UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
12 Jan
2011
UN offices help Nairobi youth spread message of hope to Haiti children
12 January 2011 - The UN Office at Nairobi (UNON), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) - offices headquartered or located in Nairobi - have joined hands to help make possible a DVD which highlights a song with a message of hope for the children in Haiti, produced by the Wafalme Kidz from the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010, these street-children felt they should do something to support their counterparts in Haiti, now living in similar conditions.
The song resulted in the production of a touching DVD/CD package by Sarakasi Trust, Slum Talent Trust and Cultural Video Foundation. The song can be downloaded free of charge from various social networks, including: Youtube, Myspace and Twitter.
The DVD also contains the MTV award winning song of the Wafalme Kidz: “Trash is Cash” and is accompanied by a booklet in English and French which includes the lyrics of the “Kidz 4 Kidz in Haiti” song. The booklet is available at http://dcs.unon.org. The CD includes the song “Together as One”, with more music from the Wafalme Kidz, and is also available at http://dcs.unon.org.
The DVD has been widely distributed locally and around the world from Kenya and directly to the UN in Haiti, New York, Geneva and Vienna.
The Wafalme Kidz are a group of youngsters between 8 and 23 years old. 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 health-care.
Cultural Video Foundation – multimedia for a conscious society – promotes awareness about culture and society and uses journalism and multimedia products to foster a more conscious society. It aims to inform, educate and mobilize social development by supporting cultural expressions and promoting interaction that efficiently empowers and enlightens society.
Sarakasi Trust is a non-profit performing arts development organization working towards building capacity in the arts sector in Kenya. The organization’s core stems from a firm belief in the use of Culture for Development and the positive role that culture can play to eradicate poverty. Since its establishment in 2001 the Trust has run a training and outreach program that continues to touch lives of thousands of children and young adults growing up in the slums of Nairobi. In addition Sarakasi’s lively and now famous international exchange and performance program has seen literally hundreds of artists benefit from the experience and often the financial benefits that performing on the world’s stages can offer.
All funds generated from this initiative will be credited to UNICEF and be used for reconstruction projects directly benefitting children in Haiti.
