Kami (Takalani Sesame character)

:"For alternate uses of Kami, see Kami (disambiguation)." Kami is a character on Takalani Sesame ("be happy Sesame" in Venda), which is the South African version of the children's television program "Sesame Street".

In 2002, Sesame Workshop announced that an HIV-positive character would be introduced to "Takalani Sesame", the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded South African version of the show. This idea was considered crucial for an area where AIDS is an epidemic. The HIV+ character's name, Kami, is derived from "Kamogelo", which means acceptance or welcome in Setswana. Kami is a furry yellow five-year-old HIV-positive girl muppet orphaned by AIDS. Her backstory 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 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, 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. The Traditional 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 and Cliff Stearns also cautioned PBS 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 the World Bank and was interviewed by Katie Couric on NBC news. Kami has been named a UNICEF ambassador for children and has appeared in Takalani segments alongside Desmond Tutu and Nelson 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"]