Educational Web Site Panwapa.com Unveils New Muppets Speaking Five Major Languages
For Immediate Release
NEW YORK, Oct. 25 - A new group of Muppets - Azibo, Athena and Baabra - are part of a new initiative to inspire global citizenship and community participation in kids ages four to seven.The characters star on www.panwapa.com, a worldwide site launched this month by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, and the Merrill Lynch Foundation. Panwapa, which means "here on this earth" in the Tshiluba language, comprises an interactive Web site, a DVD and print materials in Arabic, English, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.
GlobalWorks adapted panwapa.com content and supplementary and educational materials (including the Panwapa Caregivers Guide, magazine and game instructions) into Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic, according to Li Wang, Director of Culturalization at GlobalWorks.
"Our challenge was to ensure that the adapted content was culturally relevant to a broad audience of children around the world, and that both the translation and the visuals appealed to their sense of native culture," Ms. Wang said.
"Panwapa provides fun, exciting and culturally sensitive parallel environments, where children can learn about other cultures and become global citizens," she said. For example, kids can play "Hide and Seek" with one of the Web site's muppet characters, while learning words in other languages for the objects in the room.
The Panwapa experience begins on "Panwapa Island," a floating island that travels the oceans of the world, where children and their caregivers will enter the virtual Panwapa community and meet newly created Muppet characters such as "Athena the Owl" and "Azibo the Monster." Children will be able to safely travel around the world and visit with Panwapa kids from other countries, watch interactive movies, learn words in other languages, and collect Panwapa Cards by going on international treasure hunts.
In addition to Panwapa.com, 200,000 Panwapa educational kits will be distributed to caregivers in the U.S., United Kingdom, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Jordan and Mexico, to encourage long-term exploration of issues of global citizenship. The kit includes a DVD, a caregiver magazine with an activity section for children, a board game to reinforce the lessons, and world map to support and complement the Panwapa experience. Local launches in the participating countries will follow the U.S. launch.
"Sesame Workshop has provided children with tools they need to reach their highest potential for over 37 years using all forms of media," said Gary E. Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop. "Panwapa is a groundbreaking program that will help children to develop an understanding of their culture, an appreciation for differences and similarities of others, and a passion for the people, issues and ideas that help to shape our world."
A team of international cultural experts, early childhood researchers, educators and media specialists from nine countries and organizations such as Oxfam, UNICEF, and the World Bank first developed the idea for Panwapa in 2005. The international advisory board, led by Dr. Charlotte Frances Cole, Vice President for Education and Research at Sesame Workshop, developed five broad educational goals for the project:
- Awareness of the Wider World: An understanding of the linkages between local neighborhoods and communities and national and global issues.
- Appreciating Similarities and Differences: An understanding of and respect for similarities and differences among the people of the world and the interconnectedness of the world's systems.
- Taking Responsibility for One's Behaviors: An awareness of one's actions and one's impact on others, the willingness and desire to take responsibility for one's actions, and an effort to seek ways to make the world a better place.
- Community Participation and Willingness to Take Action: A desire to participate in and contribute to one's community locally and globally, as well as a willingness to take action around persistent issues and work through them to effect meaningful civic improvement.
- Understanding of and Responsiveness to Economic Disparity: An understanding that all people share certain basic needs and disparities in resources affect individuals' abilities to fulfill these needs -- and a desire to address these disparities.
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. As the single largest informal educator of young children, local Sesame Street programs produced in countries as diverse as South Africa, Bangladesh and India are making a difference in over 120 nations. Using proprietary research to create engaging and enriching content, Sesame Workshop produces programs such as Dragon Tales and Pinky Dinky Doo. In addition, multimedia needs-driven initiatives provide families tools for addressing such issues as children's health, military deployment and emergency preparedness. As a nonprofit, product proceeds and philanthropic donations support Sesame Workshop's educational research and creative content for children around the world. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.
About GlobalWorks
GlobalWorks is a New York-based advertising agency that offers strategies, creativity and tools to build global brands. In addition to providing innovative technology to help marketers manage brand content worldwide, GlobalWorks develops award-winning advertising campaigns across all media and multicultural markets.
