Russia's Ulitsa Sezam, called Khwaaga), Raya (from Bangladesh's Sisimpur), Chamki (from India's Galli Galli Sim Sim), and Shams (from the United Arab Emirates' Iftah Ya Simsim).

Content

Girls' education is a primary focus, along with building pan-Afghan unity and identity. Segments show characters visiting the national museum to learn about Afghan music, instruments, and dances, or visiting sites such as the Gardens of Babur and the Kabul Zoo.

Political conflict is avoided. Unlike some co-productions, the show includes some religious references, such as a mother blessing her daughter or a father bringing his daughter to a mosque. Clips feature ethnic and religious minorities, including Sikh and Hazara children.