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KENYA / SONG FOR HAITI
STORY: KENYA / SONG FOR HAITI
TRT: 1:35
SOURCE: UNEP / UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 JANUARY, NAIROBI, KENYA / FILE
1. Wide shot, Wafalme Kidz walking
2. Med shot, Wafalme Kidz performing “Kidz 4 Kidz”
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Nzomo, Member, Wafalme Kidz
“We decided to make the song about Haiti so that we can give them hope. If they see the song they will understand there are some people somewhere who care about them. So if they see that song they will have hope to go on with their lives.”
FILE - “KIDZ 4 KIDZ” MUSIC VIDEO
4. Various shots, Wafalme Kidz “Kidz 4 Kidz” music video
18 JANUARY, NAIROBI, KENYA
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Gilbert Okusi, Member, Wafalme Kidz:
“We decided to make this song because of the children who are orphans there like me. Me first I’m an orphan and I would like to encourage the children there who are orphans to see that they have hope in life to forget about the past and focus about the present.”
FILE – UNICEF - RECENT, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
6. Various shots, children in Haiti
18 JANUARY, NAIROBI, KENYA
7. Med shot, Wafalme Kidz performing “Kidz 4 Kidz”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Gilbert Okusi, Member, Wafalme Kidz:
“Now, I just do everything about music because music is the one that pays my school fees, pays my rent, nothing without it.”
FILE - “KIDZ 4 KIDZ” MUSIC VIDEO
4. Various shots, Wafalme Kidz “Kidz 4 Kidz” music video
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010, this group of youngsters from the slums of Kenya felt they should do something to support the children in Haiti, now living in conditions as bad as or even worse than their own.
Dickson Oyugi, Mary Nzomo and Gilbert Okusi are three of the children who make up Wafalme Kidz, a hip hop group from the streets of east Nairobi. Their song, “Kidz 4 Kidz”, now released in a DVD, is about brining hope to the thousands of children displaced and/ or orphaned by the earthquake in Haiti.
In an interview with the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme, which together with UNICEF made the DVD possible, Nzomo said that if Haitian children hear the song, “they will understand there are some people somewhere who care about them.”
The music video for “Kidz 4 Kidz” was recorded in Kibera, Nairobi Kenya by a group of Kenyan children. The song was released in an attempt to generate some much-needed funds to rebuild Haiti. All funds will be credited to UNICEF and be used for reconstruction projects directly benefiting children in Haiti.
One of members, Gilbert Okusi, said that the group decided on “Kidz 4 Kidz” because they felt that they could relate to the children in Haiti, many of them orphaned during the earthquake.
Okusi added “I’m an orphan and I would like to encourage the children there who are orphans to see that they have hope in life to forget about the past and focus about the present.”
Although there are no exact figures as to how many of Haiti’s children were orphaned during the earthquake, UNICEF reports that the country’s four million children continue to suffer from inequitable access to basic water, sanitation, healthcare, and education services and protection from disease, exploitation, and unsanitary conditions.
Wafalme Kidz come from living conditions similar to Haiti today. They live in a slum area of Mathare Valley and became popular hip hop stars when they released a song about recycling called “Trash is Cash.”
It’s the music that helps these children. “Music is the one that pays my school fees, pays my rent,” adds Okusi.
The Wafalme Kidz consists of children between the ages of eight and 23. Their talents saw the birth of Slum Talent Trust, an organization that aims to promote artistic talent among young slum-dwellers, ensuring that talented children from the slums and other disadvantaged children get access to education, housing and healthcare.
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