Wafalme's 'Me And My Bike': Teens From Kenya Slums Rap About Bicycles (VIDEO)
A group of teenagers from the slums of Nairobi have joined together to make a winning video on environmental protection.
The film competition "1 Minute To Save The World" challenged young filmmakers to create a one-minute video about climate change. The competition received films from around the globe, with submissions arriving everywhere from Mexico to Vietnam. Judges included Frank Oz ("The Muppet Show") and Bruce Parry ("Tribe"). "Me And My Bike" won the $8000 Passion Pictures Best Film and Artists Project Earth Youth Visions award.
"Me And My Bike" is a video created by Wafalme, a group of inspired Kenyan teens who communicate various messages through hip-hop. They are also known for creating "Trash Is Cash," a video offering recycling solutions for their neighborhood, which lacks trash collection - despite the fact that 1.5 tons of trash per day is dumped on their land from Nairobi.
In Wafalme's newest video on bicycling, the group offers the simple yet very real message that bicycles are an environmentally-friendly mode of transportation that can cut down on worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. One lyric states, "It's good for my health, because I need to exercise, it doesn't need any gas, just my feet and my eyes."
Reports show that if a person substitutes one day's worth of driving with biking per week, in one year he could reduce CO2 emissions by over 1,000 pounds, and save more than $800 on gas and maintenance. Not to mention the nearly 20 pounds he may lose.
According to winning participant Dickson Oyugi, "Most of us just sit and wait for the governments to take action about climate change... together we can, with small actions in our daily life, make a difference." Except that Wafalme has taken big actions to make a difference.
WATCH this winning video:
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The Huffington Post Joanna Zelman First Posted: 02/21/11 01:01 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:30 PM ET