Yo yo waddup!
Never did I think I would be saying that I had a rap written about me! The rapper goes by the name of Elijah, a rapper straight out of the States. This lyrical genius isn’t a potty mouthed, medallion wearing, gun totting gangster but a pencil totting (probably have to say keyboard tapping these days eh?) primary school kid from the classrooms of Colorado. I gladly present to you Elijah’s hap rap performed by the Foster Elementary possie! (If the embed doesn’t work then hit up the link here)
If you had trouble hearing the lyrics on the video, check em out below
Hap Rap
You probably don’t know what’s up with this rap,
The answer you are seeking is a man named Hap
We must help him to complete his dream,
But to do that we must work as a team.
To work on all 7 continents he would like,
to help him you can donate a bike.
If you think giving a bike is funny,
It would be great to donate some money.
If you don’t know about this man,
I’ll explain him to you the best that I can.
His dream is to work on all 7 continents,
he has completed 6 of these big events.
He doesn’t’ care if he gets dirty,
he is trying to do it before he’s 30.
He is going to fix tons of bikes,
I think that’s what people in Africa would like.
So if you have some cash or a bike,
donate it to Hap, that’s what he would like..
How cool is that!
The kids at Foster Elementary school in Denver, Colorado have been doing some AWESOME work raising money for the FCE through their spirit week. They held a hat day, and a crazy hair day where the kids had to pay $1 to wear hats and crazy hair. If you watched the video above you would have seen some of the photos of the hats and crazy hair! The class even went around all the other classes giving presentations about my goal to raise awareness as to what the hat day and crazy hair day were for. And some of the kids even sold treats at a Wizard of OZ play to raise some money.
The kids ended up raising a wooping $412.85!!!!!!!!
That’s pretty darn cool I reckon. The cool thing about it is that the Foster Elementary school kids in Denver are helping out Orphan’s the same age on the other side of the planet. To us a bike is a recreational tool. But to these orphans it is more than fun, the bike that would other wise still be sitting in someones garden shed collecting dust, is now giving that orphan a way of getting to school, or getting to health services. For example, before the bike they had to walk 2 hours to school, now they can bike that distance in 30 minutes, giving then 3 hours extra per day to help with chores and do homework. It’s the great efforts of the Foster Elementary kids and teachers that make this all a reality.
This all just blows my mind. Here I am in Melbourne, the south eastern tip of Australia sitting in a dark little café writing this blog post about to head off to my bike mechanic course, and yet somewhere in the heart of the American Rocky Mountains there is a classroom of rocking little American kids talking about this guy called Hap that has a goal to live and work in every continent of the world before 30 and is sending bikes to Africa. And because they have helped raised money, a bike will be given a new life in Africa. I promised Dawn that I would upload a video onto this blog post to show the kids what a difference they have made by helping to get bikes to Africa, and that in Africa a bike is not just a bike. The video is an advert, but it gets the message across. Enjoy.
OK, it’s time for me to stopping writing ridiculously long sentences and get to the last class of my bike mechanics course. Here goes from this little café in Melbourne, a big McMassive thank you to Dawn, Crystal and all the awesome kids at Foster Elementary, you all rock! In fact, if you were chairs, you would all be rocking chairs!
PS And remember you can still get your hands on some of the round again rings, with the $20 raised going to Bicycles for Humanity.
Dawn Axelson
May 18, 2011 -
Whoot! Whoot! This is SO great Hap. Thanks for giving our students such well earned recognition. I can’t wait to share this with the kiddos and have them read your comments. Somehow you touched their hearts when I shared your story and now, it is clear from your words that they have touched yours.
Peace, Love, and Happiness–
Dawn 🙂
Elijah
Jun 2, 2011 -
Hap, I don’t Know if you will ever read these comments but if you do great jobs on all the continents. I hope you raise enough to make it to Africa. Have fun. I liked the song you played for the photos.:D
Hap
Jun 3, 2011 -
G’day Elijah!
The infamous rapper! Cheers (that’s New Zealand talk for Thank you) for the comment and writing the song. All is coming along for Africa, we leave in 4 days, so we are busy packing up our house and getting the bikes ready.
Cheers again for your work and song, I loved it. Best of luck at school and say hi to everyone at Foster Elementary.
Hap
Crystal Edge
May 18, 2011 -
Foster Elementary kids have huge hearts, that’s for sure. I am so proud of them for all of their hard work and so happy to see them getting the props they deserve. You and Mandy are such an inspiration to everyone, young and old.
Mandy Todd
May 24, 2011 -
Yay-er!! Just re reading this post, such exciting stuff. Making me have ideas of getting a pen pal thing going or something……I’ll be looking out for some school kids once we get there and maybe get them to write some letters talking about their new bikes and how it’s changed their lives! It’s always good to dream….cross continental love xoxo Mandy
Dawn Axelson
May 24, 2011 -
Oh that is such a great idea!!! Sounds like teachers talking 🙂
Hey check this out! Right up front on PeaceJam’s home page!
http://www.peacejam.org/news/Foster-Elementary-Students-Get-Shout-Out-For-Their-Hard-Work-618.aspx
oxoxo
Dawn 🙂
Dawn Axelson
Oct 11, 2011 -
Hey Hap! I just wanted to extend a huge Colorado CONGRATULATIONS from me and the kiddos that helped raise $$ for your goal. Since school has started up again and I have my PeaceJam service learning club up and running, the kids demanded a “Hap Update.” I showed them this blog and they just loved all your words to them and that you added the video to your blog. When I told them that you met your goal and got the bicycles to Africa there was a bunch of fist pumps, voices of Yessssss, and cheering for you. Your story seemed to become a part of them. They know that they will never have a chance to meet you, but that didn’t seem to matter. They were rooting for you all the way. We will now root for you to reach the summit of Mt. K on your bday.
PS- It is great to see Mandy but sad to not see you with her. I followed that story as well (like I do your blog) and was very saddened by your news. You both seemed to handle it with grace and class despite how difficult it was to let go. You are both amazing people in my book! Here’s the the experiences that sculpt us all!
Be Peace,
Dawn 🙂
Hap
Oct 13, 2011 -
Cheers for the kinds words Dawn.
Great to hear from you and awesome to hear the reaction of the kids, brought a smile to my face.
thanks for the support and you keep up your great work in Colorado.
Hap