Puppets Teaching Children Around the World

Reading audio



2005-1-4

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

Puppets Teaching Children Around the World
The Kids on the Block can help children deal with serious matters.

And I'm Faith Lapidus with
EXPLORATIONS, in VOA Special English. Do you think it is possible to
make children laugh and teach them about very serious problems at
the same time? Two organizations in the United States and Britain
say "YES!"

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VOICE ONE:

Brenda Dubrowski is eleven years old. Her parents do not live
together anymore. Brenda sometimes has a hard time talking about
that. Diane Delaney is also eleven years old. She has a very serious
disease called cancer. Salimah Rahman came to the United States from
Pakistan. She wants people to know that she is a Muslim, she is an
American and she wants to work with computers when she grows up.

VOICE TWO:

Brenda and Diane and Salimah are just like real children in
America. But they are not real. They are puppets. They are made of
wood and cloth. Each puppet is about one meter tall. People called
puppeteers stand behind each puppet and use sticks to make the
puppet's arms and legs move. The puppeteers also talk for the
puppets.

VOICE ONE:

These puppets are part of an American organization called Kids on
the Block. There are more than fifty puppets. They all have names
and stories about where they live, what they enjoy doing and the
other people in their family.

Almost all of the puppets are working on a problem. Some have a
disease or a disability. Some are not treated fairly at school or in
their community.

Some are treated badly at home. They talk about their problems in
plays that are presented in schools all over the world. One thousand
two hundred groups of Kids on the Block Puppets perform in the
United States, Canada and thirty other countries. There are Kids on
the Block puppets in Hong Kong and Japan, Kuwait and Brazil, New
Zealand and Australia as well as many countries in Europe.

VOICE TWO:

Children can have fun and learn from puppets.<br />
(Picture - kotb.com)
Children can have fun and learn from puppets.
(Picture - kotb.com)

Kids on the Block started in the
United States almost thirty years ago. At that time, the puppets had
physical or mental problems called disabilities. There were new laws
in the United States that said children with disabilities should be
educated in the same schools with other children. The puppets helped
all children understand what it is like to live with a disability.
Now it is very common to see children with all kinds of disabilities
in American schools.

VOICE ONE:

Kids on the Block puppets now talk to children about forty-two
different diseases, disabilities and social issues. There are plays
about AIDS and cancer, learning disabilities, alcohol and tobacco
use, pregnancy, and children who are treated badly.

One very popular new play talks about bullies. Bullies are
children who treat other children badly. They may hurt them
physically or just say words that are harmful or unfriendly.

VOICE TWO:

A Kids on the Block group in the state of Kentucky decided to
present the play about bullies because there have been too many
shootings in schools in America. Davida Warren is the director of
Kids on the Block in Kentucky. Mizz Warren says many shootings are
caused by a child who was hurt by bullies. She says children feel
safe around the puppets so they talk easily about places in school
where they are afraid of bullies.

School officials are then able to make those places more secure.
Mizz Warren also says the puppets help children feel strong enough
inside to say to a bully, "I am not going to let you do this to me
anymore."

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VOICE ONE:

There are also Kids on the Block puppet shows about children who
are treated badly at home, often by a friend or family member. This
is called child abuse. Sometimes it can be sexual abuse. Mizz Warren
says one seven-year-old girl talked to a puppet after the play. She
said the man who had married her mother was sexually abusing her and
her five-year-old sister. Police were called to investigate and the
man is now in prison. The little girl had never been able to tell
her mother or anyone at school about the problem. However, she was
able to talk to a puppet who had talked about having the same
experience.

VOICE TWO:

A Kids on the Block group in the state of Florida presents plays
about bullying and child abuse in about one hundred thirty schools
every year. Trish Sandag is the director. She says that last year,
twenty-nine children told a puppet they had been treated badly at
home. Government officials or police always investigate a situation
like this.

Mizz Sandag receives many letters from children who see the
puppets. One child wrote, "The puppets made me feel safe." Another
wrote, "They showed me how to say no." Here are some of the other
things children have said after they see Kids on the Block puppets:

VOICE ONE:

"Something lit up in my head when I saw the puppets. I act like a
bully sometimes. I will not do that anymore."

VOICE TWO:

"This is not just a funny puppet show. This is real."

VOICE ONE:

"Thank you for letting me know I should not decide what I think
about people just because of the color of their skin."

VOICE TWO:

"These puppets make it easy to pay attention and learn."

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VOICE ONE:

A man from Ireland has also learned that puppets make it easier
for children to learn about difficult problems. For many years,
Johnie McGlade worked in emergency camps for refugees. One time he
had a puppet called Seamus (SHAY-mus). He said children in Sudan and
other countries loved the puppet. He said the children would
remember the puppet's name but not his name.

VOICE TWO: One day, Mister McGlade met Kathryn Mullen and Michael
Frith. They are a married couple from the United States who created
puppets for television shows like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.
Together these three people started an organization called No
Strings, based in Britain. They wanted to use puppets to give
children information that could save their lives.

First, they wanted to teach children in Afghanistan about
landmines. Landmines are small bombs placed on the ground that have
not yet exploded. They can be colorful and even look like toys. The
British Red Cross says two thousand people are killed or hurt by
these bombs every month. Many of them are children.

VOICE ONE:

The puppeteers wrote a story and created a puppet that children
in Afghanistan would understand. A grandmother is very sad because
her grandson was killed by a landmine. The grandmother makes a
puppet named Chuchi. The puppet is made of a floor covering material
called a carpet. People make many beautiful carpets in this part of
the world.

Chuchi learns about landmines. But when he is walking near his
home, he forgets what he has learned. Bad men called jinn urge him
do things he should not do. He loses both his legs when a landmine
explodes. There is a happy ending, though. A five-meter tall puppet
called a genie changes Chuchi into a real boy with two legs. The
puppeteers tell the children that Chuchi had a second chance. But
children only have one chance, so they need to know how to be safe.

VOICE TWO:

Mister McGlade says the puppet stories make the children laugh,
but they are also very realistic. He says children will listen and
talk to puppets even if they do not listen to adults. During the
show, children shout directions at the Chuchi puppet, trying to make
him stay away from the landmines.

The puppeteers from No Strings went to Afghanistan in July, two
thousand three and again in January, two thousand four. They were
not able to go a third time because of security problems. Instead,
they created a video which will be made in English, Urdu and
Pashtun. Mister McGlade wants to take many copies of the video to
Afghanistan. The organization is training people to be puppeteers
and to make the puppets. Mister McGlade says he wants to have a
group of puppets in every province in Afghanistan. Someday he wants
to use puppets to help children with other problems including the
disease AIDS.

VOICE ONE:

Why does Mister McGlade think puppets work so well to teach these
difficult lessons? He says children are not afraid of puppets and
they find it easy to talk about anything with a puppet. Puppets can
also do or say things that people cannot. "A puppet is always
right," says Mister McGlade. "A puppet can make you laugh or cry or
learn."

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Karen Leggett. It was produced by
Mario Ritter. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can find more information about Kids on
the Block on the Internet at www.kotb.com. The Web site for No
Strings is www.nostrings.org.uk. Listen again next week for
EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.


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