Last year, Afghanistan’s version of Sesame Street introduced a young, female character aimed at inspiring girls in the deeply conservative Muslim nation. Now a new puppet is joining the cast: her brother, who will show boys the importance of respecting women.
Zeerak, whose name means Smart in Afghanistan’s two official languages, is a four-year-old boy who enjoys studying and learning. He joins his six-year-old sister Zari, whose name means Shimmering, on Afghanistan’s version of the show, Baghch-e-Simsim (Sesame Garden).
Both muppets wear traditional Afghan clothing – baggy trousers and a long embroidered shirt known as a shalwar kameez for Zeerak, and colourful native dresses and a cream-coloured hijab for Zari. They join the rest of the show’s multicultural line-up, which includes puppets specially created for local versions of the program in Bangladesh, Egypt and India.
The head of Tolo TV, which broadcasts the program in Afghanistan, said that after the overwhelmingly positive response to Zari from both parents and children, the goal was to create a boy character to emphasise the importance of gender equality and education in a country where the vast majority of girls don’t go to school and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world.
“In a male-dominant country like Afghanistan, I think you have to do some lessons for the males to respect the females. So by bringing a male character to the show who respects a female character, you teach the Afghan men that you have to respect your sister the same way as you do your brother,” they said.
In keeping with that goal, Zeerak proclaimed in a recent episode of the program, “I love Zari so much and as much as I love Zari, I love her friends too.”
It’s an important message broadcast on a medium with a nationwide reach: while television in Afghanistan is largely restricted to urban areas, Sesame Garden is also broadcast on radio in both official languages, Pashtun and Dari, expanding its audience to most of the country.
Both Zari and Zeerak were created in New York and their costumes incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan’s major ethnic groups to promote inclusiveness in a society racked by decades of conflict.
Afghanistan has been at war for almost 40 years, since the 1979 Soviet invasion and the subsequent mujahedeen war that lasted a decade. That was followed by a devastating civil war in which warlords drew lines based on ethnicity and killed tens of thousands of people in Kabul alone.
The Taliban took over in 1996, and their five-year rule was one of brutal extremism in which they banned women from work and girls from going to school, confining them to their homes. The radical Taliban regime was forced from power by the 2001 US invasion that ushered in a democratic experiment and billions of dollars in international aid to help rebuild the country.
World news in picturesShow all 501/50World news in pictures
World news in pictures30 September 2020
Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures29 September 2020
A girl’s silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures28 September 2020
A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st
Getty
World news in pictures27 September 2020
The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes
Getty
World news in pictures26 September 2020
A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures25 September 2020
The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures24 September 2020
An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand’s parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures23 September 2020
A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors
The Mercury/AFP via Getty
World news in pictures22 September 2020
State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures21 September 2020
A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic
AP
World news in pictures20 September 2020
A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California
EPA
World news in pictures19 September 2020
Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand’s royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures18 September 2020
Supporters of Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq
Reuters
World news in pictures17 September 2020
A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at ‘the Place de la Nation’ as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France
EPA
World news in pictures16 September 2020
A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day
EPA
World news in pictures15 September 2020
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin’s Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month
Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP
World news in pictures14 September 2020
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership election in Tokyo
Reuters
World news in pictures13 September 2020
A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures12 September 2020
Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president’s resignation are now in their second month
AP
World news in pictures11 September 2020
Members of ‘Omnium Cultural’ celebrate the 20th ‘Festa per la llibertat’ (‘Fiesta for the freedom’) to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia
EPA
World news in pictures10 September 2020
The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece’s biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures9 September 2020
Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures8 September 2020
A home is engulfed in flames during the “Creek Fire” in the Tollhouse area of California
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures7 September 2020
A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures6 September 2020
Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open
USA Today Sports/Reuters
World news in pictures5 September 2020
Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures4 September 2020
A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures3 September 2020
A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador
EPA
World news in pictures2 September 2020
A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
Reuters
World news in pictures1 September 2020
Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk
TUT.BY/AFP via Getty
World news in pictures31 August 2020
The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures30 August 2020
Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus
Reuters
World news in pictures29 August 2020
A woman holding a placard reading “Stop Censorship – Yes to the Freedom of Expression” shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures28 August 2020
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world’s third-largest economy
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures27 August 2020
Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures26 August 2020
People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures25 August 2020
An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel
Reuters
World news in pictures24 August 2020
Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Co-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures23 August 2020
People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India
Reuters
World news in pictures22 August 2020
Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California
AP
World news in pictures21 August 2020
Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures20 August 2020
A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Co-19 in Kathmandu
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures19 August 2020
A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures18 August 2020
Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures17 August 2020
Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures16 August 2020
Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland
AP
World news in pictures15 August 2020
Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures14 August 2020
AlphaTauri’s driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures13 August 2020
Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures12 August 2020
Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya
AFP via Getty
The producer of Baghch-e-Simsim said he was hopeful that the new characters will eventually have a wider audience outside of Afghanistan.
“Possibly, in the coming years other Muslim countries, which are running this program, might use our characters, such as Zeerak and Zari. They might use our scripts, translate them in their own languages and use them in their countries,” he said.
Associated Press
