Which South African Sesame Street co-production introduced Kami?

The South African Sesame Street co-production that introduced Kami is Takalani Sesame.

Takalani Sesame is South Africa’s localized version of Sesame Street, created with Sesame Workshop and South African partners. The program launched in 2000 and uses local languages, characters, educators, and curriculum themes alongside the familiar Sesame model.

Kami, a five-year-old yellow Muppet living with HIV, was introduced on the program in 2002 during the height of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS crisis. Her stories addressed health, grief, acceptance, and the misinformation that caused people to fear ordinary contact with someone who was HIV-positive.

The character became internationally notable because she made a difficult subject understandable for young children. She helped explain that HIV cannot be transmitted through hugging, playing, or sharing ordinary social contact. The distractors are other international Sesame productions: Sesamstraße is associated with German-speaking countries, Galli Galli Sim Sim with India, and Alam Simsim with Egypt.