Remarks at Makmurian Islamic School

And you will decide what you are going to do in life because you'll learn what you're good at and what you're interested in. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a musician. I liked mathematics in school. I wasn't very good at science and that was a problem because my mother taught science. But at one point of my life, I learned that what I really loved was learning about other cultures and other languages and people far, far away.

And so it's really exciting for me to be here in Indonesia. I'm very glad that the United States and Indonesia have joined in this partnership for this wonderful school. It is a part of an initiative that President Bush announced when he was in Indonesia two years ago. And today we are announcing $8.5 million for a program to bring Sesame Street to the schools of Indonesia.

Now, for almost 40 years, Sesame Street, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy -- Miss Piggy, right -- and who? Elmo? Come over here, Elmo. Come on, Elmo. Come on. And Elmo have been teaching children to read and to think and to explore different worlds. And so we're happy that we can bring Sesame Street to these kids and to other kids around the country. And I'll bet you'll find that you'll start creating some other characters, maybe some characters that would live here in Indonesia. So I'll look forward to coming back and to see what you created.

I want to thank the teachers especially. Teaching is a wonderful and noble profession. Both my mother and father were teachers and I have great admiration for what you do. You're so important to society, so important to the future of the world. Thank you for teaching. Thanks for having me here.

2006/T8-3