The muppets of Sesame Street are banding together in Jordan once again to teach children how to manage their feelings of frustration, and cope with the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.
Dubbed Ahlan Simsim, the show is aimed at children aged three to eight and features many of the original show's beloved characters, including Elmo, the Cookie Monster (Ka'aki) and Grover (Gargur).
The show, which was created by the team behind Iftah Ya Simsim and Sesame Street, is now in its second season and premiered on MBC3 on Sunday, August 30. It can also be watched on the Ahlan Simsim YouTube channel.
The new season follows Basma, a furry purple muppet, and Jad, a fuzzy yellow muppet as they sing and learn with their muppet friends. Season two has incorporated a video play date format, reflecting the way many families are staying connected during the pandemic.
The activities featured across the season’s 26 episodes aim to shape socio-emotional skills, as well as help children navigate the unfamiliar circumstances brought about by the pandemic. The season has also integrated new ‘Number of the Day’ and ‘Word of the Day’ segments.
"We designed season two to reflect the realities that young children and families are experiencing today, with new virtual play dates and storylines with strategies and activities that families can do together at home," Khaled Haddad, executive producer of Ahlan Simsim, said. "Just when we need them more than ever, the muppets of Ahlan Simsim are back to bring early education, comfort and joy to children across the region."
Ahlan Simsim is produced in Amman by the Jordan Pioneers production company. The team behind the show includes writers, producers and performers from across the Middle East and North Africa. The Sesame Workshop – the non-profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street – said Ahlan Simsim is "grounded in research and with input from local early childhood development experts" and "tailored to meet the unique educational needs of young children while celebrating the rich diversity of the Mena region."
In its first season, which premiered in February, Ahlan Simsim focused on teaching children, particularly refugees, how to cope with trauma related to displacement. The programme was created in partnership between Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The series came about after Sesame Workshop received a $100 million (Dh367 million) grant by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation in 2017. The grant aimed to help the workshop reach the millions of displaced children in the region with educational resources including storybooks and games.
The show is not the first Arabic-language program from the world of Sesame Street. Children from the region have been learning from the muppets for more than four decades, beginning with Iftah Ya Simsim, which premiered in Kuwait in 1979.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
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Rating: 5/5
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Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
