By KATE HAHN
SUNNIER DAYS: Kami, a popular character from 'Takalani Sesame' (the South African version of 'Sesame Street'), exemplifies TV's efforts to improve the lives of children around the world.
In a small, top-floor production studio in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the patter of rain on the metal roof means an unwelcome break in production for the children's show, "Tsehai Loves Learning."
"We can't record our audio, the rain is too loud," says Shane Etzenhouser, who with wife Brukty Tigabu created the show in their living room in 2004. Now they and a three-person staff produce the Prix Jeunesse- and Japan Prize-winning program. It features a hand-puppet giraffe girl, Tsehai, and her friends, and is the world's only educational program for preschoolers in Ethiopia's official language, Amharic.
But the producers' challenges pale compared with the obstacles faced by their young viewers. All over the world, television is reaching out to millions of underserved children, who like those in Ethiopia have no public preschool and also have low literacy rates. Using puppetry, animation, scripted drama and kids' news, television is tackling not only literacy but issues like health, gender inequality and conflict resolution.
And it's changing lives. In Ethiopia, "Tsehai" reaches 5 million kids who otherwise wouldn't get anything close to preschool.
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