Official Languages: Shalwar Kameez and Sesame Garden

official languages: Zeerak, whose name means Smart in Afghanistan's two official languages, is a 4-year-old boy who enjoys studying and learning, according to CBC. He joins 6-year-old sister Zari, whose name means Shimmering, on Afghanistan's version of the show, Baghch-e-Sim Sim, or Sesame Garden. Now a new muppet is joining the cast her brother, who will show boys the importance of respecting women. Both muppets wear traditional Afghan clothing the baggy trousers and long embroidered shirt known as a shalwar kameez for him and colourful native dresses and a cream-colored hijab, or headscarf, for her. Massood Sanjer, the head of TOLO TV, which broadcasts the program in Afghanistan, said that after the overwhelmingly positive response to Zari from both parents and children, the goal was to create a boy character to emphasize the importance of gender equality and education in a country where the vast majority of girls don't go to school and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world. They join the rest of Sesame Street's multi-cultural line-up, which includes muppets specially created for local versions of the program in Bangladesh, Egypt and India. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.