The people behind the beloved children’s TV show Sesame Street have announced new materials to help Afghan and Ukrainian children and their families who have been displaced by dual crises cope with the trauma of having to flee to a new country.
The new resources, from Sesame Workshop, are in the form of video and other content aimed at supporting and comforting displaced children and their families at a time of great personal upheaval, and are part of the existing Welcome Sesame program, which offers content to help children that have been affected by a major crisis. Topics aimed at Afghan and Ukrainian children will be available in Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian, Spanish, and English, and will cover subjects ranging from coping with the trauma of resettlement to fostering a sense of belonging.
Of course, the content will feature appearances by Sesame Street‘s muppets—familiar figures to children all over the world. All content will be available to watch for free on the Sesame Street in Communities website.
“Our Welcome Sesame initiative is reaching children in the narrow window of their lives when it’s most important for their healthy development,” said Sherrie Westin, president of Sesame Workshop, in a statement. “Today’s expansion of Welcome Sesame will bring critically needed early childhood development support to families whose lives have been upended, including by the recent crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine.”
