Television Show Featuring Haile Gebreselassie Takes on Messages for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

(Save the Children USA)
September 10, 2007

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Save the Children, with funding from the Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is partnering with Whizkids Workshop to produce four episodes of the Ethiopian children’s television show Tsehai Loves Learning with messages focused to and about children impacted by HIV/AIDS.

On Monday, September 10, Olympic Gold Medalist, Haile Gebreselassie, and USAID Mission Director Glenn Anders joined Save the Children’s country director, Margaret Schuler, and the creators of Teshai Loves Learning, Shane Etzenhouser and Bruktawit Tigabut, for a screening of the first episode and “teasers” from the other three at Alem Cinema.  Entitled “Tsenat” the first show introduces a new puppet whose mother has died of HIV/AIDS.  Messages in the show – targeting children from 3 to 6 years old – focus on understanding emotions, supporting your friend when they are sad, and using imagination as a way to express your emotions.

A recent report of the Ministry of Health and the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office – HAPCO – estimate that this year there are more than five million four hundred thousand orphans in Ethiopia -- over half a million of these children are impacted by HIV/AIDS.

To address the issues of orphan and vulnerable children in Ethiopia, the US government funded “Positive Change: Children Communities and Care (PC3)” – a project that aims to reach more than half a million orphaned and other vulnerable children and their families over a five year period. Six international NGOs and over 32 local NGOs are partnering with over 486 community-based organizations to provide comprehensive care and support services to orphans and vulnerable children and their families.

The program has been primarily implemented in 14 impacts sites that include most of the major towns and surrounding peri-urban areas in Ethiopia, which are highly affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Save the Children USA is the prime agency for this program.

In  the last two years of implementation, the Positive Change program has reached over 200,000 orphans and vulnerable children and their families through different services including educational support, psychosocial and counseling support, health and nutrition, life skills, livelihood and child protection related activities. These services have been given by different individual and institutional service providers upon demand and recommendation by the community groups after conducting exhaustive needs assessment exercises. 

        
One of the objectives of the Positive Change program is to create a more supportive environment for orphans and vulnerable children and their households through strengthened coordination, networking and advocacy.  According to Save the Children Country Director, Margaret Schuler, “The messages of Tsehai Loves Learning address the issues that can help create a more supportive environment – helping children deal with loss; teaching children (and their parents) that children learn through play; teaching children about the importance of exercise and eating healthy and nutritious food; and helping children deal with stigma and discrimination.”

Haile Gebreselassie Guest Star in Tsehai Episode
According to Gebreselassie who guest starred in the episode “Eat Right and Exercise,” “I have always felt that it is my duty to speak up for the children of Ethiopia.  Children are our future.   I want our children to grow up healthy and happy.  I want them to know that they can be who and what they want to be.” Gebreselassie continued, “When I was approached about participating in today’s event as well as the television show I had my doubts.  But it was my own children – who knew Tsehai Loves Learning – who encouraged me to renew my career in acting!  I never thought that my costars would be a giraffe and a turtle – but what a wonderful experience!”

Gebreselassie invited the crowd in the packed cinema to join him to help fight HIV/AIDS and to help provide care and support for the children of Ethiopia, adding, “Ethiopia should be known for its famous runners, its wonderful history, fabulous people, and delicious food -- not the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.”

Calling Gebreselassie “the most famous man in Ethiopia,” Glenn Anders, USAID Mission Director, thanked the athlete and child advocate for sharing his talents and message with the children about the importance of exercise and eating healthy and nutritious food. Anders encouraged partners and parents in the room to take time to watch the special episodes with the children in their life.  He also encouraged the media to help us to educate the public about these shows – running from September 16 through November 3rd. According to Anders, “The Ethiopian Millennium provides an opportunity for us to renew our efforts to reach out to children and help them to a better future.”

The first of the Tsehai series of four shows will focus on how children deal with loss and is set to broadcast on Sunday morning, September 16 and will run through November. 

The following are the dates of the shows:

• 1st episode - September 16, 22 - "Tsenat" Objective: Coping with loss
• 2nd episode - September 30 and October 6 - "Play and Learn" Objective: Learning through play during early childhood development
• 3rd episode - October 14 and 20 - "Eat Right and Exercise" Objective: Importance of eating healthy and nutritious food
• 4th episode - October 28 and November 3 - "Everybody Needs a Friend" Objective: Dealing with stigma and discrimination

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