Children play the road safety card
When Ahmed crosses the street in Amman, he instinctively looks both ways before he takes his first step. But he may not be the only child taking safety precautions in Jordan this year. And that is exactly the goal of this popular board game created by Sesame Workshop and several partners such as Jordan Pioneers, a multimedia production company.
Because young people make up a significant portion of the 1.3 million killed annually in road crashes, the Middle East and North Africa Road Safety Partnership is going to be working with Sesame Workshop in 2011. The goal is to build on initiatives such as the board game Sesme Workshop created, and encourage road safety for the next generation.
From 2010 to 2011, a total of 1,200 Sesame Street game sets – or as it’s known in Jordan, Hikayat Simsim – will be distributed to schools in Jordan, and over a hundred parent and teacher workshops will take place nation-wide. The Middle East and North Africa Road Safety Partnership will help with distribution in 2011.
“It is especially valuable because many countries in this region have problems with kids playing in the streets,” explains Nellie Ghusayni, Regional Advisor for Middle East and North Africa Road Safety Partnership. “Sesame Workshop brings an educational component to road safety that did not exist before in Jordan, and it’s catching on quickly.”
