- Kami (Takalani Sesame character)
:"For alternate uses of Kami, see
Kami (disambiguation) ." Kami is a character onTakalani Sesame ("be happy Sesame" in Venda), which is theSouth African version of thechildren's television program "Sesame Street ".In
2002 , Sesame Workshop announced that anHIV -positive character would be introduced to "Takalani Sesame ", theU.S. Agency for International Development -fundedSouth Africa n version of the show. This idea was considered crucial for an area whereAIDS is anepidemic . TheHIV + character's name, Kami, is derived from "Kamogelo", which means acceptance or welcome inSetswana . Kami is a furry yellow five-year-old HIV-positive girlmuppet orphaned by AIDS. Herbackstory is that she contracted the disease as the result of a transfusion of tainted blood received as an infant; her mother also died of HIV/AIDS. Kami illustrates to Takalani's viewers how to deal with loss and sad feelings in a way that three- to seven-year-olds can understand.Kami was originally presented by
Joel Schneider at the 14thInternational AIDS Conference inBarcelona ,Spain in 2002. Media reports at that time gave many the impression that this character was proposed for the American version of the program. Some conservatives vigorously opposed the idea. TheTraditional Values Coalition stated::"The introduction of an HIV-infected Muppet on Sesame Street is problematic because HIV is spread primarily by homosexuals and bisexuals in the U.S. It is likely that an HIV-infected Muppet would be used to teach tolerance and acceptance of homosexuals to the preschool Sesame Street audience. In effect, this would be another propaganda tool to normalize homosexuality in our culture." [http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=352]
Republican congressmen
Billy Tauzin ,Chip Pickering ,Fred Upton ,Joe Barton ,Richard Burr andCliff Stearns also cautionedPBS against introducing similarly-affected Muppets to an American audience, reminding PBS that Congress could withhold funding. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,321466,00.html] [http://www.siecus.org/policy/PUpdates/arch03/arch030048.html]Kami has appeared at the
United Nations and at theWorld Bank and was interviewed byKatie Couric onNBC news. Kami has been named a UNICEF ambassador for children and has appeared in Takalani segments alongsideDesmond Tutu andNelson Mandela , among others.External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2123697.stm BBC article speculates on possible HIV+ Sesame character in the USA]
* [http://www.unicef.org/media/media_16631.html Kami formally appointed by the UN as a global champion for children]
* [http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/302002f.asp HIV-Positive Muppet Another Homosexual Ploy, Group Says]
* [http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/worldaccordingtosesamestreet/ Kami's creators are interviewed in the Sundance Film Festival documentary "The World According to Sesame Street"]
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