'Sesame Street' unites Kosovo youngsters

PRISTINA (AFP) — "Sesame Street" characters Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie are succeeding where politicians have so far failed -- by bringing together children from Kosovo's divided ethnic communities.

For four years now, a Sesame Street workshop has produced a local version of the acclaimed US children's television show, known as "Rruga Sesam" in the Albanian language and "Ulica Sezam" in Serbian.

A report on the impact of the project presenting everyday stories to children has shown the puppet characters are more successful than real-life ones in Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in February.

Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs reject the split, and the two communities scarcely interact across the landlocked Balkan territory, with youths attending separate kindergartens, schools and universities.

Both Albanian and Serb children who watched the show "expressed greater willingness to help" youths from the opposite ethnicity than those who did not, according to ...