Sesame Workshop, Merrill Lynch Launch Panwapa

NEW YORK, October 12: Sesame Workshop and the Merrill Lynch
Foundation have created Panwapa, a
worldwide kids initiative aimed at fostering the foundation for global
citizenship and community participation in young children, aged 4 to 7.

Panwapa, which means “here on this earth” in the Tshiluba
language, features an entirely new group of Muppet characters, an interactive
website, a DVD and print materials that are available in five languages to
children around the world: Arabic, English, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. Panwapa is available at no charge on iTunes and starting
January 2008 will be available
on free video on demand via PBS KIDS Sprout. Additionally, Panwapa games and information will be available at
SproutOnline.com.

The website,
www.panwapa.com, is the center of the initiative. The 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, 200,000 Panwapa educational kits will be distributed to caregivers
in the U.S., U.K., Japan, China, Hong Kong, Jordan and Mexico to encourage
long-term exploration of the issues of global citizenship. The kit includes a
DVD, a caregiver magazine with an activity section for children, a board game
that reinforces the lessons, and a map of the world 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 utilizing all forms of media,” said Gary E. Knell, the president
and CEO of 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. Multinational teams from Merrill Lynch and Sesame Workshop
worked with the advisors to create content for the program, focusing on
messages of global citizenship for young children.