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Prah, P. M. (2016, May 20). | ShareAmerica. Retrieved from https://share.america.gov/voice-for-sesame-streets-first-afghan-muppet/
By Pamela M. Prah - May 20, 2016
Until recently, Mansoora Sherzad was a typical arts-and-music major at Kabul University in Afghanistan. She studied the finer arts and knew little about puppets.
Today, the 23-year-old is a voice of Zari, the newest and first Afghan Muppet appearing in the Afghan production of the popular children’s television show Sesame Street. The character is a “curious and eager” 6-year-old girl.
Sherzad and 18-year-old Sima Sultani of Nangarhar were selected from a casting call of 150 young women. Sherzad voices Zari in the Pashto language, and Sultani in Dari.
After spending a couple of months learning to operate Muppets, they are both full-fledged[1] puppeteers.
Zari, who wears a traditional hijab, or head scarf, is as self-assured as the two young women who provide her voice. And some people are not completely comfortable with that.
Sherzad acknowledges the risks involved with being a female puppeteer in her country. “Generally we are in danger in Afghanistan because we are girls. It’s hard to go to work with men all around us,” she said.
The symbolism is huge. The first Afghan girl Muppet is a powerful role model to the children of Afghanistan.
“Debuting a confident, inquisitive, and sweet Afghan girl character is a perfect opportunity to engage both boys and girls with lessons supporting girls’ empowerment and diversity appreciation,” said Sherrie Westin, an executive vice president at Sesame Workshop.
Episodes show Zari learning the importance of staying healthy and what it takes to become a doctor.
Children’s programming in Afghanistan is particularly important, the show’s producers say. Girls in Afghanistan tend to complete only seven years of school.
Since Zari’s debut in early April, “it is clear that Zari is a social media hit,” says Jeanne Finestone, program director for “Baghch-e-Simsim,” the Afghan name of Sesame Street as seen on TOLO and LEMAR TV.
The Baghch-e-Simsim Facebook page has garnered nearly 1,500 fans, two-thirds of whom are from Afghanistan. “This is impressive given the low Internet penetration in the country,” Finestone said. (Just one-fifth of Afghans report having access to the Internet, according to a 2015 report.)
Both Sultani and Sherzad say they are surprised at how much Zari has changed them. Being one of Zari’s puppeteers is Sultani’s first job of any kind. The work gives “happiness which I never had in life,” she said.
For Sherzad, “Zari loves laughing, and I love the time that she is with me.”
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